Sword of the Spirit

Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians 6:17) Interestingly, the word at the beginning of this sentence has less the meaning of "take" and more the meaning of "welcome" or "receive," which is its usual translation.  We take the helmet and sword, therefore, as an act of obediently receiving—welcoming—what God is giving to us.  Namely, his own armor and gifts. The sword of the Spirit which is the word of God is our focus today.  If any of these armaments in Ephesians is an offensive weapon rather than a defensive one, surely this is it—right?  Not so fast.  Our commander has not changed his command.  It remains "stand."   Jesus tells his disciples to buy real, literal swords as they leave the Upper Room for the Mount of Olives on the night Jesus was betrayed.  As it turns out, the eager disciples already have two at hand.  Jesus very quickly tamps down their enthusiasm with a terse reply of "That's enough!"  Why?  The swords were not needed for attack or violence, they were only needed to fulfill the word of Isaiah, which says "he was numbered with the transgressors."  For further proof, the story continues.  When Jesus is about to be arrested, one of his sword-wielding disciples swings into action, lopping off the ear the servant of the high priest.  Jesus' response is an immediate rebuke: "No more of this!" he says, as he turns to heal the wounded enemy before surrendering himself to arrest.  The disciple had asked Jesus "should we strike with our swords?" but did not wait for the answer from Jesus before swinging.  That's often how it goes, but one gets the impression from this scene that Jesus' answer would have been "no" (see Luke 22:35-51). The best example of this "sword of the Spirit" in action then, is when "Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil" (Luke 4:1-2a).  Three times over, the Spirit-filled Jesus uses the Word of God to defend himself against the temptations of the devil.  He does not attack the devil, he does not run from the devil, nor does he scoff and ignore.  Jesus stands his ground in the Spirit, and uses the Word to defend against the devil's temptations.  This, more than anything, is our picture of the "sword of the Spirit" in action as a weapon that allows us to "stand" our ground. Pastor Michael will preach on this story from Matthew's gospel on Sunday, but hopefully this gives a taster of what it means to "receive" God's own armor.  The armor which God himself has used and has shown us how to use.  Neither the Spirit nor the Scriptures have been given to us to use as weapons of attack.  They are sharp weapons though and they need to be respected—used only for the purposes for which they have been given: as weapons which enable us to firmly stand our ground in the salvation Christ has won for us. As the book of Hebrews says: "the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart" (Heb. 4:12).  In the larger context of this chapter, the writer of Hebrews uses this phrase to pivot between the two-edged reality of the scriptures: how they tell both of the failed obedience of God's people, and the perfect obedience of "our great high priest" who "has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet did not sin."  The writer of Hebrews uses Jesus' obedience to invite our own. "Hold firmly to the faith we profess," the writer urges, "so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."  In this way, we enter into the promised Sabbath-rest of God's people, weak and temptation-prone though we be.   As with Jesus in the desert, so the devil still tempts us to flee from our post and chase after his sweet-sounding offers of salvation by a different means.  It is the sword of the Spirit though—the word of God—that reminds us of Jesus' mercy and grace and which enables us to stand firm in his salvation. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:17-21).