Sin is deadly. It is the one thing God won’t tolerate. The war between good and evil is to the death. And you lend yourself to sin without knowing to what dirty enterprise you have sold yourself…until you see that cross.”
–William E. Sangster
“Written across Calvary is sacrifice; written across this age of ours is pleasure. On the lips of Christ are the stern words, I must die. On the lips of this age of ours, I must enjoy. When I think of the passion to be rich and the judgment of everything by money standards, of the feverish desire at all costs to be happy, of the frivolity, of the worship of success; and then contrast it with the ‘pale and solemn scene’ upon the hill, I know that the offense of Clavary is not ceased.”
–George H. Morrison
What happened to the other sword? Luke 22 shows that the disciples told Jesus that there were two swords. We can surmise that Peter took one, but what happened with the other one? Did Thomas pick it up? Remember, he was the one who said that we might as well go with Jesus to Jerusalem and die. I don’t think he was a fatalist or pessimistic; I think he saw the real picture and was able to gauge the situation. Perhaps one of the “sons of thunder” picked it up. James and John, rough fisherman and friends with Peter, one of them might have it. Maybe Judas grabbed it so that one of his comrades wouldn’t commit a life-threatening mistake.
Peter gets a rough break at times. He is known for his outbursts, for his doubt and sinking in the sea, for his denial of Jesus, and even in the Garden for his attack on Malthus. Where was the other sword? Was Peter the only one left at that time? When the soldiers appeared the other disciples might have slipped away in the darkness. Yet Peter, not necessarily realizing what he was doing, did try to protect his friend.
Now that sword must have been sharp. It sliced right through the ear of his target. Whoever had it before had honed it to a razor edge. Peter was to learn later that the sword he was to wield was even sharper for it was the Word of God. It is used to cut to the marrow of the soul, not the bone. Jesus said that He came to bring a sword to the earth and He would use it in the next few hours. That sword is still dividing the earth, maybe more so today than any time in history.
One of the things that the crucifixion and resurrection did was to divide the inhabitants of the earth. There would be those that would shun the Gospel and the message of redemption through God’s Son, but there would also be the others who would accept salvation. Another note, John sees Jesus, the Lord of Heaven, in the first chapter of Revelation sees a sword coming out of His mouth. It is said to be a sharp sword.
“Then Simeon blessed them and told His mother Mary: ‘Indeed, this child is destined to cause the fall and rise of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be opposed—and a sword will pierce your own soul—that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.'”
–Luke 2:34-35 (HCSB)