The Sword of Christ

The Sword Of Christ
By Ali Ataie
[Note from the Author: When reading this article, please keep in mind that as Muslims, we do NOT hold the following Bible verses regarding the beloved Prophet Jesus (Isa--peace be upong him) to be true. The points made, therefore, are only intended to expose the hypocrisy of the modern-day Christian Evangelical's claim that the Musim scripture advocates violence.]

It is quite common to hear in the West the notion that Islam "was spread by the sword." Did you know that the word "sword" does not even appear in the Qur'an? It does however, appear in the Bible, 434 times!

In fact the word sword appears in the Christian Holy Writ 114 times more than the word “peace.” The Old Testament, in particular, is riddled with stories of massacre and death. It certainly would not be out of line to characterize the Bible as an anthology of sex and violence. But what about the "meek and lowly" Jesus? Presented below are three passages in which the "Prince of Peace" calls for the sword!

It's amazing how easily we are all conditioned to think in certain ways during our lives. To date, there has not been a single "Jesus movie" in which all three or even two of these verses were in the script -- including “The Passion of the Christ.” Certainly John 3:16 sounds much more inviting. But if this is what the Gospels present as the true Jesus, then why are the Christians so ashamed to provide us with accurate information?

The answer is because as long as they are "catching fish," anything goes. A conversion to the worship of Christ is more valuable in Christian eyes than selling themselves out to lies and deceit. It is not uncommon to find Christian missionaries in the Middle East wearing Muslim garb, speaking Arabic, and sporting long Sunnah (prophetic) beards, all the while handing out Bibles in Arabic to children and claiming that it is the Qur’an.

Passage One: “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a SWORD. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes [shall be] they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:34-37).

I will guarantee that if you were to examine all of the authentic sayings (hadith) of the Prophet Muhammad, which number in the several thousands, you will never come across anything remotely as blatant as "I came not to send peace, but a sword!" Never mind the fact that Jesus also advocates the killing of rebellious children (Mark 7:9-10) and supports the amputation of limbs that offend God (Matthew 5:29-30).

Passage Two: “For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him. But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and SLAY them before me. And when he had thus spoken, he went before, ascending up to Jerusalem” (Luke 19:26-28).

Passage Three: “But now, he that hath a purse, let him take [it], and likewise [his] scrip: and he that hath no SWORD, let him sell his garment, and buy one” (Luke 22:36).

Obviously, the reaction of the Jews in Jerusalem was not what Jesus had expected. Although he longed to rule over his people, God's plan was different and Jesus never ascended into a position of power. The Christian contends that Jesus is here referring to a "spiritual sword!" Well, I suppose the garments in which we must sell are also spiritual. If the disciples sold their spiritual garments for spiritual swords then that would make them spiritually naked!

Was it with a spiritual sword that Peter struck the servant of the High Priest’s ear off? When Jesus sees Peter do this, that is, when he sees Peter strike the servant with a sword that he (Jesus) told Peter to purchase in the first place, Jesus rebukes him (in Matthew).

Why now? Because, the strategy has changed. Jesus did not expect to face trained Roman legionaries -- The Gospel of John is unique in identifying the band of men who accompanied the Jewish officers who arrested Jesus as a “speira;” a word that has a Latin origin and means “military cohort” or “detachment of soldiers”). It would have been total suicide for him to follow through with his Jihad (struggle).

These events reportedly occurred on the Mount of Olives in the Garden of Gethsemane, after the Last Supper. Why did Jesus decide to go there, and not to the Temple of Solomon if he was just planning on "praying?" After all, the Temple was only a "stone's throw" from the Upper Room where they had just finished eating and singing hymns.

Jesus goes to prepare for battle! He places eight disciples at the entrance of the Garden and then takes his three champion disciples, Peter the Rock, John, and James the "sons of Thunder" deeper inside to create an inner circle of defense. Peter, James, and John were all Galileans, and Galileans were renowned for two things: fishing and zealotry.

They were the fighting Irishmen of their day! In Mark, the earliest Gospel, we are told that after the disciples tuck-tail and run, leaving Jesus in the lurch, a certain young man who had been following Jesus is seized by the officers but manages to slip out of his linen garment and escape “naked.” I don’t remember seeing this in Mel Gibson’s rendition.

The reason is because this would have produced an instant burst of laughter from the audience that might have dampened the emotional hypnotism of the movie.

Why can't Hollywood make a movie that presents what the historical Jesus might have been like? Why? Because money talks! They get some guy of German or Swedish descent to play a Nazarene Jewish man of two thousand years ago and the public eats it up.

Can you imagine a Jewish actor with very Jewish physical features portraying Jesus?! There are American children who up until the age of puberty actually believe that Jesus' real name was "Jesus," that he was a white man with blue eyes, and that he spoke Queen's English!