God, Guns, and Glory

At this holy time of year, for many people, what could be more appropriate to celebrate Christmas than... firearms!  The Washington Post reports:

When two members of Congress recently shared images of their well-armed families gathered in front of Christmas trees, many assumed it was merely an act of provocation, a loaded gesture designed to exasperate opponents and excite supporters. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), responding to the photographs posted by Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), asked on Twitter, "Tell me again where Christ said 'use the commemoration of my birth to flex violent weapons for personal political gain'?"... "To involve machine guns and Santa in a celebration in the birth of Jesus Christ is the worst kind of heresy I can imagine," Democratic state Rep. Steve Farley told the Associated Press.

No doubt there's some baiting going on here.  While we ourselves are staunch supporters of the Second Amendment, it wouldn't even occur to us to feature a deadly weapon on our Christmas cards which tend more toward manger scenes and snowy sleigh rides.  But whenever a doctrinaire leftist presumes to cite Christ as an example, we know that whatever such a person says has to be a corrosive lie worth debunking.

Of course, it's certainly true that Jesus Himself never owned a firearm.  Not only had they not been invented yet, He had no real need of them being God Incarnate - calling down fire from heaven or legions of angels would be every bit as effective and even more impressive than an AK-47.  Not that He actually did that, of course; He chose of His own free will to permit evil men to kill Him.  But it wasn't for lack of the ability to stop that from happening had He wished it.  St. Matthew recorded Him saying,

Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?

No, Jesus didn't kill anybody while on earth, but neither was He entirely averse to violence.  In particular, He violently drove the moneychangers out of the Temple on at least one occasion, with wrath and a whip.

And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise.

Our Capitol building is very far from being the house of God, but we can't help but suspect that Christ would have a similar reaction if He were to appear in the midst of its corrupt, power-mad, exploitative swamp denizens.

As disciples of Christ, we're supposed to follow His example, but it's even more important for us to follow His instructions.  Consider what St. Luke records as His directive to His disciples with respect to state-of-the-art personal armaments of the day:

Then said he unto them, 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.

A sword isn't particularly suited for concealed carry, but Jesus Himself said it was better for His servants to be naked and have a sword than to be clothed without one.

But wait, is He not the Prince of Peace?  Indeed so, but as St. Matthew reports Him preaching:

Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

We'd like to have peace on earth - no more war, murders, riots, looting, thievery, abuse, or corruption.  And as advertised, Jesus provided a way to make that possible.  The problem is that most people haven't chosen that way, which is the only way to peace, so the world is still full of evil and destruction.

Naturally, those who seek to do evil prefer to have their victims unarmed and unable to resist.  We see this with Democrats trying to disarm honest citizens to clear the way for their rampaging pet BLM mobs to destroy their political enemies both metaphorically and, where possible, physically.  Though being the Prince of Peace, Christ was also King of Kings and Lord of Lords; until He returns to personally rule and reign and administer justice, there's no choice but for His servants to be prepared and able to defend themselves when necessary.

There is nothing in His Gospel that requires us to just lie down and get beat up like so many punching bags; we are permitted, able, and expected to resist the forces of evil with the metaphorical Sword of the Lord as well as a physical sword, or the modern-day equivalent.  For some while now, there's been a feeling that a true Christian only ever turns the other cheek; but that's only half of what Jesus preached, and only half of what He did, which makes it a whole lie.

And Jesus, being God, never changes - for when He does return, it won't be just with words then either:

And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.

That great day can't come soon enough. Merry Christmas!