Paradox: Was Jesus a pacifist?

   ²⁷ "But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. ²⁹If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. ³⁰Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. ³¹Do to others as you would have them do to you.  - Luke 6:27-31

How can you love your enemies when you have a gun pointed at them? But what about Jesus overthrowing the tables of the sellers in the Temple? Can you love your enemies as you are driving them out and destroying their businesses?

   ¹² Then Jesus entered the temple^c and drove out all who were selling and buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. ¹³He said to them, "It is written,

   'My house shall be called a house of prayer';

       but you are making it a den of robbers."   - Matthew 21:12-13

I assume that Jesus forcefully, if not violently, driving people out and over turned their tables - I can't imagine people fleeing because Jesus asked them nicely to pack up and leave. That is not what the passage says either. But when violence happened in the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus rebukes his disciples.

Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and arrested him. ⁵¹Suddenly, one of those with Jesus put his hand on his sword, drew it, and struck the slave of the high priest, cutting off his ear. ⁵²Then Jesus said to him, "Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. ⁵³Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? ⁵⁴But how then would the scriptures be fulfilled, which say it must happen in this way?" ⁵⁵At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, "Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me as though I were a bandit? Day after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not arrest me. ⁵⁶But all this has taken place, so that the scriptures of the prophets may be fulfilled." Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.  - Matthew 26:51-56

Jesus didn't want his followers to defend him. The statement that "all who take the sword perish by the sword", is not a positive statement about the use of violence. Does Jesus justify some forms of violence and not others? Is Jesus just forbidding violence with weapons?

But how should we reconcile Jesus' words when he says things like,

   ³⁴ "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.

³⁵  For I have come to set a man against his father,

   and a daughter against her mother,

   and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;

³⁶  and one's foes will be members of one's own household.

³⁷Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; ³⁸and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. ³⁹Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.

You could interpret Jesus as saying that he is personally wielding the sword in judgment, but he is speaking about the violence that will result because of the response to his message and kingdom. He is speaking of the persecution that those who want to follow him will face.

But during his last celebration of Passover (the Last Supper) with his disciples, Jesus makes another reference to the sword,

   ³⁵ He said to them, "When I sent you out without a purse, bag, or sandals, did you lack anything?" They said, "No, not a thing." ³⁶He said to them, "But now, the one who has a purse must take it, and likewise a bag. And the one who has no sword must sell his cloak and buy one. ³⁷For I tell you, this scripture must be fulfilled in me, 'And he was counted among the lawless'; and indeed what is written about me is being fulfilled." ³⁸They said, "Lord, look, here are two swords." He replied, "It is enough."  -Luke 22:35-38

I have wondered what this means for a long time. I have heard people explain this away by saying that in verse 38 Jesus was telling them to shut up, as in "That's enough, now stop messing around." I don't think this is what he meant (haven't figured out verse 38 yet), but I also don't think he meant that his disciples should literally buy swords - because of what happened only a few hours later when one of the disciples cut the ear off the slave of the high priest and Jesus rebuked him. Jesus is recalling the ministry trip he sent the twelve on in Luke 10:5-15. With this in mind Jesus is trying to give his disciples of picture of what ministry will be like after he is arrested - he is telling them that if they were trying to establish an earthly kingdom then they would be wise to buy swords at this point because things are about to get violent for them. Even right after his commission in Luke 10, he goes on to warn them at that point about the coming persecution,

   ¹⁶ "See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. ¹⁷Beware of them, for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues; ¹⁸and you will be dragged before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them and the Gentiles. ¹⁹When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at that time; ²⁰for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. ²¹Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; ²²and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. ²³When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next; for truly I tell you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.  -Luke 10:16-23

A friend told me before that his Muslim friend told him that the Luke 22:36 reference shows that Jesus called for jihad.

I don't feel that I have answered the initial question, "Was Jesus a pacifist?" in this short and relatively surface level post, but hopefully it spurs you to think more deeply about Jesus' call to discipleship. I think one thing that we can be sure that Jesus communicated was that the world won't be pacifists towards him or his followers.