He Who Has A Money Bag, Let Him Take It

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Keraza Magazine issue 13-14 March 27, 2015

"And He said to them, 'When I sent you without money bag, knapsack, and sandals, did you lack anything?' So they said, 'Nothing.' Then He said to them, 'But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one'" (Luke 22:35-36).

St. Luke the Evangelist is the only one who mentions this saying in his Gospel, where the Lord Christ addressed His disciples after they ate the Passover, and before they went out to the garden of Gethsemane to pray, in an attempt to prepare them for the events of the crucifixion. Actually, one who meditates on this saying finds it very perplexing. How could the Lord Christ, who had ordered His disciples to "carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals" (Luke 10:4), come now to command and order them to use money, provisions, and the sword? Is this not clearly contradictory, and two conflicting commands?

This perplexity fades when we notice certain key terms in these verses. "When" and "But now" point with vivid clarity to two different periods traversed by the person walking down the path of struggle and spiritual growth. The first period, mentioned here in the past tense, is the period of spiritual childhood, where there is no lack for any consolation; this period is temporary and short lived. The second period is the time of the cross, where there is transition to growth and spiritual maturity. The first stage on the path is the stage of free unconditional consolations, where the soul rejoices with the external presence of Christ. In the second stage, the soul gains Christ within and unites with Him; this is conditional, based on a free will to take up the cross and carry it every day: "He who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me" (Matthew 10:38). "But now" is in fact, "take up his cross daily" (Luke 9:23), indicating a condition of an ever ready will to take up the cross, not simply a passing event.

The money bag, a purse or wallet, represents possessions. The knapsack carries food, and represents primary needs. Therefore, taking them is a sign of the struggler's readiness and genuine intention to spend what he has: "I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls" (2 Corinthians 12:15), and readiness to lose all and sacrifice every need "for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ" (Philippians 3:8). As if the Lord Christ was preconditioning us that "the message was true, but the appointed time was long" (Daniel 10:1), that the pains of the narrow gate are very true pains.

As for the person who had already renounced everything and lived the life of the poor in spirit, no longer owning any money bag or knapsack, he then needs to sell his garment, that means to take off the old man, and to take up "the sword of the spirit" (Ephesians 6:17). Doubtless, the price of selling the garment is trivial compared to the price of buying the sword. Where would the struggler find the difference in cost to buy the sword of the spirit? Is feeble human struggle sufficient to pay the cost of his salvation? Certainly not. Here is where the work of grace comes in, as described by St. Isaac: "As much as a person labors, struggles, and compels himself for God's sake, just so much does divine aid come to him, surround him, ease his struggle, and prepare the way before him."

Bishop Youssef
Bishop, Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States