Matthew 26:52 - Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

All they that take the sword. — St. Matthew’s record is here the fullest. St. Mark reports none of the words; St. Luke (Luke 22:51) gives only the calming utterance, “Suffer ye thus far;” St. John (John 18:11) adds to the command to put the sword into its sheath the words, “The cup which My Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it?” a manifest echo of the prayer that had been uttered before in the hour of His agony. The words which St. Matthew gives are obviously not a general rule declaring the unlawfulness of all warfare, offensive or defensive, but are limited in their range by the occasion. Resistance at that time would have involved certain destruction. More than that, it would have been fighting not for God, but against Him, because against the fulfilment of His purpose. It is, however, a natural inference from the words to see in them a warning applicable to all analogous occasions. In whatever other cause it may be lawful to use carnal weapons, it is not wise or right to draw the sword for Christ and His Truth. (Comp. 2 Corinthians 10:4.)