Strength, Courage and Self-Defence: Why Jesus Never Called Us to Be Helpless

There’s a modern myth circulating in Christian circles — the idea that followers of Jesus must be soft, passive, and unwilling to resist evil. Some have taken “turn the other cheek” to mean “lie down and let wicked men walk over you.” But this view is not rooted in Scripture, history, or the understanding of those who actually lived with Jesus and learned from Him.

What Jesus’ Audience Already Knew

When Jesus walked among the Jews of the first century, He spoke to people steeped in the Old Testament. They didn’t need to be re-taught what they already knew: that protecting your household, defending the innocent, and restraining evil were righteous duties. Generations before Christ, the Scriptures already made clear that rescue, justice, and protection were moral obligations. The ancient Israelites understood that allowing harm to fall upon the weak was a failure of moral courage, not a demonstration of holiness.

Christ did not arrive to erase these truths but to fulfil the law and illuminate its spirit. He was not campaigning for a new morality, but rather revealing the heart behind the commandments. The moral principles regarding justice and protection were never revoked — they were simply assumed as foundational.

Why Jesus Told the Disciples to Buy a Sword

We see this clearly when Christ, during the final hours before His betrayal, said something many modern Christians seem reluctant to highlight: “If you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one” (Luke 22:36). He chose this moment — a night of approaching danger — to establish that His followers would face real threat in the world and should not be naïve about it.

If Jesus had intended to teach absolute pacifism, this was His opportunity to forbid weapons entirely. He could have said, “Do not arm yourselves,” or “My followers must never resist evil men.” But He didn’t. Instead, He instructed His disciples to equip themselves. Not to attack — but to be prepared.

Jesus Didn’t Need to Re-State Every Moral Command

Some people argue Jesus never gave a formal teaching on self-defence, but that argument misunderstands His mission. Jesus did not come to restate every principle of the Law word for word. He never explicitly said, “Stealing is bad,” or “Kidnapping is forbidden,” or “Incest is immoral.” These truths were already established and universally understood among His hearers. When He didn’t repeat every moral command, it wasn’t silence — it was affirmation through continuity.

Likewise, Jesus never said, “Do not protect your family” or “Do not defend the innocent.” That silence speaks loudly. Jesus was bold in correcting misconceptions and confronting sin — from hypocrisy to greed to abusive divorce practices — but He never corrected the Old Testament’s acceptance of righteous defence. If He wanted to abolish it, He would have done so clearly. Instead, He left it intact.

How the Early Church Understood It

This understanding continued through the early church. The men who were discipled by the apostles — Clement, Ignatius, Irenaeus, Augustine, and others — did not promote cowardice. They didn’t tell Christians to lie down before violent men. They warned against vengeance and warned against aggression for personal gain, but they never condemned defending the innocent or resisting violence. Their writings make it clear that Christian morality distinguished between unrighteous violence and righteous protection.

Understanding Peter in the Garden

The story of Peter in the garden often gets misused by those arguing for total passivity. When Peter struck the servant, Jesus told him, “Put your sword back in its place.” Not “Throw it away,” and not “Swords are sinful.” He didn’t rebuke Peter for owning a weapon. He rebuked him for using it at that moment — because Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion were part of the divine plan. Peter wasn’t wrong to have a sword; he was wrong to interfere with salvation history.

What Jesus Actually Fulfilled — and What He Didn’t

Jesus fulfilled the sacrificial law and the ceremonial rituals of the old covenant, but He did not abolish eternal moral truth. Justice, protection, and standing against evil did not expire with the coming of Christ. If anything, they were elevated.

Turning the Other Cheek: Misunderstood

This brings us to one of the most misunderstood teachings of Jesus: “Turn the other cheek.” That instruction was never about ignoring violence or refusing to defend others. It was about personal insult, honour, ego, and pride. Turning the other cheek is the refusal to escalate a petty dispute into feuding or retaliation. It is humility in the face of offence, not surrender in the face of real danger.

Jesus never taught that a man should allow harm to fall upon his wife, his children, or his neighbour. In fact, love — real love — protects. Paul wrote that love “always protects” (1 Corinthians 13:7). Real Christian love includes courage, intervention, and a willingness to stand between evil and the innocent.

Strength Is Not Un-Christian — Cowardice Is

Strength, therefore, is not un-Christian. Cowardice is. Over and over again, the Bible calls for courage: be strong, stand firm, resist the devil, deliver those being led away to death. A Christian is called to be gentle, yes — but gentleness is not helplessness. Meekness is not weakness. The meek inherit the earth — because meekness is power under discipline, not powerlessness.

Imagine a Christian father who refuses to defend his family from violence when he has the ability to do so. That is not moral virtue — it is a betrayal of love. Imagine a Christian who witnesses brutality and shrinks away, unwilling to intervene. That is not holiness — it is cowardice. Evil men thrive not because they are strong, but because good men choose to be passive.

A Call to Courage and Protection

The Christian life is not a call to violence. It is a call to righteousness. But sometimes righteousness requires action. Sometimes love requires confrontation. Sometimes holiness requires strength. There are moments in life when the most Christlike thing a believer can do is stand between danger and the weak, even at risk to himself.

Jesus did not teach His followers to embrace weakness — He taught them to walk in power, with humility and wisdom. The Christian is not a wolf, attacking the weak. But he is not a sheep, waiting to be eaten. He is called to be a shepherd — the kind who carries a staff not only to guide, but to strike predators.

Following the God Who Defends the Vulnerable

Our God is not passive. He is a defender of the weak, a fortress for the oppressed, the Lion of Judah, the Lord of Hosts. He trains His people for both peace and protection. As Psalm 144 declares: “He trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle.” This doesn’t glorify violence — it glorifies preparedness and courage.

Christians are called to mercy in matters of personal offense, but never to abandon the duty of protecting life. Jesus didn’t repeat every Old Testament principle because He didn’t need to — His listeners already knew them. His instruction to buy a sword was not a call to aggression, but a warning that Christians were not meant to be helpless prey in a hostile world.

The way of Christ is strength under control, courage anchored in love, and righteous protection of the vulnerable. The church should never be a haven for cowardice — it should be a sanctuary of bold, compassionate defenders.

May we embrace that calling with humility, wisdom, and resolve.