Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?
Christ reminds them He would have a far better defense available, He need only pray to His Father and receive not eleven but a vast, invincible army. Since He does not implore the Father for angels, how much less would He resort to Peter's futile sword? Peter's rashness was folly: he tried to overturn a heavenly decree and obstruct mankind's redemption.
AI summary
How could the Scriptures be fulfilled if Christ called for rescue and received it? The Old Testament foretold His apprehension, His sufferings, His death on the cross, all of it must come to pass. These decrees are eternal, immutable, and unfrustrable; God's purposes cannot be thwarted by angelic intervention or anything else.
AI summary
Jesus teaches that resistance to His arrest implied distrust in God's protection and improper resistance to His will. If rescue were needed, God could supply far mightier aid than Peter's sword, twelve legions of angels, enough to guard Himself and each disciple with a legion. Yet He calls for none, because His Father's will is otherwise.
AI summary