Commentary on the Gospel of
The peak of detachment!
* An eye for an eye … offer no resistance
*I have the power, but choose not to retaliate
*The peak of detachment: setting the soul freeIn our Gospel reading our Lord reaches the peak of detachment, literally speaking, ‘defencelessness’ of oneself! Naturally, this is contrary to the normal – which is right to ‘self-defence.’ Yet, this is coming from our Lord and Master!
But he is actually pointing to something much greater than self-defence: namely detachment, letting going. What do we possess that we will not let go? Power, wealth, pleasure will all abandon us – one by one. And so, what difference does it make if one chooses to abandon them rather than wait for them to take the initiate of abandoning the person?
The pay-off is that the person would have initiated a process of generating inner peace within oneself. Saying to oneself, I have power to beat up my adversary but I won’t retaliate, just like Jesus did! He was spat on, scourged, nailed, etc., and he only needed to command an angel to silence, to cage the persecutors and that would have been the end of the story! But, instead, He gave away his power. He left himself in their hands and only crowned it all at the last moment by forgiving them. This is reaching the peak of detachment.
Humanly speaking, it is very difficult to grasp the rationale behind it all, yet, that’s the height of our calling towards union with God: letting all go, setting the soul free in order to unite with God. Continuously one needs God’s grace to contaioneself in the face of emotional upsets, particularly when confronted with injustice. Lord Jesus, please keep us focused on you at such trial moments, amen.
