Jesus’ teaching of putting a millstone around a person’s neck and throwing him into the sea; plucking out the eye, cutting off limbs if one sins is rather disturbing and puzzling for a good teacher like Jesus. Can’t he use softer and more acceptable images than those violent, provoking ones?
One may argue that this gospel message can’t be taken literally. Sure enough, but a blind person still can commit the sin of lust without eye, so what eye should he pluck out? A crippled person still can sin even without full arms and legs, so what limb should the person cut off? If Jesus is a genius teacher, then how do we make sense of this method of teaching? How could his audience have received and understood his message?
I did a bit of research and found that this method of teaching is called hyperbole teaching, meaning to use an extreme exaggeration to make a point or an emphasis. It deploys extreme language to intensify the image so as to make an impact on the audience’s mind. Both the speaker and the audience know that it is an exaggeration to make a point. Jesus’ pedagogy is indeed genius in this sense.
In short, by using this hyperbole teaching, Jesus is saying one must avoid committing sin at all cost, and not be a cause of scandal to others, especially to the little ones. If we recall Jesus’ teaching about cleanliness in the gospel of Matthew, he insists sin is from the heart of the person. This is consistent with Jesus’ message: “For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, unchastity, theft, false witness, blasphemy. These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.” (Mat 15:19-20)
So, what is the wisdom that we may draw from this 26th Sunday gospel? The evil thing, no matter how insignificant it may be, should be avoided by all means possible. When a virulent disease infests a part of the body, sometimes it is vital that part is amputated in order to save the life of the person. Sin is a virulent contagious disease that must be decisively dealt with for the sake of our spiritual well-being. Don’t compromise and underestimate the cunning disguised devil.