Radical Peace

2 Corinthians 5:21 "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

One of the sins that Jesus became for us when he died on the cross was the sin of violence. There is a paradox here, given the intense violence of his own death. But it is clear from Jesus' life and his submission to this death that violence was a thing he refused.

For instance, at the end of Jesus' life when Roman soldiers came to take him away, Peter (one of his disciples) pulled out a sword and sliced off a soldier's ear in an attempt to defend Jesus. But Jesus stops Peter and even goes so far as to HEAL the man who is about to take him to what Jesus knows is going to be a slow and brutal death.

It's hard for us to digest this sort of commitment to peace. Even if we're not big fans of conquering territory and starting fights, most of us would make use of violence for the sake of defending those we love and want to protect. What does it mean to you then, that Jesus is so radically committed to peace?