FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT

[cappie]

JOHN 8:1-11  
KEY VERSE: “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” (v.7).

 

Today’s First Reading and Psalm look back to the marvellous deeds of the Exodus. Both see in the Exodus a pattern and prophecy of the future, when God will restore the fortunes of His people fallen in sin. The readings also look forward to a still greater Exodus, when God will gather in the exiled tribes of Israel which had been scattered to the four winds, the ends of the earth.

The new Exodus that Israel waited and hoped for has come in the death and resurrection of Jesus. Like the adulterous woman in today’s Gospel, all have been spared by the Lord’s compassion. All have heard His words of forgiveness, His urging to repentance, to be sinners no more. Like Paul in today’s Epistle, Christ has taken possession of every one, claimed each as a child of our heavenly Father.

In the Church, God has formed a people for Himself to announce His praise, just as Isaiah said He would

“Who am I to judge?” Those five words spoken by Pope Francis in July of 2013 are among the most remembered and quoted words of the Holy Father. Those words were part of his reply to a reporter’s question dealing with homosexuality.

Those famous words of Pope Francis might come to mind as we listen to the Gospel reading for this coming Sunday. (John 8:1-11).

There we hear how a group of scribes and Pharisees drag a woman before Jesus as he is teaching in the area of the Temple. They breathlessly declare, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?”

Those scribes and Pharisees were interested in his opinion because they believed they had ensnared Jesus in a trap.

If Jesus said the woman should be stoned, he would defy the authority of the occupying Romans who had forbidden the Jews to condemn anyone to death. But if Jesus said the woman should not be punished, he would disregard the Law of Moses. He would be accused of being an unfaithful Jew.

But Jesus refused to be drawn into the trap set by the scribes and Pharisees. He said, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” With those words, Jesus announced that whoever cast the first stone would be publicly declaring that he was sinless and perfect in the eyes of God. Jesus bent down to write in the sand.

What was Jesus writing? Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen suggested that Jesus was writing the sins of the accusers, sins buried deep within the hearts and pasts of all who would consider themselves blameless in the eyes of society. Regardless of what Jesus wrote, the effect of Jesus’ words was clear. Each individual, the elders first, and gradually every accuser, was confronted with a grim reality: the reality that they were not as blameless as they would give the appearance of being. It was no surprise that everyone drifted away. Who is without sin?

We might surmise that in that situation Jesus might have used the words of Pope Francis, “Who am I to judge?” Who are you to judge this woman?

However, if we look carefully at that reading, we see that Jesus did judge. He obviously judged the Pharisees and scribes as being hypocritical, hostile, and insincere.

He also judged the woman. She was guilty of adultery. Even she did not deny the accusation brought against her.

But while Jesus judged the woman, he did not condemn her to be defined by her adultery. Instead he set her free that she might move beyond her sins. As Jesus told her, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more.”

Jesus did not refrain from judging someone as doing wrong, but he did refrain from condemning people as lost and beyond God’s mercy. Judging those who are worthy of condemnation belongs to God alone and not to us. Certainly Pope Francis proclaims that very message in this Year of Mercy. “All Christians are missionaries of God’s mercy.”

How shocking it must have been that a woman condemned to death walked away into the new life of one who has been forgiven. How shocking it must necessarily be when we, the Body of Christ, act with the same mercy and compassion of Jesus in our world today.