Gospel Reflection for Sunday April 3rd, 5th Sunday of Lent By Brian Maher OMI
What a beautiful encounter Jesus has with the woman in today’s Gospel. Even more beautiful is the God revealed to us in Jesus’ words and actions.
Scripture experts tell us that this story was not in the early copies of John’s Gospel and was added at a later date, leading some to question whether it should be omitted altogether. What a tragedy it would be if scholarly misgivings denied us this insight into God’s incredible love for us. The mission of Jesus was to show us the Father and invite us to join him in the Kingdom of God which, he told us, was “very close”. If any story in the Gospels shows us a God of love and infinite forgiveness who is close to us, this one does.
It amazes me sometimes how so many people live in fear of God, expecting harsh judgement, and possibly infinite punishment, when we meet him. How is it possible to read this Gospel, or last week’s Gospel, and still fear God? I truly believe we must challenge ourselves with this question. As Christians we are called to witness to others the God shown to us by Jesus. That God is love and only love. There is nothing else in God except love.
Every parent, husband, wife, partner, knows that true love forgives, is compassionate and gentle, welcoming and warm, tolerant and accepting. We succeed in all these things sometimes and we try to do them at other times. Sometimes, perhaps many times, our pride or anger or selfishness blinds us and we fail. This is sin and it is part of all of us.
But God is not like us. God is only love. There is no ‘sometimes’ in God, and there is no ‘trying to’ in God. God always, always, always, loves. It is the God we meet in the parable of the Prodigal Son and it is the God we meet in today’s encounter between Jesus and the Woman taken in Adultery. If we honestly read today’s Gospel and still fear God, then something is blinding us to the ‘wonder-full’ God that Jesus spent his life showing us. It is a prayer we might make today, “Lord, open my eyes to the God of Jesus, so that I may truly believe in, and show to others, the infinite love and forgiveness of our God.”
The Gospel is presented to us as yet another test or trap set by those determined to undermine Jesus’ message and sow doubts among his followers. This trap was not about whether to execute the poor woman or not, it was about the Law, attempting to get Jesus to either contradict the Law or to harshly condemn the woman. Either would alienate some of his followers, a classic ‘Catch-22’ – though of course Jesus wouldn’t have called it that!
Unless the Pharisees intended to lynch the woman, they would not have actually stoned her to death. By the time of Jesus the Romans had made it illegal for Jewish courts to execute anyone. So while there is evidence in the Gospels and other sources of people taking the law into their own hands and killing a person, it is extremely unlikely that it would have happened in this case. It was purely a theoretical trap and Jesus recognised it for what it was. As always, he refused to be drawn into the ‘yes/no’, ‘right/wrong’ arguments which can never result in anything other than dissent and conflict. This is another lesson we might learn ourselves!
Much is made of Jesus ‘writing in the sand’ and I have read all kinds of theories as to what he might have been doing. A popular idea is that he was writing down the sins of those making the accusations, shaming and embarrassing them into leaving the woman alone.
For me that makes very little sense. Even if Jesus could do that, why would he do so? Wouldn’t it be strange that a man who spent his life offering forgiveness would resort to publicly shaming others by writing down their sins for all to see? Why, I wonder, do we feel the need to read into things meanings which are both incredibly unlikely and totally unnecessary?
Is it not much more likely that he was simply giving himself time to recognise the trap set for him and compose his answer? Every stand-up comedian, actor, public speaker, politician, teacher, knows the importance of timing in any interaction with others. It is the art of pausing, allowing the audience time to focus on what is being said before making an important point, the punch-line of a joke, etc. Some people can tell a joke and everyone falls around laughing. Others – me included – can tell exactly the same joke and it falls flat on its face. Why? Timing, knowing when to pause, building tension and expectation in those listening.
Jesus was a story-teller. His parables, teaching and personal encounters were popular and drew large crowds. To be that successful he must have mastered the art of timing. Not looking at the crowd, bending forward and doodling in the sand, seems to me a brilliant example of timing. The crowd would be on edge, wondering if he’d walk into the trap, waiting, wanting him to answer. Jesus keeps them waiting, he allows the tension to build, the anticipation to rise, before he looks up and delivers the punch-line. And what a punch-line it was! “Let the person who has never sinned throw the first stone.” Now it was they who were in the Catch-22; throw a stone and you are showing yourself to be a liar and hypocrite, don’t throw one and you have to allow the woman to go. It’s about timing, and in this case it was devastating; all of her accusers stole away, their arrogance and self-righteousness visible to all.
And then to the beautiful conclusion of the story. After waiting, probably still doodling in the sand, for the accusers to vanish Jesus looks up at the woman. Imagine her shame and humiliation as she stands there in front of him. Imagine her fear and confusion. Jesus had vanquished her accusers but what now would he say to her? Would he condemn, shame, humiliate her further? Would he demand some penance or retribution from her because of her sin.
“Has no one condemned you?” he asks her. It is a rhetorical question, gently preparing her for his judgement.
“No one, sir.” she answers. She’s waiting……Jesus is waiting too, waiting for her to be truly open to what he wants to say to her.
“Neither do I condemn you.” …and that’s it, in five incredible words. No demand for penance, no asking for an explanation, no lecture on morality, just pure forgiveness, “Neither do I condemn you.”
His final statement, “Go and sin no more.” is important. Forgiveness comes first and is already given. ‘Sinning no more’ is not a requirement for forgiveness. Jesus statement is, I believe, an invitation to the woman. “The Kingdom I bring…” Jesus is saying to her, “…is for you too. Join me in it. You can be part of it too.”
In this truly beautiful Gospel Jesus is speaking and God is speaking. To the woman. To me. To us.
Can we hear?
“I do not condemn you.
I never will condemn you.
I am always waiting.
Come to me.
Join me.
There is no need to fear.
There will be no condemnation.
There will be no humiliation.
Just forgiveness,
offered tenderly and gently.
Just love
….and nothing else.
Many thanks,
Brian.
If you have any comments, questions or thoughts on this scripture reflection you would like to share, I would be delighted to hear from you – please feel free to email me at b.maher@oblates.ie
| Gospel Sunday April 3rd | John 8:1-11 © |
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