Sin No More

Sin No More

Jn 8: 1 – 11

Fifth Sunday of Lent

Introduction

Today’s reading is about the woman caught in adultery. In this story, we see how people can be quick to judge and condemn their fellowmen, using even scriptures to justify their rash judgment. We see also in this story God’s compassion and mercy in the way Jesus handled the woman caught in adultery.

The Gospel

When Jesus was in the temple, people started coming to him. Then he sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle. They said to Jesus: “ 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?” 

The scribes and Pharisees were referring to Deut 22: 23 – 24 which stated that a married woman caught in adultery must be stoned to death. The gospel of John also writes the motives of the scribes and Pharisees in asking this question. The gospel says that they said this to test him so that they could have some charge to bring against him.

This was a tricky issue. The law of Moses authorized stoning as the justifiable punishment for married women caught in adultery. On the other hand, Jews cannot just stone anyone to death.  This power to sentence anyone to death belongs to the Romans alone who were then the political authorities in Israel and in the known world. A wrong prescription from Jesus could cause him serious trouble with the religious or the political authorities.

Jesus, however, after hearing the scribes and Pharisees, bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger. But when they continued asking him, he straightened up and said to them, “ Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again, he bent down and wrote on the ground.

And in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders. So he was left alone with the woman before him. Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, “ Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She replied, “ No one, sir.” Then Jesus said, “ Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.  ‘

Reflection

Today’s gospel makes us reflect about the nature of sin. Sin has a social dimension. The sin that is committed by the individual affects not just the sinner but other people as well within the community. Because it affects the  community, it needs to be sanctioned and punished by the same people within the community affected by it.

The punishment or sanctions for the sin committed are implemented or executed for the purpose of preventing the sin from spreading further and for stopping the effects of that sin within the community. This is the reason for Moses’ command to stone any woman caught in adultery. Stoning was a form of sanction which was thought to be a deterrent for such behavior.

But while sin has a social dimension, it also has, first and foremost, a personal dimension. The one who commits sin not only does something wrong, but the wrongdoing that is committed humiliates the sinner. The sin we commit exposes our weaknesses which ultimately humbles us and at times humiliates us especially when exposed to the public. Such was the case of the woman caught in adultery. She did something wrong and this wrongdoing was broadcasted in public consequently, humiliating her before the eyes of everyone.

Our reading today, however, focuses on a different dimension of sin. Our reading today speaks of sin and its ability to evoke mercy and compassion rather than punishment and condemnation. This was the case with Jesus. Jesus could have prescribed the stoning of the woman according to what the law of Moses prescribed. Instead, he showed mercy and compassion to a woman who was completely stripped of her dignity as her sin was exposed to the public. The shame and the humiliation must have deeply touched the Lord so that at the end, he tells the woman: “ Neither do I condemn you.”

But our reading also exposes another dimension of sin especially when it exposes our human nature’s tendency to be judgmental. Our tendency to rash judge exposes our inclination to simply look at the faults of others rather than look at our own faults first. Our inability to reflect on our own wrongdoing makes it easier for us to judge and condemn others so readily – yes, even so  mercilessly.

When Jesus tells the crowd: “ Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her,” he was actually exhorting the crowd to reflect and mull over the reality of each man’s sinfulness. We all have sinned. And because we all have sinned, we are all deserving of punishment.

But because of God’s mercy and compassion, we are able to rise up once more and walk towards new life. It is God’s mercy and compassion which Jesus has shown that gives us the hope to “sin no more” and build a life anew. The mercies of the Lord are boundless. They are new every morning.

Prayer

Dear Lord, you know all my faults more than I do. There is nothing hidden from you. Yet, when I judge others, I act as if I have no fault of my own. How hypocritical of me! Today, you want me to consider mercy and compassion especially when I see and deal with the sins and weaknesses of others. Amen.

^“…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,  and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” – Rom 3: 23 - 24

For reflections like this, go to my blog: thevineyardlaborer.blogspot.com