April 6, 2025
John 8: 1-11
Jesus comes down from the Mount of Olives, early in the morning. This is usually a sign that he wanted to be alone to be close to his Father, before beginning his ministry in the temple. He sits down and, fascinated, people start listening to him. The teachers of the law and some Pharisees join those people listening, bringing with them a woman they caught in the act of adultery and who the law of Moses says should be stoned. Can you sense how the crowd is reacting to this? What feelings rise to the surface in you, in me? Can you imagine being in a similar situation in which everyone is staring at you? The woman’s misstep is made public, and she is paraded before the crowd.
All fingers are pointing in the woman’s direction. What is she feeling? Go, stand there in the middle of a crowd while all eyes are trained on you.
The Pharisees and the teachers of the law are using the woman as a trap” into which they can lure Jesus so they can make a case against him. They ask Jesus for his judgment with respect to the law of Moses. According to this law, the woman should be stoned. They ask Jesus what he thinks about stoning her. Jesus looks neither at the woman, the Pharisees and teachers of the law, nor at the crowd. He bends down and writes in the sand. What does that gesture mean? Is he seeking contact with his father? Or does He want to make an example and is attempting to get some perspective first? His writing and their having to wait for an answer irritate the Pharisees and teachers of the law, and they press Him to answer. Jesus makes them reflect on themselves and look away from the woman by first looking at themselves to examine themselves and see where their own sinfulness lies. It is so easy to point a finger at the sinner to avoid seeing one’s own sinfulness. Whoever is without sin may throw the first stone at the woman. Jesus bends his head again and writes on the ground.
Jesus gives a completely unexpected answer. The Pharisees and teachers of the law had hoped to get him to incriminate himself, but Jesus confirms his promise: “I have not come to abolish the law and the prophets but to fulfil them” (Mt. 5:17).
Everyone goes quiet; the group around the woman slowly breaks up; one for one they leave until no one is left.
What is the woman who has been caught feeling? Suppose it was you or me? What would we feel?
Finally, Jesus looks up and looks at the woman. He asks a question; “Has no one condemned you?” Her tension is palpable: “What can I expect now?”
Jesus is sparing with his words: He does not condemn but speaks words of liberation: “Go home …” What a relief! The woman had not thought this was possible. Although Jesus is without sin, He does not throw any stone. He simply tells her: “Sin no more.” Simple good advice and a wish from Him; no condemnation.
Reflection:
-Everyday we are confronted with the temptation to condemn. How do we deal with that? Do we allow ourselves be led by our impulses? Or can we stay “Stop,” and first reflect on ourselves and become aware of our own weaknesses? It makes us milder towards others.
-Our Founder Julie Billiart once said: “I want God as my judge.” Keeping this in mind can keep us from playing judge, a role that we should not take upon ourselves.
John 8: 1-11
Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area, and all the people started coming to him, and he sat down and taught them.
Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle. They said to him, “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?” They said this to test him, so that they could have some charge to bring against him.
Jesus 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 any more.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
Meet Sister Nina Vandamme, SNDdeN
