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.” JN 8:1-11
It is interesting to me that the Pharisees even respected Jesus enough to come and get His opinion on different situations. Yes, they were trying to arrest Him and they continue to claim He is a blasphemer which is proof that He was claiming to be God. But, they still come to Him and even call Him teacher. If I was a Pharisee in today’s Gospel, I would have been stunned. I follow the 613 laws from the 10 commandments Moses passed down to my ancestors, and I am good at following them. The 6th commandment teaches, “You shall not commit adultery”. During Jesus’s time, it is punishable by death. Jesus turns the whole situation on it’s head and puts it back on me, the Pharisee. Who am I to judge? Am I not a sinner, too? Does God forgive all sins great or small? I want revenge and justice, God wants mercy.
Where is the woman’s lover? He too has committed the same charge. Maybe they couldn’t get her to rat him out. He too knew what would happen if caught. Last, imagine being the woman. You feel terrible for what you have done. You really didn’t think too much about the consequence of death by stoning until now that you have been caught. The reason you sinned this sin was because you probably didn’t think too highly of yourself to begin with. But, most importantly Jesus is forgiving you and asks you to do the hardest of all things, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more”.
We will die and we will be judged. Jesus tells us so over and over. We cannot stop it. It is Truth. JN 3:16 tells us that God sent His only Son into the world to save it not condemn it. God doesn’t want to condemn His whole creation and send them to hell, He wants them with Him in heaven with Him, it is His greatest desire. How do we make it our greatest desire, accepting God’s forgiveness. Repenting (changing our lives) which Paul says so well in today’s second reading, “Just one thing: forgetting what lies behind but straining forward to what lies ahead, I continue my pursuit toward the goal, the prize of God’s upward calling, in Christ Jesus.” PHIL 3:8-14
Jesus does not condemn us, we condemn ourselves. Once we have learned what sin is, we must strive to fight it. We must form our conscious correctly. Most importantly, we must come to God’s abundant mercy. How do we realize what that is? Spend time at the foot of the cross praying each day, talking to Jesus and asking Him to teach you about His heart, His kindness and generosity, His unconditional love, His mercy, His deep desire to bring you to the Father so much so that He obediently died on a tree for you. Once we get to know Jesus like our best friend or spouse, we don’t ever want to hurt Him by sin again. We learn what it means to be selfless. We will fight sin with every grace and power we have. Because then we too love Jesus as He loves us. Is there anything greater? No. That is why our heart’s greatest desire is heaven, to be with Jesus and love Him as He loves us for all eternity.
Today’s challenge: Forgive your mom and dad, brothers and sisters, friends, spouse and children instead of condemning them. Recognize we are all sinners (that includes you) and let God be the judge. Stop judging, start forgiving. Allow God to change your life.
Be a servant, Become a saint!
Christian YOLO
Recent Comments