Every day of Lent, Bishop Edward Malesic writes a Scripture reflection for the faithful. Follow the bishop on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Click HERE for the readings.
The story of the woman caught in adultery is familiar to us. It is a story of Jesus casting down the mighty from their thrones and lifting up the lowly. It feels right to us. Arrogant men are put on the same level as this poor sinner.
Jesus tells these chief priests and Pharisees, “The one who is without sin can cast the first stone at her.” Then Jesus began to write on the ground with his finger. There has been much ink spilled over this. What was he writing? We don’t know. Scripture doesn’t tell us what he wrote. Perhaps he listed the seven deadly sins: pride, greed, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, and sloth. Maybe he just wrote the numbers one through ten, to remind the accusing men that the Ten Commandments prohibited more sins than just adultery. Maybe he just doodled to give the men some time to think about which of them was without sin. And some have speculated that Jesus wrote the names of the men in the sand, and beside each name, he wrote the worst sin that each of them had ever done. If this woman deserved punishment, then they did too.
Whatever he wrote, it worked. The men put down their stones and began to leave. Only the woman was left with Jesus. And he would not condemn her. Instead, he gave her another chance: “Go, and from now on do not sin any more.” Did she sin again? Most likely, maybe not in adultery, but each new day brings its new temptations. Why are we repeat customers in the confession line? Because each new day requires God’s mercy. Hopefully, over time, we learn how to temper our sinfulness. But we will remain sinners until we step foot spotless into Heaven as saints.
Still, if we are ready to admit that we are fallen human beings who need the help of a loving savior, we will hear Jesus say to us: “I do not condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more.” Yes, it is true, Jesus loves us just as we are. But there is more. He loves us so much that he does not want us to stay as we are. I often think of Christ’s mercy as a stream of water running over a hard rock. Over time, the rough edges are smoothed out. May we be changed over time by the constant flow of Christ’s mercy on us. Unfortunately for those men who accused the woman of adultery, they walked away from Jesus, stepping outside of that stream of redeeming grace.
Here’s a question to think to ourselves about: when we are tempted to throw stones at someone else, what would Jesus write in the ground about us?
Have a blessed week everyone one.