The account of the woman caught in adultery appears only in the Gospel of St. John, and we are not given very many details about it (see John 8:1-11). No mention is made of the woman’s partner in sin, and we can only guess what Jesus wrote on the ground as he spoke.
We know that in those days, those who were caught in adultery could be put to death for it. Of course, such a penalty would seem very harsh to us, but in those days punishments for sins were often meted out rather severely. It was simply commonly believed that if a person committed a grievous sin, then the punishment for that sin had to be many times more severe than the sin itself. The religious leaders of the time often based their authority to judge, and to punish, on the age-old Law of Moses.
In contrast, we find that Jesus showed the woman tremendous compassion, and this very demonstrably underscored the great mercy and love of the Father. At the same time, his seemingly radical show of forgiveness served to incriminate those who often gave more importance to the “letter of the law” than to the mercy of God.
There can be no doubt that this event challenged the “status quo” of those days, and at the same time exposed the scribes and Pharisees for who they really were. They had become so blinded by their own self-righteous religiosity, they weren’t able to understand, nor even to admit, their own faults. And because they operated with this type of extreme hypocrisy, they passed judgements and dealt harsh punishments, all the while believing somehow that they were the righteous arbitrators of “God’s will.”
In contrast to them, Jesus’ words and actions ushered in a new way of thinking; he invited the truly righteous-filled to acknowledge their own sinfulness, and to treat others as they themselves would want to be treated. If they could understand that all people were sinners, that no one was perfect, and that God’s love was eternally characterized by patience, forgiveness, and peace, then the teaching that mercy was more important than the law could be understood.
Jesus’ treatment of the woman was able to motivate her to true repentance, and to the possibility of renewal and change; in fact, he told her “go, and from now on do not sin any more” (see verse 11b). And so we should ask: how does this story challenge us in our own spiritual lives, and what does it say about the manner in which we ought to treat others, especially the “sinful people” in our lives? How do we react when members of our families, our friends, our neighbors, and/or our co-workers, fail to live up to our expectations of them? How do we treat them when they commit what we believe to be serious sins, or even minor errors of judgement? Do we, like the scribes and Pharisees, fail to acknowledge our own weaknesses, and our own possible sinfulness, as we self-righteously judge the faults and failings of others?
With these questions in mind, and as we prepare for the events of Holy Week, let's recall that the same Jesus who showed mercy to the woman caught in adultery carried all of our sins to the Cross. He sacrificed himself for the sins all people, and in doing so definitively and for all time demonstrated the great mercy and love of the Father.
May the same type of mercy motivate every action of our lives, and may it profoundly affect the manner in which we treat those fellow sinners we encounter along the way!
Praise God! Friar Timothy
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