April 6, 2025 at Saint William Catholic Church in Naples, FL
Isaiah 43: 16-21 + Psalm 126 + Philippians 3: 8-14 + John 8: 1-12
A quick look or listen to this Gospel and we could easily think that this is about the sin of adultery. But that doesn’t say much to me and, I hope, to most of you. Adultery is not my problem. Christ is speaking to us today in this place, and he is not speaking about adultery. There is shameful sin involved in the way these scribes and Pharisees treated that woman. There is not a shred of evidence that they recognized a human being. There is no sense that they gave any thought to her feelings. They are using her as bait to trap Jesus.
There is another sin in their attitude toward Jesus. They wanted to shut him up and just do away with him. Murder is in their hardened hearts and a stubborn refusal to listen to him because he threatened their way of life and their values. Those Pharisees thought more of the law than the person. Maybe the greater sin here is their refusal of mercy, and mercy is what this is all about, because that is what we see at this moment in Jesus Christ.
Do not be distracted by that writing on the ground business. No scholar knows what that is all about. Wasting time even thinking about it avoids facing the demands of this story. One of the most basic principles left to us by Jesus is that no human being is to judge another. Distinguishing the difference between the sin and the sinner, Jesus does not condemn. He did not need to realizing that she was already condemned. She did not need that. What she needed was mercy. Those standing around, and even some today might ask why she deserved mercy. Of course, that thinking only comes to those who have forgotten what mercy is, a gift, a pure gift. No one earns it. No one deserves it.
Jesus never approved of the sin. In fact, he urges her to sin no more, and he does so in such a way that his respect for her comes through in the telling of the story. He invites her to conversion which is why we retell this story now near the very end of Lent as we approach Holy Week. It’s not too late, is the message. It is not too late to recognize our own sin. It is not too late to admit that we have and we do use other people sometimes for our selfish pleasure or to protect our comfortable lives. It is not too late to open our hearts and our minds to the truth and the message of Jesus Christ. It is not too late to stop judging other people, to stop humiliating others and treating them without any respect for their human dignity no matter what they have done to themselves. We don’t need to do any more damage to them. It is not too late to hope for mercy either because we all need it badly.
Compassion for fellow human beings is without a doubt one of the most important things in life. If there was more of it, there would be lasting peace, and there would be justice that looks less like punishment or revenge. We would all be better for it and have more hope that standing before Christ in judgement we might receive what we do not deserve, his mercy.