5th Sunday of Lent
5th Sunday of Lent
“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.
So, is Jesus telling us that it’s ok to commit adultery? He didn’t condemn the woman. He let her go. Before we answer the question, maybe we need to look at the big picture.
Jesus is in the temple area. The Gospel says “all the people started coming to him and He sat down and taught them.” We don’t know how many people there were. It doesn’t say. But “all the people” seems like it might have been a crowd. Jesus is teaching them and here come the scribes and Pharisees with this woman who’s committed adultery. They interrupt Jesus’ teaching and make the woman stand right in the middle of the crowd.
So here we have the Pharisees demanding that Jesus do something about this sinner. They don’t think she might have committed adultery. They didn’t hear a rumor. They didn’t see her boyfriend’s camel parked outside her house all night. She was “caught in the very act of committing adultery” they tell Him. We don’t know how they caught her. There might have been some sinning on the Pharisees’ part, too.
Anyway, the Pharisees are indignant. They’re there in their big Pharisee robes and their big Pharisee hats, with big rocks in their hands, demanding to know what Jesus is going to do about the woman’s sin.
Of course, they didn’t confront Jesus when He was alone with His disciples. They waited until he was in front of a crowd of believers. They wanted to embarrass him and to come up with something they could use against Him. Sound a lot like some of our modern-day politicians.
[pause]
Let’s talk about adultery for a minute. In a recent poll, 83% of Americans said that adultery is always wrong. I’m sure most of us here would agree with that. But what about the flip side? If 83% believe adultery is always wrong, then 17% don’t believe it’s always wrong. Nearly one in five Americans think adultery’s ok sometimes??? I think that’s mind boggling. Even people who do it should know that it’s never ok.
The reason I bring it up is because if this incident were to take place, there are more people than you might think who would say the woman’s sin wasn’t really such a big deal. We live in a world of situational ethics. In the same poll, only 36% of people said that they believe we should live by God’s principles.
Our kids can see adultery on television, and not just on pay cable. Our so-called “modern” society has lost it’s way when it comes to morality. Our “old-fashionedChurch still holds to the traditional values. You know, silly things like the Ten Commandments. But the people of the first century, the people in today’s Gospel story took the Ten Commandments very seriously. You’ve heard the expression that something’s chiseled in stone? The Ten Commandments WERE chiseled in stone. They were the law. They still are. And this woman had broken the law.
In Mark’s Gospel, one of the scribes asked Jesus which was the greatest of the commandments. He answered that the first, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength” was first and that “Love your neighbor as yourself” was second. Evidently the other eight are tied for third place.
But if you look at those eight, they all support the first two. Thou shalt not commit adultery is a part of loving God and loving your neighbors.
From the second chapter of Genesis all the way through Revelations, the scriptures speak of marriage. The love of a husband and wife is God’s way of revealing His love for us in a physical way; a way that we can see. He told Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply. The Gospels are full of marriage symbolism. Jesus is the bridegroom and His Church is the bride.
The very first words spoken by a human being in the Old Testament were spoken by Adam after God had created Eve. He said, “This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; This one shall be called ‘woman’, for out of ‘her man’ this one has been taken.”
“That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body.”
[pause]
Getting back to our story, this was a VERY SERIOUS matter. How did Jesus handle it? He put it back on the Pharisees themselves. In effect He said, “ok, you’re right. This woman’s a sinner. She deserves to be stoned. Go ahead and stone her, but the first rock has to come from someone who hasn’t sinned himself. Whichever one of you has never sinned, go ahead and go first.” He didn’t say that they all had to be sinless, just the first one to throw his rock.
Of course we know that none of them could go first, so there was no stoning that day. They all dropped their rocks and went away, BEGINNING WITH THE ELDERS. If the elders were admitting that they had sinned, surely no one else would be bold enough to go first, including the crowd who had gathered to hear Jesus teach. Remember the Gospel says that when Jesus looked up the second time, “he was left alone with the woman.”
When no one had condemned the woman, Jesus told her that He didn’t either. Which brings us back to the question, is Jesus telling us that adultery is ok?
No, He’s not. He didn’t condemn the woman THAT DAY. He told her to go and not sin any more. In a few minutes we’ll recite the Creed and we’ll say “He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.” It wasn’t time for Him to judge the woman. None of us knows when that time will come. Jesus didn’t condemn anyone while He was here. Notice though, that He didn’t forgive the woman either.
Not condemning and forgiving aren’t the same thing. We assume that if the woman didn’t sin anymore that she would be forgiven. We know that He forgives all of us if we ask Him to. That’s what’s missing from this story. The woman didn’t ask for forgiveness. For all we know, she may have gone right back to her old ways. If she did, then she didn’t escape condemnation, she just put it off.
None of us is strong enough to avoid all sin. Adam and Eve made sure of that.
You and I can put ourselves into this story. We can be the sinful woman. Jesus doesn’t condemn us for our sins either. It’s not time yet. The trouble is, we don’t know exactly when that time will be. He WILL condemn us for our sins someday, unless we ask Him for forgiveness. The neat thing is that he WILL forgive us if we ask.
We could also be one of the Pharisees, standing here with stone in hand, just waiting to throw it at whoever we think deserves it. C’mon, you know there’s somebody that you could hit with one of these babies. But, we don’t get to do that. Jesus has the power to judge. You and I don’t. In fact, the Gospels make it pretty clear that Jesus will judge the stone thrower much more harshly than the throwee.
We can also be one of the members of the crowd. People in crowds are easy to influence. It’s called “mob mentality”. Once somebody throws that first stone, we’re right there, ready to join in. Have you ever been in a group of people when one of them starts to throw verbal stones at somebody. Did you rush to the person’s defense, or did you join in the criticism? We’ve all done it. It’s human nature. Human nature: That’s what we call it when we do something we’re ashamed of and we don’t want to take the blame.
Two weeks from today (tomorrow) is Easter Sunday. No matter whether we’re the sinner, the stone thrower, or just a face in the crowd that goes along with the rest, the next two weeks would be a good time to examine ourselves, take a look at our sins, and ask Jesus to forgive us. This coming Tuesday we’ll have Eucharistic Adoration from just after 8:00 mass until 8:00 in the evening. Take an hour, spend it in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, thinking about the times you’ve sinned and the times you’ve judged what you thought were others’ sins.
If you haven’t been to confession lately, this would be a good time to go. You don’t have to make a reservation. There are always seats available.
We’re never going to stop sinning. We can’t help it. All we can do is ask for God’s help to be strong and ask for his forgiveness when we’re not.
“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.
So, is Jesus telling us that it’s ok to commit adultery? He didn’t condemn the woman. He let her go. Before we answer the question, maybe we need to look at the big picture.
Jesus is in the temple area. The Gospel says “all the people started coming to him and He sat down and taught them.” We don’t know how many people there were. It doesn’t say. But “all the people” seems like it might have been a crowd. Jesus is teaching them and here come the scribes and Pharisees with this woman who’s committed adultery. They interrupt Jesus’ teaching and make the woman stand right in the middle of the crowd.
So here we have the Pharisees demanding that Jesus do something about this sinner. They don’t think she might have committed adultery. They didn’t hear a rumor. They didn’t see her boyfriend’s camel parked outside her house all night. She was “caught in the very act of committing adultery” they tell Him. We don’t know how they caught her. There might have been some sinning on the Pharisees’ part, too.
Anyway, the Pharisees are indignant. They’re there in their big Pharisee robes and their big Pharisee hats, with big rocks in their hands, demanding to know what Jesus is going to do about the woman’s sin.
Of course, they didn’t confront Jesus when He was alone with His disciples. They waited until he was in front of a crowd of believers. They wanted to embarrass him and to come up with something they could use against Him. Sound a lot like some of our modern-day politicians.
[pause]
Let’s talk about adultery for a minute. In a recent poll, 83% of Americans said that adultery is always wrong. I’m sure most of us here would agree with that. But what about the flip side? If 83% believe adultery is always wrong, then 17% don’t believe it’s always wrong. Nearly one in five Americans think adultery’s ok sometimes??? I think that’s mind boggling. Even people who do it should know that it’s never ok.
The reason I bring it up is because if this incident were to take place, there are more people than you might think who would say the woman’s sin wasn’t really such a big deal. We live in a world of situational ethics. In the same poll, only 36% of people said that they believe we should live by God’s principles.
Our kids can see adultery on television, and not just on pay cable. Our so-called “modern” society has lost it’s way when it comes to morality. Our “old-fashionedChurch still holds to the traditional values. You know, silly things like the Ten Commandments. But the people of the first century, the people in today’s Gospel story took the Ten Commandments very seriously. You’ve heard the expression that something’s chiseled in stone? The Ten Commandments WERE chiseled in stone. They were the law. They still are. And this woman had broken the law.
In Mark’s Gospel, one of the scribes asked Jesus which was the greatest of the commandments. He answered that the first, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength” was first and that “Love your neighbor as yourself” was second. Evidently the other eight are tied for third place.
But if you look at those eight, they all support the first two. Thou shalt not commit adultery is a part of loving God and loving your neighbors.
From the second chapter of Genesis all the way through Revelations, the scriptures speak of marriage. The love of a husband and wife is God’s way of revealing His love for us in a physical way; a way that we can see. He told Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply. The Gospels are full of marriage symbolism. Jesus is the bridegroom and His Church is the bride.
The very first words spoken by a human being in the Old Testament were spoken by Adam after God had created Eve. He said, “This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; This one shall be called ‘woman’, for out of ‘her man’ this one has been taken.”
“That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body.”
[pause]
Getting back to our story, this was a VERY SERIOUS matter. How did Jesus handle it? He put it back on the Pharisees themselves. In effect He said, “ok, you’re right. This woman’s a sinner. She deserves to be stoned. Go ahead and stone her, but the first rock has to come from someone who hasn’t sinned himself. Whichever one of you has never sinned, go ahead and go first.” He didn’t say that they all had to be sinless, just the first one to throw his rock.
Of course we know that none of them could go first, so there was no stoning that day. They all dropped their rocks and went away, BEGINNING WITH THE ELDERS. If the elders were admitting that they had sinned, surely no one else would be bold enough to go first, including the crowd who had gathered to hear Jesus teach. Remember the Gospel says that when Jesus looked up the second time, “he was left alone with the woman.”
When no one had condemned the woman, Jesus told her that He didn’t either. Which brings us back to the question, is Jesus telling us that adultery is ok?
No, He’s not. He didn’t condemn the woman THAT DAY. He told her to go and not sin any more. In a few minutes we’ll recite the Creed and we’ll say “He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.” It wasn’t time for Him to judge the woman. None of us knows when that time will come. Jesus didn’t condemn anyone while He was here. Notice though, that He didn’t forgive the woman either.
Not condemning and forgiving aren’t the same thing. We assume that if the woman didn’t sin anymore that she would be forgiven. We know that He forgives all of us if we ask Him to. That’s what’s missing from this story. The woman didn’t ask for forgiveness. For all we know, she may have gone right back to her old ways. If she did, then she didn’t escape condemnation, she just put it off.
None of us is strong enough to avoid all sin. Adam and Eve made sure of that.
You and I can put ourselves into this story. We can be the sinful woman. Jesus doesn’t condemn us for our sins either. It’s not time yet. The trouble is, we don’t know exactly when that time will be. He WILL condemn us for our sins someday, unless we ask Him for forgiveness. The neat thing is that he WILL forgive us if we ask.
We could also be one of the Pharisees, standing here with stone in hand, just waiting to throw it at whoever we think deserves it. C’mon, you know there’s somebody that you could hit with one of these babies. But, we don’t get to do that. Jesus has the power to judge. You and I don’t. In fact, the Gospels make it pretty clear that Jesus will judge the stone thrower much more harshly than the throwee.
We can also be one of the members of the crowd. People in crowds are easy to influence. It’s called “mob mentality”. Once somebody throws that first stone, we’re right there, ready to join in. Have you ever been in a group of people when one of them starts to throw verbal stones at somebody. Did you rush to the person’s defense, or did you join in the criticism? We’ve all done it. It’s human nature. Human nature: That’s what we call it when we do something we’re ashamed of and we don’t want to take the blame.
Two weeks from today (tomorrow) is Easter Sunday. No matter whether we’re the sinner, the stone thrower, or just a face in the crowd that goes along with the rest, the next two weeks would be a good time to examine ourselves, take a look at our sins, and ask Jesus to forgive us. This coming Tuesday we’ll have Eucharistic Adoration from just after 8:00 mass until 8:00 in the evening. Take an hour, spend it in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, thinking about the times you’ve sinned and the times you’ve judged what you thought were others’ sins.
If you haven’t been to confession lately, this would be a good time to go. You don’t have to make a reservation. There are always seats available.
We’re never going to stop sinning. We can’t help it. All we can do is ask for God’s help to be strong and ask for his forgiveness when we’re not.
posted by Mike at 9:47 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home