The Gospel for this Sunday reveals the salvation that Christ
has brought to us. It begins like this: “Early in the morning, he came again
into the temple, and all the people came to him, and he sat down and taught
them.” Jesus’ coming to the temple early in the morning signifies the coming of
a new grace. And then he sat among them. We know the Jerusalem temple is the
replication of Heavenly Jerusalem. Today’s Gospel tells us in the introduction
that the Son of God, who came from heaven to save humankind, is now with men on
earth. Moreover, all the people who came to him depict the depth of the salvation
that he brought.
What the Pharisees and scribes do in the temple, even though
it is meant to trap him, turns out to manifest more concretely the salvation Jesus
brought to us. Let us meditate on it carefully.
The Pharisees bring an adulterous woman before Jesus and ask
his opinion on whether she should be stoned to death according to the law of
Moses. On the one hand, if he says, “Don’t stone her, let her go”, he can be
accused of violating the Law of Moses. On the other hand, if he says, “Stone
her to death” in the Jewish temple, in a very public place, he could also be
accused of violating Roman law because the Roman law took away the authority of
the Jewish leaders to execute anyone.
But Jesus was silently writing on the ground. Jesus’s
writing on the ground is a sign of the fulfilment of Jeremiah’s prophecy.
Jeremiah prophesies: “The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron. O Lord,
the hope of Israel, all who forsake thee shall be put to shame; those who turn
away from thee shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the Lord,
the fountain of living water. (Jer 17:1,13)
So, Jesus performs a sign of judgment against the scribes
and the Pharisees, who have rejected him, the fountain of living water.
Then Jesus stood up and told them a judgment that should reverberate
in our ears before every judgment we make: “Let him who is without sin among
you be the first to throw a stone at her.” So the trap that they set for Jesus sprang
back upon them. Now either they have to stone her or confess that they are
sinners. Later, we read that they went away one by one, beginning with the
eldest. Finally, Jesus said to the woman: Go, and sin no more.
What we see in this Gospel is the saving mission that Jesus
brought to us. He came to save us with mercy. God’s mercy is not a licence to
sin. He did not tell the woman that you go and do as you like. But he said go
and sin no more. So mercy is not just pity. It is not just pardon, but it is
the power we need to go forth and do what we could never do on our own and what
we failed to do right before.
Then naturally, one
can doubt the sin and the punishment. What is sin? Will God punish? What is the
punishment? The best way to understand sin is to understand our planet earth. We
find life on earth only because it keeps some natural laws and stays at a
position that makes life possible. On the other hand, if the earth moves away
from the sun, the source of life, it freezes and becomes lifeless. Similarly, if
we move away from God, the source of divine life, by transgressing the divine
laws, we will definitely become lifeless. So spiritual death is not God’s
punishment, but it is inherent to sin. As the earth becomes lifeless not
because of the sun’s punishment as it moves away from the sun, so too man, when
he turns away from God, naturally comes the spiritual death. So sin is auto-destructive.
Any father who
loves his child raises the child in the discipline. It is for the child’s good.
Actually, it is the father’s mercy, and there is no animosity towards the baby.
The worst thing a father can do to his baby is to let the baby live as he likes.
So the threat of death as the result of sin is the mercy of God upon us.
Because the goal of God’s mercy is to lead us to repentance. (Rm 2:4) So God’s
mercy is the power and the door for anyone who likes to come back to life. Notice
the prophecy of Isaiah: “Come now, let us reason together: though your sins are
like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.” (Is1:18)
Yes, “God never
tires of forgiving us, but we sometimes tire of asking Him to forgive us. So
the first lesson of today’s Gospel is to trust in God’s infinite mercy and prepare
for a new life with repentance so that God may write our names in the book of
life and not on the dirt.
Secondly, the
Pharisees and the woman caught in adultery are symbols. This woman represents
Israel and mankind and every one of us and our unfaithfulness to God. This is
because the Scriptures depict the relationship between God and Israel through
marital relations. Moreover, Christ reveals Himself as the divine Bridegroom. So,
to understand better the saving actions of Jesus, we need to see Jesus’
sacrifice on Calvary and the institution of the eucharist in the light of a marriage
covenant. This Sunday, just before Holy Week, is preparing us for that. So the
woman who was caught in adultery was a people who followed other gods, such as
money, gold, and worldly pleasures, and disobeyed God’s covenant.
Now what happened
to her will happen to each of us sinners. What happened to her? The Pharisees
bring her before Jesus and ask him to judge. The scribes and the Pharisees here
in the Gospel are an image of the devil. The devil is the accuser of our
brothern, day and night before our God (Rev 12:10). Yes, every one of our sins
gives the devil authority over us and an opportunity to accuse us day and night
before God.
So, dear ones, today’s
Gospel puts two possibilities before us. Either we can live as an image of the devil
by condemning our brothers and sisters, or we can live as an image of God by
being merciful towards our brothers and sisters and start a new life free from
sin by relying on God’s mercy.
May God bless you
0 Comments