FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT

From 2019:

A senior woman went into her doctor’s office, where a young new doctor saw her. After ten minutes in the examination room, the woman exploded out of the room and ran down the hall screaming.

Her regular doctor, an older man, stopped her and asked what the problem was. After listening to her story, the doctor told her to sit down and calm herself as he marched down the hallway to the younger doctor’s office and confronted him. 

“What is the matter with you?” he asked.  “Mrs. Terry is 68 years old, has four grown children and seven grandchildren and you just told her she is pregnant?”

The young doctor replied, “I did shock her, but it was for a specific reason. But, let me ask this: does she still have the hiccups?”

I am sure that Jesus shocked the scribes and Pharisees in a similar way when He said, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 

The scribes and Pharisees were so surprised by Jesus’ words, they dropped their blameless stones and drifted away one by one until only the woman was there. 

Jesus does not condone the woman’s behavior. Jesus does not condone immoral words, acts or deeds.  Jesus never condemns the person, but he does denounce the immoral act.

Let’s be honest, it is because we are sinners that we are here.  Our sin may not be adultery, but we need to hear loud and clear what Jesus said to the woman: “Has no one condemned you? Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

Notice how the woman is ridiculed but not the man. Who is this woman? Many people assume the woman caught in adultery is Mary Magdalene, but there is no scriptural proof of that notion. The woman remains nameless.

What we do know for sure is that the scribes and Pharisees really didn’t care anything about the woman. They were using her to entrap Jesus. 

They shamefully humiliated her, publicly dragged this embarrassed and frightened woman before the crowd and specifically, before Jesus, put her on public trial to see what Jesus would do.

The question is who is really on trial here: the woman or Jesus? Notice how the scribes and Pharisees never questioned her. They just interrogated Jesus.  Once again, the scribes and Pharisees were out to entrap Jesus. Remember the other times they tried this by asking, “Is it lawful to pay tribute to Caesar?” or “Master, which is the greatest commandment?” or “If a man dies and his brother marries his widow and this happens seven times, whose wife will she be in heaven?”

Jesus avoided these previous deceptions and ambushes, but this time, the scribes and Pharisees really think they have Jesus trapped. If Jesus says to put her to death, He betrays His own teaching of forgiveness and mercy. He also violates Roman law, as no Jew is able to impose capital punishment. Only Roman judges could do that, which is why Jesus was brought before Pilate, a Roman judge. If Jesus doesn’t put her to death, it violates Mosaic Law and they would have a reason to kill Him.

Jesus doesn’t answer the loaded question but begins to write in the sand. What do you think he wrote? Her name? The names of the scribes and Pharisees? Her sin? Or the sins of the scribes and Pharisees?

Jesus utters a sentence that sums up His mission of forgiveness: “Let the one among you who is without sin throw the first stone at her.”  This statement could refashion the whole earth if we would just allow it to sink in and then act upon it.   We would not blame others but instead try to understand. We would not judge others but instead try to forgive.

This gospel has a two-fold message. Those who sin must change their ways.  Those that accuse others of sin must stop misjudging.

This Fifth Week of Lent, focus on the word Remove. Remove hypocrisy, judgement of others, sinful acts and other “rubbish” in our lives and remove litter wherever you see it so it doesn’t float into creeks, streams, our beautiful lake or otherwise harms God’s creation.

As Jesus wrote in the sand, take your finger and write in the palm of your hand your most serious sin – a time when you failed to have a loving heart, a hopeful heart, a listening heart, a prayerful heart, a forgiving heart or a compassionate heart.

Remember, our Lord is a forgiving Lord. This gospel invites us to take time this upcoming week to reflect seriously and seek forgiveness through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.