Dust accuses the Dust, not the Creator Is 43:16-21; Phil 3:8-14; Jn 8:1-11 (Lent 5/ C)

 

Dust accuses the Dust, not the Creator

Is 43:16-21; Phil 3:8-14; Jn 8:1-11 (Lent 5/ C)

“The Lamb of God is he who takes away the sin of the world” (Divine Office)

The fifth Sunday of Lent continues to offer lessons about God’s mercy and forgiveness. The scribes and the Pharisees brought to Jesus a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. In the gospels, we see three women caught in adultery. But the tradition does not specify which woman of today’s gospel. The evangelist John writes that the Pharisees and Scribes wanted to “test” Jesus on the issue of retribution (Jn 8:6). They tried to carry out the death penalty by stoning as laid down in the Torah (Lev 20:10; Dt 22:22). And they tried to use the occasion to discredit Jesus in the eyes of his followers by asking, “What have you to say?” Instead of answering neither yes nor no, Jesus wrote with his finger on the ground.

What did he write on the ground? The Gospel does not use the standard Greek word for “write” (graphein), but a compound word (kata-graphein) which means to draw up a condemnation. Possibly, he may have listed on the ground some common sins against humanity (Job 13:26). Eusebius, the Church historian indeed speaks of his writing to Abgarus, king of Edessa that great people had a liberty of conjecture as to what they thought to be intelligent. Grotius says that it was some weighty saying for wise men when they were very thoughtful concerning anything to do so. The Church fathers like Jerome and Ambrose supposed that Jesus wrote, “Let the names of these wicked men be written in the dust. The earth accuses the earth, but the judgment is mine”. Christ by this, teaches us to be slow to accuse or condemn. The Lord leaves the matter to their consciences. At any rate, his challenge that the person who was without sin should cast the first stone met with no response. Although Jesus neither condemned the woman nor excused what she had done advised her, “sin no more,” which was both a pardon and a warning to her.

What tragedy that human society sees today is a grave sin of women, and no one talks about the adulterous man. The woman is condemned, and the man walks free. We still live in a society where women often cannot move about freely without fear of men in certain corners of the world. Rape, physical abuse, humiliation aren’t imaginary things. On the contrary, they form perhaps the most deeply rooted violence and the one that causes the most suffering. Doesn’t the suffering of women need to echo more strongly and more concretely in any religious celebrations and have a more important place in the work of social conscience-raising?  Above all, don’t we need to be closer to each oppressed woman to denounce abuses, offer an intelligent defense and effective protection?

To judge from today’s gospel, the worst of the seven deadly sins seems to be not lust but pride. The Pharisees’ proud self-righteousness left them feeling no need to ask God for mercy. Like the woman in danger, we need to admit our sins and pray for mercy rather than condemn others. Even when we fail in our ideals, we trust that the mercy of God extends to the sinner. Even our sins make no difference to God’s enduring love for us. As sinners, we are all unworthy to judge the sins of others, and we would stand convicted by God for our transgressions. Yet Jesus, the one without sin and our judge, offers us sinners his mercy and forgiveness. Redeemed by Jesus’ compassion, we are invited to sin no more and live in God’s love and peace.

“The cross of the Lord is become the tree of life for us” (Divine Office)