“He started to write with His finger
in the dust on the Temple floor.”
(Jn 8:6)
“Caught in the Very Act of Adultery”
March 21, 2010, 5th Sunday of lent
Isaiah 43:16-21 Philippians 3:8-14 John 8:1-11
Alleluia, alleluia.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John
Glory to you, Lord.
Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. But early in the morning He arrived again in the Temple area, and all the people started coming to Him, and He sat down and taught them. Then the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees dragged in a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the front of everyone. They said to Him, “Master, we caught this woman in the very act of committing adultery. Now what do you say about that?” They said this to trap Him, so they could have some charge to bring against Him. Jesus bent down and wrote with His finger in the dust on the Temple floor. But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up and said to them, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to cast a stone at her.” Again He bent down and continued to write on the Temple floor. And in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders. So he was left alone with the woman before him. Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? 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 anymore.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Introduction
A man’s world
Introduction
A man’s world
The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees dragged a woman into the Temple, whom they had caught in the very act of committing adultery. They were fixing to stone her to death in accordance with the Law of Moses. (Lv 20:10) (Since the Temple was always in a state of repair, there was always plenty of masonry stone lying around to accommodate them.) If the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees caught the woman “in the very act of adultery,” they must have caught her partner as well, for it takes two to commit adultery.
The poor woman’s partner, however, wasn’t dragged into the Temple with her. (Jn 8:4) Though Leviticus says that both the adulterous woman and man were to be stoned (Lv 20:10), culturally and historically it’s always been the woman who gets singled out for stoning. It was a man’s world in those days. It isn’t anymore; in the daily news these days, we now see men also (John Edwards, Mark Sanford, Tiger Woods, etc.) being caught in the very act of adultery and dragged in for public stoning.
The poor woman’s partner, however, wasn’t dragged into the Temple with her. (Jn 8:4) Though Leviticus says that both the adulterous woman and man were to be stoned (Lv 20:10), culturally and historically it’s always been the woman who gets singled out for stoning. It was a man’s world in those days. It isn’t anymore; in the daily news these days, we now see men also (John Edwards, Mark Sanford, Tiger Woods, etc.) being caught in the very act of adultery and dragged in for public stoning.
A wonderful but wandering Scripture
Strange to say, this Scripture passage about a woman caught in adultery and rescued from stoning by Jesus has had to wander down through the centuries in search of a fixed and rightful place in the canonical gospels. A few editions of the New Testament do not contain this wonderful passage at all! When editions do contain it, they betray an ambiguity or a misgiving about it. The New American Bible, for example, puts the story of the woman caught in adultery in brackets (because it’s not included in the best and oldest Greek manuscripts). Other Bibles place the story of the adulteress in the 7th chapter instead of the 8th chapter (as in today’s reading) or even in the 21st chapter of John. Some even place the passage not in John’s but Luke’s gospel, in the 21st chapter after the 38th verse (because the vocabulary, style and theology of the passage, they say, are not John's but Luke’s). Nevertheless, this wonderful but wandering Scripture has been around for centuries, comforting us whose consciences are burdened with physical and/or spiritual adultery.
Sexual moralism
Why did this passage about the adulteress (rescued from stoning and forgiven by Jesus) have to wander down the centuries in search of a fixed and rightful place in the canonical scriptures? Was it because sexual moralism was alive and well in the early church, as it is alive and well in every age? (Sexual moralism is that aberration which makes sexual `purity’ the height of all morality and sexual `impurity’ the depths of all immorality.) Did that moralism cause the early the church to feel uncomfortable and even ashamed of this passage which portrays Jesus dealing forgivingly and lovingly with an adulteress? Did that behavior of Jesus directly clash with the Law of Moses? (Lv 20:10; Dt 20:22ff)
Nowhere do we find sexual moralism (with its peculiar frame of mind) in the words of Jesus. It’s not in His words to the chief priests and Jewish elders: “I tell you tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.” (Mt 21:32) It’s not in His words to the teachers of the Law and Pharisees: “Let the one among you who is without sin cast the first stone.” (Jn 8:7) It’s not in His words to the woman caught in adultery: “Neither do I condemn thee.” (Jn 8:11)
Jesus knew that not one among them was without sin; He knew they were all sinners. St. Paul, too, knew that every man is a sinner. To the question who is without sin, Paul writes, “Not one of us. We have all fallen short of the glory of God.” (Rom 3: 23) We, too, know that every one of us is a sinner. None of us wakes up in the morning clean. We all wake up to the knowledge of our failure: to what we should have done but didn’t do and to what we’ve done amiss. We all wake up to our deceit and indolence. We all besmirch our record every day. Some of our sins might be less harmful or less public than those of John Edwards, Mark Sanford and Tiger Woods, but sins they are nevertheless.
Nowhere do we find sexual moralism (with its peculiar frame of mind) in the words of Jesus. It’s not in His words to the chief priests and Jewish elders: “I tell you tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.” (Mt 21:32) It’s not in His words to the teachers of the Law and Pharisees: “Let the one among you who is without sin cast the first stone.” (Jn 8:7) It’s not in His words to the woman caught in adultery: “Neither do I condemn thee.” (Jn 8:11)
Jesus knew that not one among them was without sin; He knew they were all sinners. St. Paul, too, knew that every man is a sinner. To the question who is without sin, Paul writes, “Not one of us. We have all fallen short of the glory of God.” (Rom 3: 23) We, too, know that every one of us is a sinner. None of us wakes up in the morning clean. We all wake up to the knowledge of our failure: to what we should have done but didn’t do and to what we’ve done amiss. We all wake up to our deceit and indolence. We all besmirch our record every day. Some of our sins might be less harmful or less public than those of John Edwards, Mark Sanford and Tiger Woods, but sins they are nevertheless.
A trap
When the teachers of the Law and Pharisees asked Jesus how He felt about the Law commanding that an adulteress be stoned to death, they were setting a trap: they were hoping to impale Jesus on the horns of a dilemma. If He said she should be stoned, He’d be contradicting the Roman occupiers who took away the right of capital punishment from the Jews. If He said she shouldn’t be stoned, He’d be contradicting the Law of Moses.
He refused to fall into their trap; He did not answer them. Instead He bent down and started to write with his finger in the dust on the Temple floor. (There was a lot of dust around because of construction in progress in the Temple.)Then He straightened up and gave their tricky question a tricky answer which bypassed Rome and the Law of Moses: “Let the one without sin among you cast the first stone.” Bending down again He continued to write with his finger on the Temple floor.
He refused to fall into their trap; He did not answer them. Instead He bent down and started to write with his finger in the dust on the Temple floor. (There was a lot of dust around because of construction in progress in the Temple.)Then He straightened up and gave their tricky question a tricky answer which bypassed Rome and the Law of Moses: “Let the one without sin among you cast the first stone.” Bending down again He continued to write with his finger on the Temple floor.
What did He write in the dust? Some guess He wrote `Ho-hum.’ Others guess He wrote the names of all the men who had her. A mystical guess is that in the dust on the Temple floor Jesus wrote the Law of Moses commanding adulterers to be stoned. Then the winds of Pentecost came and swept through the Temple and blew away the dust and the Old Law with its 613 major laws (and a whole constellation of minor rules and regulations). And the flames of Pentecost came and enkindled in the hearts of the faithful a New Law with only one great commandment: Thou shalt love the Lord your God with your whole heart, soul and mind, and thou shalt love your neighbor as you love yourself. (Mt. 22:37-39)
Whatever it was that Jesus wrote with His finger in the dust, the teachers of the Law and Pharisees got the point: one by one they left. Standing there alone with the adulteress Jesus asked, “Woman, there is no one left to condemn you?” She answered, “No one, sir.” Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.”
“Neither do I condemn you.”
That great spiritual leader and Bishop of Saginaw, Michigan, Kenneth Untener (1937- 2004) without any doubt preached that marriage was a life-long commitment. But he asked, “What if, for some reason, it all falls apart? I like the distinction Jesus carefully used upon the woman caught in adultery. He said, `Neither do I condemn you.’ But some people think the opposite of condemn is condone. Condemn comes from the Latin word `to damn.’ And the opposite of damning someone is helping someone.” Bishop Untener said, “I am not here to condemn divorced people nor am I here to condone them. I am here to help them.” Jesus did not come to condemn or condone the woman caught in adultery; He was there to help her.
Our religiosity `wires’ us…
The Parable of the Good Samaritan would, indeed, be a very appropriate gospel reading for Lent. And yet, it’s not prescribed for any Sunday of Lent, whether in Cycle A, B or C. The parable is about a gross act of immorality which a Jewish priest and Levite committed on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. A man journeying on that road was waylaid by thieves who beat him to a pulp, robbed him of his money and left him half-dead. Along came a Jewish priest and Levite who saw the poor man, didn’t lift a finger to help him, and passed him by. How much more immoral than that can one get!
Then along came a Samaritan who, though he had the reputation of being a `rounder’ in that district, stopped to pour the oil of compassion into the poor man’s wounds. Then he hoisted him on his beast of burden and hurried him off to the nearest inn, where he paid for the man’s care and cure. How more moral than that can one get! (Lk 10:25-37)
Then along came a Samaritan who, though he had the reputation of being a `rounder’ in that district, stopped to pour the oil of compassion into the poor man’s wounds. Then he hoisted him on his beast of burden and hurried him off to the nearest inn, where he paid for the man’s care and cure. How more moral than that can one get! (Lk 10:25-37)
The Scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus, “Teacher, we caught this woman in the very act of committing adultery.” Like the Scribes and Pharisees, our religiosity `wires’ us to catch people “in the very act of adultery.” First, we caught the former presidential candidate John Edwards in the very act of adultery with Rielle Hunter during his 2008 run for the presidency. Then we caught South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford in the very act of adultery with Argentine beauty Maria Belen. In recent days we have been catching Tiger Woods non-stop in multiple acts of adultery.
Our religiosity `wires’ us to catch people in the very act of adultery. Unfortunately, it doesn’t `wire’ us to catch people like the Jewish priest and Levite “in the very act” of walking right by someone in need. Most of us by all means would confess adultery. Few of us would think of confessing not having stopped to pour the oil of compassion upon someone in need.
Conclusion
Side by side with the adulteress
Unlike the early church we’re not ashamed of the Scripture passage which portrays Jesus dealing lovingly and forgivingly with the woman caught in the very act of adultery. We happily remove the brackets around this wonderful passage, and we give it a rightful and undisputed place in the Gospel. What’s more, we’re not only not ashamed but we also glory in this Scripture which has Jesus neither condemning nor condoning but forgiving the adulteress. That’s a comforting Scripture, for side by side with the adulteress stand John Edwards, Mark Sanford, Tiger Woods and all of us, “For none of us is righteous. No not one. We have all sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God.” (Rom 3:23) To all of us Jesus says, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to cast a stone at her.”
