Monday of the Fifth Week of Lent, March 18, 2024

Gospel

Jn 8:1-11

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 scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman

who had been caught in adultery

and made her stand in the middle.

They said to him,

“Teacher, this woman was caught

in the very act of committing adultery.

Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women.

So what do you say?”

They said this to test him,

so that they could have some charge to bring against him.

Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger.

But when they continued asking him,

he straightened up and said to them,

“Let the one among you who is without sin

be the first to throw a stone at her.”

Again he bent down and wrote on the ground.

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 any more.”

Reflection

“Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger. But when they continued asking him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”

This comment by Jesus still rings true especially today… How often do we, like the scribes and Pharisees, rush to condemn others without acknowledging our own shortcomings? How often do we wield those stones of blame and judgment, forgetting our own need for grace and forgiveness? This passage reminds us to have humility as none of us are without sin, and it reminds us to be introspective with ourselves.

When reading this I also couldn’t help but wonder, what was Jesus writing on the ground? No one knows what Jesus wrote on the ground that day, but there are people who have theorized that Jesus perhaps was writing the scribes and Pharisees sins in the dirt. That He knew them all and wrote them out so they could see and know why they could not be the first to throw a stone since they themselves were not without fault or blame. In their eagerness to condemn the woman, they overlooked their own failings. Jesus, in His wisdom and omniscience, exposed this hypocrisy, and challenged them to confront their own sinfulness before casting judgment on others.

In our world today, marked by division, animosity, and moral certainty, the message of this passage is more relevant than ever. It challenges us to resist the temptation to judge others hastily and to instead approach them with empathy and understanding. It calls us to examine our own hearts, acknowledging our imperfections and extending the same grace to others that we ourselves have received.