5th Sunday of Lent

 



 Our gospel reading this weekend seems to parallel in many ways the gospel of last week. Last week, we had the youngest son in a crisis of extreme poverty but with enough wisdom to return to his father.  He expects nothing in return except to be taken back as a hired worker on his father’s farm.  Also, we had the brother who held feelings of condemnation for both toward his younger brother for his dissolution of the younger brother’s inheritance and towards the father for the extent of mercy and forgiveness that was extended to the younger son.  This week as the gospel opens, we have Jesus teaching the crowds in the temple area and suddenly the pharisees and the scribes appear and produce this woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. Of course. as some of my female friends point out there’s no reference to the man who was also part of this adulterous relationship, but that is a discussion for another time.                                                                                              

It appears that the woman is merely a convenient prop by which the pharisees wish to trip up Jesus and his teachings about forgiveness.   It seems that none of the pharisees really are interested in who she is as a person or how she became an adulteress.  None of her accusers inquire as to what her needs were that led her into this adulterous relationship.   All the Pharisees and scribes are interested in is catching Jesus in a trap and this the predicament of this poor woman becomes a convenient means to use. The trap the pharisees propose is a two-edge sword. If Jesus agrees with the Pharisees to not forgive the woman and to stone her, he is encouraging violence which is against Roman law, and he would be arrested for such.  If he objects and says to set her free, then he is not upholding the Mosaic law, and that will be a poor teaching to give to the people for as he had taught- “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill…” (Matt 5:17).   As result they might well lose faith in him if he does not value that law. The pharisees may have felt that this was a perfect conundrum (i.e., a confusing problem or question that is very difficult to solve) for Jesus to be caught in.   But like in many situations with the Pharisees, their focus is so narrow that they do not see any other solution to a problem. They are focused, mostly on the Law, the place of mercy and compassion is extremely limited in their outlook. And as such, they often impose laws that affect widows and orphans in a highly negative way.  So, what chance does this adulteress have.  Jesus challenges the pharisees too image in their actions, God’s own call for concerning mercy:  "I desire mercy, not sacrifice" (Hosea 6:6)  As such he reminds them of God's preference for compassion over mere ritualistic acts (i.e., stoning) or sacrifices.   And so, Jesus invites the Pharisees and anyone else in the crowd that he is teaching that if they have never been a sinner, then they can throw the first stone.  Everybody leaves.  Jesus is left alone with the woman.

Like in last week's gospel, where the father is always looking for the return of his younger son, Jesus stands up and looks at the woman.  He addresses her as “Woman" inviting her to look at him and with that stance, eye to eye and face-to-face, he asks if no one has been left to accuse her or judge her.  As she looks at Jesus what must she have seen in his eyes, his face?  Judgement?  Compassion?  She is able to state that no one has found her guilty.  And then like the father in last week’s gospel as he embraces his lost son, I think Jesus with all the love and compassion he could muster in his voice says, “then I do not condemn you either.”   In this brief exchange with this woman, he restores to her dignity and personhood and invites her to go forth free now and to sin no more.                                                                                                                                                                        We never get to know what happened to her from that point on.  Did she become a disciple of Jesus?  Did she just run away and hide?  Did she continue to stand there and look at Jesus with tears coming down her face.  Like in last week’s gospel, at the end of it we are left to finish the story of what might have happened to the eldest son?                                      

The gospel asks us this week to think about whether there has there been a time in our lives when we were caught in a situation and we are at the mercy of others around us who will decide our fate.  Or have there been times when we were asked to judge others? Were we able to use compassion and mercy or was the only option we could see was punishment or retribution?     Neither of the gospel last week or the gospel this week offer us easy options whereby we can stand at a distance and just listen without being involved.  Both stories call us to step into the gospels and to choose where we stand.   Do we stand with the eldest brother or the Pharisees. Do we stand beside the woman who was frightened and alone and without anyone to support her.  Do we stand beside Jesus ready to offer forgiveness and compassion to someone in our lives.  Neither of these questions have easy answers.   It is only through the grace of God that we are empowered to show the type of compassion that Jesus shows for the adulteress or that the father showed for his prodigal son.                                                                                                                           

So, for this fifth week of length, we are invited to pray and reflect on parts of our own life where we need God's grace to be more compassionate and loving toward others, grace so that we can see in others, not just sinners, but the wounded ones who needs healing and compassion

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