The flowing narrative in our Gospel reading today from John is quite unlike the style of the Fourth Evangelist and reminds the reader more of the stories in the account of Luke.
Jesus is put on the spot by his critics and asked for his opinion as to what should be done about a woman caught in the act of adultery. Jesus is being judged; but he turns the process around and focuses it on the characters who want to catch him out.
The judgement of the Law is clear: the woman should be stoned to death. But the point of the confrontation is not the fate of the unnamed woman; it is to find something with which to accuse and convict Jesus. It is a case of Jesus versus Moses, and so there should be no question of the outcome.
Jesus refuses to engage in the debate, but rather challenges his self-righteous opponents to initiate the sentence of death. They and all the others apparently melt away, until Jesus and the woman are left alone, and for the first time she is addressed directly. Jesus does not judge her, but offers her the possibility of a new life and a restored relationship with God, when he says “Do not sin again”. The past is over, forgiven and forgotten; what matters is the new life from now on.
Previous Sunday Messages
REFLECT
Adultery requires at least two participants. It is significant that only the female partner is dragged before Jesus. Jesus’ response is to offer the unnamed woman the opportunity of a new beginning. He does not condemn her, he does not criticise the Law to which his opponents appealed, but rather he challenges his opponents to act on their own convictions – and be convicted themselves in the process.
As with all Gospel stories, we are being asked, “whose side are you on?” Are you with the religious authorities who parade this unfortunate woman in public to Jesus as a test case? Are you with Jesus, who refuses to sit in judgement? We are not told whether the woman was involved in this affair through passion or simply through poverty. And what about the man involved, who apparently escapes scot-free?
The only individual person with whom Jesus interacts directly in this episode is the unnamed woman who is, in many ways, the unwitting excuse for the attack on Jesus. They are left alone, once all the others have sidled off when Jesus challenges them to
declare themselves innocent and so entitled to stand in judgement and exact the penalty. Jesus treats the woman with respect; he speaks to her properly and offers her the chance of a new start. That is the message of Lent, that we are all being presented with the opportunity to begin again with a clean slate. We can stand with the woman’s accusers, with the woman herself, or with Jesus. Where do you stand in this story?
learn
- In the Fourth Gospel, the opponents of Jesus are generally referred to simply as “the Jews”.
- The term “the Jews” usually refers to the members of the religious and political establishment, not to the people as a whole.
- In the Synoptic Gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke, these characters are described as “the chief priests, the scribes and the elders”: they are the ones who bring about the crucifixion of Jesus.
- The Pharisees were lay leaders, based locally in the synagogue.
do
Find out about the refuge for women in your local area and the reasons why women go there.