The Pharisees and the Scribes wanted to trap Jesus. So they brought Him an adulteress. It echoes the same dilemma they posed to Jesus with respect to taxation—to pay or not to pay taxes to Caesar. They wanted Jesus to choose between going against Moses or going against Rome. But Jesus out-manoeuvred them by returning the ball into their court. “Let him who has no sins cast the first stone”. At this point a stone landed on Jesus’ head. He had to call out, “Not you, Mother, not you”.
It is an old joke but imagine right at the beginning, Jesus Himself confirmed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. Since the rest of humanity is not immaculately conceived, it is time to savourGod’s mercy even as we recognise and acknowledge our sins. As we heard earlier, the story ended well for thankfully the Pharisees and Scribes were not as self-righteous as they have been painted to be. One by one, they slinked or slipped away, aware that they were not as pure as they had judged the woman to be impure. It is a lesson on being judgemental. We necessarily judge but we should avoid that kind of condescension as if we were the standard.
Christ was not looking for a fight with the Pharisees and Scribes. It was not as if He needed to be one up on them. It was not a victory as it was a compassionateresponse. It was clear that she was an adulteress. Did she warrant punishment? She did under Mosaic Law. But in sentencing one ought to measure the degree of punishment according to the value of what one is protecting. In the case of adultery. Why is it so wrong? It breaks one’s promise made before God and spouse. It is a form of betrayal which in the end will hurt the family. The severity of the punishment is meant to protect the bedrock of society and that is the family unit for without the family, society crumbles.
However, Christ chose another way of fulfilling the intent of the Mosaic Law. He did not condemn the woman, nor did He let her go scot-free. “Since no one has condemn you, neither have I, but go and sin no more”.
Go and sin no more is what many of us fail to appreciate.
Lenten conversion requires a turning away from sin. This brings us to the Gospel which for the Elect is taken from John. The 5th Sunday of Year A is the Raising of Lazarus. Here, there is a clear connexion between Lazarus and the Resurrection. Christ raised Lazarus as a way to illustrate the profound truth of the Resurrection. Even though Lazarus was raised in a most spectacular manner, the reality is that his return to life was not the main focus. The answer is found in the question that Jesus posed to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. If anyone believes in me, even though he dies he will live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”.
The focus for the Elect is faith in the Resurrection. But notice what happened at the tomb of Lazarus. Christ called out to him and the dead man emerged from the tomb with “his feet and hands bound with bands of stuff and a cloth round his face”. Close your eyes and appreciate what this scene represents? It is a powerful portrait of the bondage of sin. Christ said, “Unbind him, let him go free”.
Many of us are caught in the bondage of sin that it is not easy to escape. The image of Jesus with the condemned woman is helpful. He judges truthfully as He calls out to us who can be living a life of sin. Yet, His judgement is compassionate. In His mercy, He invites us to shake off whatever might impede our path towards the Resurrection.
Thus, St Paul provides the perfect picture of this desire. What I want is Christ and Him alone. Today our Elect are presented with the view of life after death, that is, what happens to us after we die. We are freaked out by death. We witnessed that during the Pandemic. In no way is this a judgement about the fear of death nor does it mean that those who are fearful should be looked down upon. Rather what this fear may have revealed is an unsettling reality. We believe in the Resurrection but not really. Our struggle mirrors St Augustine’s, “Lord make me pure but not yet”.
Why our hesitancy? We have never had it so good to the point that we cannot really fathom a life better than this. Instead of life as a preparation for the Resurrection, what has happened is that we acknowledge that the Resurrection is our goal but we have no strong desire for it. For if the Resurrection were more than we can imagine, so many more would look at death as a doorway rather than fear it as annihilation and an end to who we are.
Belief in the Resurrection is the basis for a change in the direction of our lives. We live for Christ which means we turn away from sin or more likely the case, we resolve at all times to sin no more and to avoid the near occasions of sin. Secondly, belief in the Resurrection means that we have to find a way to perceive reality for what it is. The Prayer after Holy Communion of the 1st Sunday of Advent expresses this truth very succinctly. “May these mysteries, O Lord, in which we have participated profit us, we pray, for even now, as we walk amid passing things, you teach us by them to love the things of heaven and hold fast to what endures. Through Christ our Lord”.
In conclusion, this rhymes with the movement of the season. Our earthly senses are curbed in order to heighten their celestial awareness. If we follow the older tradition, today we cover our statues and images. This liturgical action follows the traditional Gospel used for this Sunday. It is the first of a season within the season—Passiontide which stretches from the 5th Sunday until Lazarus Saturday on Holy Week. In the said Gospel of John chapter 8, verse 59, after the heated exchange with the authorities, Jesus left the Temple and went into hiding. The veiling or covering thus signifies the concealment of Christ’s divinity. In a way, His humanity is also diminished because He would be beaten to a pulp to a point of being unrecognisable. The point is not the graphic and gory detail of torture but rather a possibility of entering into a first-hand experience of Christ’s humility and humiliation for that is the price He was willing to pay for our salvation.
