3rd Passiontide
John 8: 1-12
Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives; but as soon
as day dawned he was already in the Temple court, where the people flocked to
him, and he sat down and began to teach them. The teachers of the law and the
Pharisees led in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand in the middle,
and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In
the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?”
They said this only as a trap, in order finally to have a reason for accusing
him.
But Jesus bent down, and started to write something
in the earth with his finger. When they kept on pressing him with questions, he
stood up and said to them, “Whoever among you is without sin, let him cast the
first stone at her.” And again, he bent down and wrote in the earth.
When they heard this, their conscience began to
stir within them, and they went out, one after the other, beginning with the
eldest. And only Jesus was left and the woman who stood in the middle. Jesus
stood up, and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one passed judgment
on you?”
“No one, sir,” she said.
“Then neither do I judge you,” Jesus declared. “Go
now, and leave your life of sin.”
3rd Passiontide
John 8: 1-12
Halfway through his life, the
poet Dante[1]
finds himself in a dark forest, not quite knowing how he got there. He is threatened
by three beasts who impede his path. In his despair he appeals to one who
guides him further along his way by offering to take him along another path.
We too, sometimes find
ourselves ‘in a dark wood’, not quite knowing how we got there, lost and imperiled.
For someone to approach us and judge that we are hopelessly lost would not
help—we already know that. What we need is a guide who takes us under his care
and shows us another path.
Christ did not come to earth
to pronounce judgment on human lives. By becoming human, he came to understand
the human condition from the inside. He came to offer his strength, his
clarity, his guidance. He can extend our clouded vision. He can help us
recognize that we need to take another path, go in another direction. To the soul
who had adulterated her true life’s path, he said, ‘Go. Go elsewhere; walk
another path that does not send you to the beasts’.
For us too, Christ appears in
our extreme need. He comes to give life’s light to us. Christ is here as a guide.
He is here as light along the path in darkness that we all walk.
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