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 Sunday
John
8: 1-12
The
light and warmth of the sun can be absorbed or reflected. A dark object absorbs
the warmth. A light, polished surface stays cooler. It mirrors light back.
Our
minds and hearts can also absorb or reflect. We can listen, absorb, take in.
When what we take in enters not just our minds, but our hearts, we can become
warm. In so doing, we ourselves are likely to be transformed.
And
we can also listen and reflect back. Usually we reflect back our own soul’s
reaction. We reflect our mind’s rush to judgment. An immediate mirroring may be
for us a kind of self-protection, coming from the soul’s defensive armoring.
Being too quick to deflect with our thinking, we bypass absorbing the other
into our heart and possibly being transformed.
In
this gospel reading, Christ proves Himself to be a human being whose heart and
mind work together in a healing way. He does not reject the woman because she
breaks the law. He takes her into His great heart, the warmth of His great
understanding of the ways of human behavior, of social interaction, of karma.
He then reflects back to her not judgment, but gives her the strength of His
warm understanding and His encouragement to do better. He absorbs her life into
His. He carries her in the light of His life.
The
poet Nelly Sachs wrote,
How long have we
forgotten to listen!
He planted us once to
listen
Like lyme grass by the
eternal sea ....
Although we have
business
that leads us far
From his light….
We must not sell our
ears….
Press, oh press in the
day of destruction
The listening ear to
the earth,
And you will hear,
through your sleep,
You will hear,
How in death
Life begins.[1]
The
deeds of each one of us are written into the earth. But the earth has become
Christ’s body. He absorbs all of our deeds. He carries us in His great heart.
He gives us the encouragement and the strength to do better. We walk in the
light of His life.
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[1]
Nelly Sachs (1891-1970), “How Long Have We Forgotten to Listen!” in Women in Praise of the Sacred, Jane
Hirschfield, p.217.
