The scribes and the Pharisees who come to test Jesus in this
Sunday’s Gospel from John are working from a very narrow understanding of
Jewish law. They bring before Jesus a
woman caught in the act of adultery and state, Moses commanded us to stone such a woman. So what do you say? They are curious to see if Jesus will uphold
Jewish law. What the scribes and
Pharisees have failed to recognize is that Jesus represents something new, a truth they have yet to own; he is
a new creation, bringing to the world a new perspective on sin. Rather than condemn the woman, Jesus says, Let the one among you who is without sin, be
the first to cast a stone at her. By
this criterion, everyone has to leave.
Everyone, that is, except Jesus.
Yet when he asks the woman, Has no
one condemned you?, she can honestly answer, No one, Sir. Indeed, she is
the only person present who does see what is new: she knows that Jesus’
coming represents a new order, a new and compassionate reality that will transform the world.
In Sunday’s first reading from Isaiah, God promises the
people of Israel a return from exile in Babylon, salvation from their
oppressors – and this is indeed new, as the prophet relays: See, I
am doing something new! … do you not
perceive it? The prophecy suggests
that the people have to lay aside their own definitions and self-identifications,
and to open themselves to seeing anew,
to seeing as God sees. Only later will
they recognize that The Lord has done
great things for us and be filled
with joy (Psalm 126).
With the coming of Jesus Christ, Paul tells the people of
Philippi, everything about our relationship with God is different, altered,
transformed. Using himself as an
example, Paul suggests that we all must look to what is new: accepting the loss of all things in order to gain Christ; forgetting what lies behind but
straining forward to what lies ahead.
We are called to a constantly changing awareness of what it means to
experience death and rising, not just once, but every day; we are called to share in Jesus’ sufferings as a means to the
supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus as our Lord. As Lent draws to a
close, let us be aware that every day brings new challenges; every day offers us a chance to conform to Jesus’ death, that we too
might know the hope of resurrection that is Easter.
This reflection is based on Fr. Pat's Scripture class.
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