There is a little known sidelight to the story of the woman taken
in adultery. After the Pharisees drag her before Jesus for sentencing and Jesus
says, "Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a
stone at her," a stone comes flying through from the crowd. Jesus
looks up, frowns slightly, smiles a little, and says, “If you don’t mind,
mother! I am only trying to make a point here.” In one way this is a good joke
because it shows the natural tendency of good people, like the Pharisees, to
throw stones at those they consider sinners. In other ways it is a bad joke
because it tries to paint sinless Mary in the colours of sinful humanity. The
last person who would want to throw a stone at the woman caught in adultery
would be the Blessed Virgin Mary, God's most favoured one. According to the
joke, Jesus says he is trying to make a point here. What is the point that
Jesus is trying to make? Why would the church give us this story for our
spiritual nourishment on the last Sunday before Holy Week when we commemorate
the suffering and death of Jesus on our behalf?
The story of the woman caught in
adultery had a very curious history in the early church. Many ancient bibles do
not have it, some have it as part of a different chapter in the Gospel of John,
and still others have it as part of the Gospel of Luke. Some scholars think
that, originally, this story could have been part of Luke's Gospel. This is
because it reflects themes that are dear to Luke, such as, concern for sinners,
interest in women, and the compassion of Jesus. The fact that it is missing in
some early bibles and found in different locations in others suggests that some
early Christian communities had removed this story from the Bible. When later
Christians tried to put it back into the Bible, they were no longer sure of its
original location.
Why would anyone want to remove this
story from the Bible? There are people who cannot understand why Jesus would
sympathize with a convicted adulterer. After all, it is decreed in the Bible
that such offenders should be put to death (Leviticus 20:10). Does this not
seem like an obstruction of justice? Remember the case of Karla Faye Tucker,
the self-confessed, repentant murderer who was executed in Texas in February
1998. Many Christian organisations, including the Vatican, had pleaded for her
pardon. Yet the execution was carried out. Supporters of the death penalty
argued that no one should interfere with the course of justice. Well, Jesus
just did. There are people who think that compassion and leniency are a sign of
weakness. These are probably the kind of Christians who tried to suppress the
story by removing it from the church's Bible.
How could Christians read these
marvellous stories of Jesus’ compassion and still take a hard-line stand with
regard to the correctional services? The answer lies in how one reads. Some
people identify themselves with the Pharisees when they read the story. Their
interest is how to deal with other people who break the law. Their answer is
usually that justice should be allowed to run its due course. Now you can begin
to understand why the medieval church did not see anything wrong with burning
“convicted” witches like Joan of Arc on the stake. Didn't the Bible say that no
one who practices sorcery should be allowed to live (Leviticus 20:27)? That is
the law, that is justice. Our only duty is to implement it.
But when we read the story,
identifying ourselves not with the Pharisees but with the woman herself, then
we begin to see the story for the good news that it really is. Like the woman,
we “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
Like her we all deserve death, “for
the wages of sin is death”. (Romans 6:23). But when Jesus comes into the
picture, he overturns our death sentence. He sets us free with his words of
absolution: “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and sin no more”
(John 8:11). The story shows how Jesus stands up for sinners before the law. In
so doing he draws upon himself the hostility of the hard-line officers, who
will eventually arrest him and give him a taste of their justice. The church
puts this story before us today so that we can see ourselves in this sinner
woman whom Jesus saves from sure death at the risk of attracting death to
himself.
This story, therefore, is a fitting
preparation for Holy Week when we see Jesus making the ultimate sacrifice to
grant us clemency, we who are already sentenced to death by our sins. As we
prepare for Holy Week, let us thank Jesus for his mercy and love. And let us
promise him that we shall commit ourselves to doing exactly as he tells us: to
go and to sin no more.
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