Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger. But when they continued asking him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again, he bent down and wrote on the ground. And in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders.
John 8 :1-11
Both readings from one day last week reminded me of a quote by the famous Blaise Paschal. He said, “Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.” What Paschal was saying is that religious people can sometimes be so hypocritical when they self-righteously take great pleasure in condemning the sins of others while being so blind to their own sins.
In the first reading, the story of Susannah in the Book of Daniel, lustful old men take delight in condemning an innocent woman, accusing her of doing something they actually planned to do. In the gospel, lustful old men take delight in condemning a guilty woman for something they have done or would like to do! In the gospels, Jesus was so compassionate to the weak, the poor and the misguided that people accused him of promoting sin and approving it. They said of him, “This man welcomes sinners and even eats with them!” One of the most powerful responses from Jesus was this one, “I did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it.” It certainly applies to today’s story.
Jesus had this amazing ability to see goodness even in law-breakers and sinners and affirm that goodness. His critics could only see sins that needed to be condemned in the same people, while at the same time were disguising their own sins. This story reminds me of that old saying that “when you point a finger at someone else in condemnation, there are three fingers point back at you!” Jesus put it this way. "Don't focus on the speck in your brother's eye while ignoring the log in your own eye."
The details of the story are important and enlightening. Jesus was teaching in the temple area when, all of a sudden, the Scribes and the Pharisees dragged a poor woman they had caught “in the very act of adultery” and “made her stand in the middle.” That way they could humiliate her twice: once when she was caught “in the very act” and by making her “stand in the middle of the crowd.” They also wanted to embarrass and humiliate Jesus who had a reputation for “welcoming sinners” by quoting the Law that said “such women should be stoned to death!” You can imagine how proud of themselves the Scribes and Pharisees were for having caught a woman “in sin” as well as “something to accuse a popular rabbi of” who was dangerously lenient to sinners! They were almost salivating with delight at the clever situation they thought they had come up with! They thought they could condemn both the woman and Jesus at the same time!
At this point, without responding to them directly, Jesus does something quite interesting. He bends down and begins writing on the ground. When they continued to ask him whether he would follow the Law and agree that the woman should be stoned, Jesus stood up and said, “Let the one without sin be the one to cast the first stone,” and bent down to continue writing on the ground.” In response, the woman’s condemners “walked away, beginning with the oldest!” What did he write on the ground. Many commentators believe he was listing their sins in the dirt for the crowd to read! The story ends by Jesus saying to her, “neither do I condemn you,” “go and do not commit this sin again!” By saying that, he told her that he loved her and that because of his love, which was unconditional love, she no longer needed to “look for love in all the wrong places” as the old country song puts it!
What should we learn from this story? Simply this! “Don't focus on the speck in your brother's eye while ignoring the log in your own eye."
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