Do you throw stones at sinners?

John 8:1-11

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At daybreak he appeared in the Temple again; and as all the people came to him, he sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and Pharisees brought a woman along who had been caught committing adultery; and making her stand there in full view of everybody, they said to Jesus, ‘Master, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery, and Moses has ordered us in the Law to condemn women like this to death by stoning. What have you to say?’ They asked him this as a test, looking for something to use against him. But Jesus bent down and started writing on the ground with his finger. As they persisted with their question, he looked up and said, ‘If there is one of you who has not sinned, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.’ Then be bent down and wrote on the ground again. When they heard this they went away one by one, beginning with the eldest, until Jesus was left alone with the woman, who remained standing there. He looked up and said, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ ‘No one, sir’ she replied. ‘Neither do I condemn you,’ said Jesus ‘go away, and do not sin any more.’

Food for thought!

Divine providence has given us this story for our spiritual nourishment on the last Sunday before Palm Sunday. This story 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 take this day to learn some lessons.

First and foremost, like this woman we all deserve death, “for the wages of sin is death”. (Romans 6:23). Thanks to Jesus who came and comes to overturn our death sentence, to set us free. 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. We have 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.

Secondly, according to justice and law, this woman deserved death. just this week, we heard over BBC a soldier who was stoned to death near the Pakistan - Afghanistan boarder, because he was suspected to be in love with some woman; he was summarily executed. 2000 years after the incident in the Gospel happened, similar incidents do happen.

We don't have to go to Afghanistan to see this gospel incident in action. This gospel is about justice and mercy. In justice this woman deserved death. But also in justice this woman had to be accused with some man, for no woman can commit adultery alone; where was the man? Why was he not accused together with the woman? What kind of justice is this that condemns one and frees the other?

The accusers had mercy on the man but condemned the woman. Jesus had mercy on the woman and on the man and on the men; he had and has mercy on all of us. The accusers of the woman caught her red handed, and Jesus caught accusers of the woman red handed too. We are all sinners, those we accuse and those who accuse us. This is the point Jesus was making when he said: "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." At this, they all began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.

The older ones left first. Why? Well, they had been around longest, and had sinned longest. Thanks to Jesus, these men had to look at themselves for the first time through the eyes of Jesus; they saw themselves as Jesus saw them. Yes, if and when we see ourselves as Jesus sees us, we see the truth in each one of us. Yes, if and when we see others as Jesus sees them, we see the truth in them, we see that they indeed don't deserve death but salvation, through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour, to him be glory and praise and honour, both now and for ever. Amen.