The woman was caught in the very act of adultery! Wow, that must have been quite a sight. And where is the man she was caught with? The scriptures don't say a word about him. Yes, the woman faced a death penalty, but I think this is less a story about punishment as it is about shame.
Shame is a deadly thing--it is the ugly step-sister of guilt. We have spent Lent recognizing the righteous guilt we bear for our sins, helping us recognize our need for repentance. Guilt moves the contrite heart toward reconciliation, deliverance, and satisfaction--a process that is perfected in sacramental confession. But as important as guilt is to helping us recognize our transgressions, shame on the other hand has a suffocating tendency to drains hope out of the wary sinner. It gnaws on the very heart of those caught in sin, encouraging despair and withdrawal out of fear, rather than a new path of transformation... a shameful adulterer will never amount to anything more than an adulterer. A shameful thief will never amount to anything more than a thief. A shameful drug addict will never be able to get past the addiction that keeps him/her trapped. Jesus looked at the woman with love (not lust as she had perhaps grown accustomed) and saw her for what she really was, a beloved daughter of God... and one in need of healing and transformation and forgiveness. A sinner, yes, but down deep a beloved daughter above anything else. We hear the expression, 'love the sinner, hate the sin'? That is exactly what we see here in this story. Jesus helps the woman see that she is not trapped or even defined by her sin, but that she can make a new start at the mercy of the Son of Man.
Guilt propels the sinner into contrition and transformation. Shame traps them forever in a sullied identity. I'm not sure what the woman was experiencing, but the mob was more than happy to take this woman down, reveling in her shame and disgrace. At the same time the mob capitalized on her weakness to attempt to undermine Jesus and his ministry as well. Would Jesus uphold the Law and stone her, forsaking his way of forgiveness and peace, or would he reject the Law of Moses and offer forgiveness? How do you say, o rabbi?
Guilt propels the sinner into contrition and transformation. Shame traps them forever in a sullied identity. I'm not sure what the woman was experiencing, but the mob was more than happy to take this woman down, reveling in her shame and disgrace. At the same time the mob capitalized on her weakness to attempt to undermine Jesus and his ministry as well. Would Jesus uphold the Law and stone her, forsaking his way of forgiveness and peace, or would he reject the Law of Moses and offer forgiveness? How do you say, o rabbi?
As often happens in these stories, Jesus slips out of the trap through a third way that respects the Old Law and gives a deeper understanding of the New. Let the one who is without sin in his heart cast the first stone! Yes, there is a transgression here, but let mercy be the supreme expression of justice!
What do you want to bet that the man who was "caught in the very act of adultery" with this woman was among the crowd sizing up stones to kill her? Where is his shame? Where is his guilt? If it is true that this man were in the crowd, does it not add a new dimension to Jesus' dare that only those without sin (in the original Greek it is even tougher and more restrictive... those without even "guilty longings") to cast the first stone? This man in particular, but all those at the scene more generally AND we who read this account have a duty to acknowledge sin in their midst, and to purge the guilt of that sin through reconciliation... with God and with the community. Jesus provides that grace personally in his example in the Gospel. Today, he provides the sacraments. We then have the duty to break the cycle of shame by restoring the forgiven sinner into relationship with the community through mercy.
Two final points... first, this scripture is often mis-used to brow-beat the Christian into a false tolerance, that is, the tacit acceptance of sin under the guise of false mercy... we have all fallen and nobody can judge. Wrong. We must judge rightly and admonish the sinner and teach the ignorant... these are works of mercy. We can't let sin slide on the proposition of 'be and let be'... this is not what Jesus is teaching. We must always hate sin and be struggling against it in ourselves and in our neighbors. Jesus did not simply release the woman to her old ways, but commanded her, "go and sin no more!" That is mercy, but not tolerance.
Secondly, from the Francis Fernandez collection, In Conversation with God, we find him paraphrasing Augustine who proposes that the forgiveness of a sinner is the greatest act of God's creating hand. For not only does God give life in creation, but he crowns it in restoration to a new and supernatural glory in the free acceptance of his grace. Imagine that... "your sins are forgiven" and the priest's privilege of proclaiming "I absolve you of your sins..." bearing more love and compassion from the heart of God than even, "let there be light!". In a few weeks we will sing "O happy fault, o necessary fault of Adam, which won for us so great a savior!" in the Easter proclamation, the Exsultet. Obviously the Church does not glory in sin, but recognizes that God's glory abounds all the more in recognizing our need for his mercy through Christ our Risen Lord.
What do you want to bet that the man who was "caught in the very act of adultery" with this woman was among the crowd sizing up stones to kill her? Where is his shame? Where is his guilt? If it is true that this man were in the crowd, does it not add a new dimension to Jesus' dare that only those without sin (in the original Greek it is even tougher and more restrictive... those without even "guilty longings") to cast the first stone? This man in particular, but all those at the scene more generally AND we who read this account have a duty to acknowledge sin in their midst, and to purge the guilt of that sin through reconciliation... with God and with the community. Jesus provides that grace personally in his example in the Gospel. Today, he provides the sacraments. We then have the duty to break the cycle of shame by restoring the forgiven sinner into relationship with the community through mercy.
Two final points... first, this scripture is often mis-used to brow-beat the Christian into a false tolerance, that is, the tacit acceptance of sin under the guise of false mercy... we have all fallen and nobody can judge. Wrong. We must judge rightly and admonish the sinner and teach the ignorant... these are works of mercy. We can't let sin slide on the proposition of 'be and let be'... this is not what Jesus is teaching. We must always hate sin and be struggling against it in ourselves and in our neighbors. Jesus did not simply release the woman to her old ways, but commanded her, "go and sin no more!" That is mercy, but not tolerance.
Secondly, from the Francis Fernandez collection, In Conversation with God, we find him paraphrasing Augustine who proposes that the forgiveness of a sinner is the greatest act of God's creating hand. For not only does God give life in creation, but he crowns it in restoration to a new and supernatural glory in the free acceptance of his grace. Imagine that... "your sins are forgiven" and the priest's privilege of proclaiming "I absolve you of your sins..." bearing more love and compassion from the heart of God than even, "let there be light!". In a few weeks we will sing "O happy fault, o necessary fault of Adam, which won for us so great a savior!" in the Easter proclamation, the Exsultet. Obviously the Church does not glory in sin, but recognizes that God's glory abounds all the more in recognizing our need for his mercy through Christ our Risen Lord.
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