THE MERCY AND JUSTICE OF GOD

 

Homily for the 5^th Sunday of Lent, Year C

Fr. Ugochukwu Ugwoke, ISch

Scriptural Texts: Isaiah 43:16-21, Philippians 3:8-14, John 8:1-11.

We read about the prodigal son in the gospel reading of last Sunday. In the gospel reading of this fifth Sunday of Lent, we are presented with the story of the adulterous woman. The adulterous woman can be referred to as the prodigal daughter. Her story continues the theme of God’s extravagant love and mercy which we saw in the gospel reading of last Sunday. Both the parable of the prodigal son and the story of the prodigal daughter show us the depth of God’s mercy and the transforming power of God’s love especially for sinners and those condemned to die.

In the story, we read that the Scribes and the Pharisees brought before Jesus, a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. Now, according to the Law of Moses, the punishment for adultery, promiscuity and fornication (for both men and women) was death by stoning (Deuteronomy 22:13-24, Leviticus 20:10). So, when they brought the woman to Jesus, it was in an attempt to put him to the test so they could find some charges to bring against him. They were trying to trap Jesus into a choice between gentleness and righteousness; between mercy and justice. They used the woman’s case as a weapon against Jesus.

As St. Augustine says, if Jesus had shown mercy to the woman by arguing against her stoning, then, he would have been shown to be unjust and, therefore, unrighteous. This would have enabled them to charge him with being against the Law of Moses. If on the other hand, he had agreed with the law and her stoning, then Jesus would be shown to be unmerciful. This would undoubtedly cause him to lose influence with the people, as he was loved precisely because of his gentleness. Jesus’ response both keeps the demands of justice and of mercy. He did not speak against the law by saying she should not be stoned, nor did he say she should be stoned. Instead, he put it back on the woman’s accusers, saying, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7). With this, he forced the woman’s accusers to look inward at their own guilt in violating the very law they thought they were protecting. As St. Augustine puts it, Jesus response meant, either let this woman go, or together with her receive the penalty of the law. The voice of justice says, let the sinner be punished, but not by sinners.

The story of the woman mirrors the situation of our world today. The double standard morality of the scribes and Pharisees is still very evident in our time- one rule for one and another rule for the other. Also, like the scribes and Pharisees, we find it easy to discover sin in other people and to label others as sinners even when we ourselves are guilty of the same sin. Just as the men wanted to mob the woman so also are mob actions on the increase in our time. In most cases, those who carry out mob justice on others are also in one way or the other, guilty of the act they condemn.

Our today’s gospel passage has often been used by those who want to justify their sin. When their sin has been exposed they arrogantly say, “Who are you to call me a sinner? Do not throw stones at me unless you are without sin.” The attitude expressed by the above statement totally misses the point of the story. The woman was guilty and Jesus did not exonerate her. The attitude of Jesus does not mean that he is lenient toward the sin of adultery. Jesus condemned the sin but not the sinner- the woman. Jesus forgave her but ordered her not to sin again. In that way, the Jesus is portrayed as one who allows us space for correction. He gives us opportunity to repent of our sins and offers us mercy and pardon. In his mercy he forgives us and in his justice, he tells us to sin no more.

Like the woman, we all stand before Jesus, sinful and sorrowful, waiting for the sentence to be passed on us. But just as Jesus did not condemn the woman but set her free, so also does Jesus do towards us (Rom. 8:1). Go and sin no more is not a statement of judgment or condemnation. Jesus did not call the woman names. As a matter of fact, he called her by the same endearing name that he only used for his mother- woman. Like the woman, Jesus is telling us that we are forgiven and that we should go and sin no more. Today, we pray for the grace to leave our life of sin and to stop leaving in the past as the first and second readings tell us. Amen.