Homily

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The Salvation of the Soul

Isaiah 43:16-21; Philippians 3: 8-14; John: 8:8-11. 

Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful 

‘Jesus said to the woman: ‘Neither do I condemn you; go and from now on sin no more.’ John 8:10

As the Church’s holy season of Lent begins to draw to a close, the gospel today presents us with the account of the woman brought before Jesus by the scribes and Pharisees who accuse her of committing adultery – the very act - they say. 

The story encourages us to intensify our repentance.  To know more deeply the love and forgiveness of God Christ has won for us in the coming Paschal Mysteries and into which we were admitted at our baptism. 

The Law of Moses is clear – the woman has broken the Seventh Commandment: ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery’.   According to Exodus this Law was written by Lord God on the stone tablets and given to Moses on Mount Sinai. It is understood as being unchanging and unchangeable.

The prescribed punishment for adultery follows in Leviticus [20.v10] states  “If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbour, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.’’  

This is all very brutal and shocking stuff to our modern way of thinking, but in the minds of the Pharisees the Law of Moses stands irrevocable. And Jesus himself claimed - “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.’’ 

But Jesus’ ministry was recognised as one of compassion, the befriending of the alienated and forgiving sinners. The Pharisees come to test Jesus now with a real flesh and blood case.

How will Jesus respond to the sin of this woman? Will he condemn her and so fulfil the Law of Moses, or will he show leniency and be accused of contradicting the Law? 

Early in his Gospel John tells us: ‘Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.’

Jesus knew what makes people tick – he knew the passions that lead us into destructive relationships and the subsequent guilt and shame.  Adultery in Scripture is also taken to mean the sin that alienates the soul from God and turning to other gods. 

Jesus also knew the hypocrisy that motivated the woman’s accusers. He knew they were using the woman and her sin against Him.

At first he says nothing.   Instead he bends down and writes with his finger on the stone floor of the Temple – perhaps to remind the bystanders of the Stone Tablets that God had first written the Ten Commandments. The Commandments, were all expressed in strongly prohibitive terms of behaviour – ‘Thou shall not.’ 

Jesus recognises how sin uses the Law for destructive behaviour. So he tells us it is from the heart come all-  evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, and so forth, these defile us and bring us down.  Only by purifying the heart will we grow in true holiness and righteousness of life. By opening our hearts and confessing our sins can the Holy Spirit saves us and reconciles us with God. By constant vigil over our hearts we vanquish our enemies and we grow in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. For by his shining as a light in our hearts he shows us all those dark and hidden places that we are ashamed of.

In answer to his opponents  Jesus therefore says, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”

With these words Jesus shines his light – the light of truth - on their hearts, and  they began to leave, beginning with the eldest and leave the woman alone with Jesus. 

In the face of Christ they cannot deny their own sinfulness.  

In the gospels we frequently her Jesus strongest words of condemnation are for the hypocrites. They claim to see when in fact they are blind.  They proudly claim to be the righteous people of God who keep the law, but all the time they deny the life giving Spirit of God. 

Hypocrisy is our blind spot that can become pride in action. We can all becomes Pharisees at times and cast stones at others. And how deep such hypocrisy can goes in us.

In all my years of hearing confessions as a priest I’ve rarely had anyone come and confess they are a hypocrite: murder, adultery, theft etc. yes, but rarely hypocrisy. 

And the woman who now stands before Jesus, what will the Lord say to her? 

To his question “Has no one condemned you?”  she replies, “No one, Lord.”  Then he says, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go and from now on sin no more.’

That day the woman encountered Jesus would have remained with her for the rest of her life. That day he had saved her from death; the day he had saved for an entirely new life free from sin. It was the day she would remember the unconditional love of God set her free from Law and to live by grace. 

It is often said that ‘God loves the sinner, but hates the sin.’

But Jesus’ words to the woman ‘to sin no more’ are more than a command; they are his call to deny herself and take up the Cross and follow him. Only by following him would she know what it was to ‘sin no more’ and to begin to live again in the Spirit and have grace to engage in the spiritual warfare.  

This woman’s story is the story of the salvation of all our souls.  It is the story of the struggle of all who follow Christ who died and rose again for our sake. 

This spiritual struggle St. Paul bears witness to in that  wonderful passage today from Philippians  when he writes:

‘one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,  I press on towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.’ 

Glory to Him, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, One God glorified for ever.