Bible Study:
Isaiah 43, 16 to 21. Philippians 3, 8 to 14. And John 8, 1 to 11.
Last Sunday,
we read the story of the Prodigal Son. If you remember, we pointed out that
both the younger son and the elder brother had the same problem. They were
tired of being in the father’s house. The elder brother did not join in the
welcome-back-party because he felt cheated, he did not see the need to
celebrate the return of one who was dead and had come back to life. For him,
this guy deserves to be punished because he had simply gone out to enjoy
himself.
Today’s
readings somehow continues from there. However this time around, it was not the
younger brother that returned to the father, the elder brother (in the person
of the Scribes and Pharisees) arrested him and in chains and brought him to
Jesus for approval of the death sentence. Unfortunately for them, they did not
realise that Jesus himself knew the contents their hearts. He knew they had
only brought the woman as a test and by his response, he silenced them.
In the
first place, it is interesting to note that these Scribes and Pharisees were so
clearly unjust in their interpretation of the Law given by Moses. What exactly
did Moses write? Please if you have a Bible, open to Leviticus 20, verse 10: “If
a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbour, both the adulterer and
the adulteress shall be put to death.” Moses never said that ONLY the woman
should be stoned. In fact, if you read the whole of the over 600 laws written
by Moses in the Old Testament, there is no place where did Moses ever said the
woman alone should be stoned for adultery.
In Deuteronomy
17, 2 to 5, Moses wrote: “If there is found among you, within any of your towns
which the LORD your God gives you, a man or woman who does what is evil in the
sight of the LORD your God, in transgressing his covenant,… then you shall
bring forth to your gates that man or woman who has done this evil thing, and
you shall stone that man or woman to death with stones. Again in Deuteronomy
22, 23 to 24, Moses writes: “If there is a betrothed virgin, and a man meets
her in the city and lies with her, then you shall bring them BOTH out to the
gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones…”
One would wonder,
does a woman commit adultery with herself? So, why did these men who claimed to
have caught a woman in the act bring her to Jesus leaving out the man involved?
Why were they willing to stone her to death while the man walks freely? This tells
us something of the place of women in that society and it is sad to say that despite
our present day civilisation, mankind continues to oppress women and treat them
with lesser dignity than men.
These
Scribes and Pharisees not only lied against Moses, they misinterpreted the Law
and were willing to throw stones against a woman forgetting they were not
saints either. This simply tells us how blind we become in our attempt to
condemn other people. It always baffles me how easily we see the specks in other
people’s eyes and never notice the logs in our own eyes. Matthew 7, 4 to 5,
Jesus asked: “How can you say to your brother, “Let me take the speck out of
your eye,” when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the
log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of
your brother's eye.” Why is that it is so difficult to examine our own
conscience but we are busy all day analysing, judging and dissecting other
people?
It is so
bad that some people even come to confession and go about mentioning the sins
of others while painting themselves as sinless and spotless. To really teach
these unjust Scribes and Pharisees a lesson, Jesus said “Let him who has not
sinned be the first to cast a stone at her.” This was a moment of truth! For
the first time in their entire lives, they were forced to do an examination of
conscience and we are told that beginning with the oldest, they dropped their stones
one by one and walked away. Note that Jesus did not say, “Let him who has never
committed adultery…” No. He said, “Let him who has never sinned at all…”
Dear
friends, the only condition in which we are free to condemn anyone or discuss their
sins is that we ourselves must be completely sinless! In other words, so long
as we sin whether consciously or unconsciously, we are not permitted to judge
anyone. It is surprising that Jesus himself who was obviously the only person
there without sin did not cast a stone at the woman. He asked the woman: “Where
are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord” And Jesus said, “Neither
do I condemn you; go and do not sin again.”
Dear
friends, the essence of being a Christian is according to St. Paul is simply to
strive for perfection. It is not a matter of pointing accusing fingers at
others. Even St. Paul acknowledges that we cannot be perfect based on our own
efforts alone, so the perfection he sought after is that which is based on Faith;
a perfection that seeks to replicate the sufferings of Christ on the cross. “All
I want is to know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his
sufferings, becoming like him in his death. … Brethren, I do not consider that
I have made it my own; but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and
straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize
of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3, 10 to 14.
In our
struggle for perfection, we are to run like athletes. Have you ever seen an
athlete looking back while on a race? Impossible! Instead he or she keeps looking
forward, with eyes on the prize and with a mind aiming for the finish line. As Christians
we are meant to notice only those ahead of us on the race, those we consider to
be our mentors; those who are doing well. It is not our business to look back
or try to condemn or correct those we consider to be worse than we are, because
by so doing, we pass judgment.
Even in
our own personal lives, we are to remain focused on what lies ahead and not get
fixated on our past. As God speaks to us through the prophet Isaiah in today’s
first reading, there is just no need to recall the past. “Remember not the
former things, nor consider the things of old.
Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not
perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. Isaiah
43, 18 to 19.
Each of us
here has a past. There is no one who has never sinned before. But today, God is
saying to us, FORGET THE PAST; BEGIN A NEW LIFE. You may see yourself as a
desert, God is saying, I will make rivers flow from you. You may have gone deep
in sin, yet God is saying: “my child, your past is past, you can become a
Saint.” The God who called a murderer and changed his name from Saul to Paul is
still alive and that is the God we serve. Go and Sin No More!
Let us
Pray:
Lord
Jesus, here I am alone with you, no one has condemned me. Give me the courage
to cut off my ties with the past, the wisdom to leave sin behind and to strive
for perfection. Amen.
God bless
you. Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. Happy
Sunday.
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