This Sunday’s gospel is a story unique to the gospel of John—the story of the woman caught in adultery. A group of scribes and Pharisees bring a woman accused of adultery to Jesus to test him. Since she has been “caught,” her conviction is assured. The penalty is that she will be stoned to death. The scribes and Pharisees want to see how Jesus responds. Their hope is that he will deny the Law and then they will have grounds to kill him also. His response has been speculated about for two thousand years. He writes in the sand, and we have no idea what he writes.
When he speaks, he says, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” One by one, her accusers leave without saying a word. Jesus is now alone with the woman. He asks, “Where are they (the accusers)? Has no one condemned you?” and then he says, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on, do not sin anymore.”
Like many others, I have often wondered what Jesus wrote in the sand. Scholars have speculated and no one knows. My Gospel of John professor suggested Jesus simply scribbled. He was obviously not answering the scribes and Pharisees, and then he put them to the test. The famous phrase, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone” echoes down the centuries. Apparently, Jesus was the only person present without sin as everyone else departed without saying a word. I have often wondered if the man with whom the woman committed adultery was among the accusers. We will never know.
Jesus explicitly chooses not to condemn the woman. He does not condone her behavior, and he offers no social commentary on why only women are accused of adultery but not their male partners. He knows his own mother, Mary, was presumed an adulteress when Joseph learned of her pregnancy. He knew his foster father was a righteous man as he refused to let Mary be put to public shame and perhaps death.
“Go and sin no more.” Even in our own times, this sounds like hollow advice. Furthermore, it is much easier said than done. The reality is that “sinning no more” is a herculean task, perhaps impossible. This is where the mercy of God is at work. Jesus shows the woman mercy, rather than condemnation and death. Even from his own cross, he shows mercy to his persecutors and murderers.
“Go and sin no more.” While not explicitly said in the sacrament of reconciliation, it seems implicit in the absolution given by the priest. The act of absolution is the same radical response as that of Jesus to the woman caught in adultery. His words “Neither do I condemn you” are juxtaposed to our words “I have greatly sinned” or as some say in confession “I accuse myself.” The act of our confessing, in contrast to the less reliable accusations of others, lets us state our truth out loud, accepting full responsibility, and, from Jesus, we receive in return, not stones, but compassion. We will be told many times in our lives, “Go and sin no more.” It is not a one-time only offer but instead a gift from God’s inexhaustible treasury of mercy.
