Beloved in Christ,
The scribes and the Pharisees put Jesus to the test again. They brought before him a woman caught in the very act of adultery and invited his judgment. This scenario brings to mind the theme of crime, judgment, and punishment addressed in Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment (1866), which explores the psychological travails of Rodion Raskolnikov after he commits a murder. Without any recourse to his humanity and the circumstances of his life, he is condemned to death for his crime. Jesus took a different approach in his treatment of the woman who committed the sin of adultery. Instead of passing the cruel capital punishment by stoning to death, Jesus extended mercy and freedom to her, restoring her to the original dignity of the daughter of God. He absolved and set her on a path of new life. He says to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? Neither do I condemn you."
Jesus came to set free, not to condemn. Judgment and punishment, instead of rescue and freedom, are the paths often taken. Repentance and reconciliation are themes addressed in previous weeks. "Go, and from now on do not sin any more" (John 8:11). Jesus condemns her sin, so he admonishes her to sin no more. He does not admit or condone her sin of adultery but does not condemn her to death or hell because his approach is that of mercy and compassion. "God sent his son into the world not to judge the world but so that the world might be saved through him" (John 3:17). The instinct to judge and punish must give way to the grace of rescue and freedom. Christ calls us to imitate him, who came to set us free from bondage to sin, and "so if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed" (John 8: 36).
God made us for freedom. He freed us from bondage and death associated with sin through the passion, death and resurrection of his Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. Once we receive and experience God's deliverance and freedom, he orders us not to return to the slavery of sin: "Remember not the event of the past, the things of long ago consider not; see I am doing something new!" (Isaiah 43: 19). We must strive not to return to the past but a daily step forward in pursuit of everlasting freedom and life. As St. Paul says, "I continue my pursuit in hope that I may possess it, since I have indeed been taken possession of by Christ Jesus" (Phil 3:12). Like Paul and like the woman freed from the condemnation for the sin of adultery, we must put our sordid past of sin behind us: "forgetting what lies behind us but straining forward to what lies ahead" (Phil 3: 13). We must never yield to the pressure of returning to the Egypt of sin but strive to continue living under God's grace and pursue our ultimate goal, Jesus Christ (Phil 3:14) and announce his praise (Isaiah 43:21).
We must now prepare to walk closer with Christ as we begin Holy Week with Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion next Sunday.
In Christ,
Fr. Bernard Alayode, OP
The scribes and the Pharisees put Jesus to the test again. They brought before him a woman caught in the very act of adultery and invited his judgment. This scenario brings to mind the theme of crime, judgment, and punishment addressed in Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment (1866), which explores the psychological travails of Rodion Raskolnikov after he commits a murder. Without any recourse to his humanity and the circumstances of his life, he is condemned to death for his crime. Jesus took a different approach in his treatment of the woman who committed the sin of adultery. Instead of passing the cruel capital punishment by stoning to death, Jesus extended mercy and freedom to her, restoring her to the original dignity of the daughter of God. He absolved and set her on a path of new life. He says to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? Neither do I condemn you."
Jesus came to set free, not to condemn. Judgment and punishment, instead of rescue and freedom, are the paths often taken. Repentance and reconciliation are themes addressed in previous weeks. "Go, and from now on do not sin any more" (John 8:11). Jesus condemns her sin, so he admonishes her to sin no more. He does not admit or condone her sin of adultery but does not condemn her to death or hell because his approach is that of mercy and compassion. "God sent his son into the world not to judge the world but so that the world might be saved through him" (John 3:17). The instinct to judge and punish must give way to the grace of rescue and freedom. Christ calls us to imitate him, who came to set us free from bondage to sin, and "so if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed" (John 8: 36).
God made us for freedom. He freed us from bondage and death associated with sin through the passion, death and resurrection of his Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. Once we receive and experience God's deliverance and freedom, he orders us not to return to the slavery of sin: "Remember not the event of the past, the things of long ago consider not; see I am doing something new!" (Isaiah 43: 19). We must strive not to return to the past but a daily step forward in pursuit of everlasting freedom and life. As St. Paul says, "I continue my pursuit in hope that I may possess it, since I have indeed been taken possession of by Christ Jesus" (Phil 3:12). Like Paul and like the woman freed from the condemnation for the sin of adultery, we must put our sordid past of sin behind us: "forgetting what lies behind us but straining forward to what lies ahead" (Phil 3: 13). We must never yield to the pressure of returning to the Egypt of sin but strive to continue living under God's grace and pursue our ultimate goal, Jesus Christ (Phil 3:14) and announce his praise (Isaiah 43:21).
We must now prepare to walk closer with Christ as we begin Holy Week with Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion next Sunday.
In Christ,
Fr. Bernard Alayode, OP
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