GOSPEL OF JOHN 8:1-11 FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT The Context of this Passage: The day before Jesus had been teaching in the temple. No one could defeat Jesus’ teaching through arguments or debate. They had tried to arrest Him but the guards were so amazed by His words they could not do it. People were beginning to believe in Him. So the Pharisees plotted to defeat Him another way.

GOSPEL OF JOHN 8:1-11 FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT Gospel JN 8:1-11 Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area, and all the people started coming to him, and he sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle. They said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” They said this to test him, so that they could have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger. But when they continued asking him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he bent down and wrote on the ground. And in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders. So he was left alone with the woman before him. Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She replied, “No one, sir.” Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more.”

GOSPEL OF JOHN 8:1-11 FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT Standing Before our Sins: Question 1: What struck your Heart? How did God speak to you in this passage? What did you see in these words or this story? What bothered you? And what are you curious about?

GOSPEL OF JOHN 8:1-11 FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT Standing Before our Sins: Question 2: Why do you think the Scribes and Pharisees brought this woman to Jesus? Answer: Perhaps the obvious answer is that they wanted to catch him in a mistake with his teaching. He's made a profound impression on the people to the point that He is seen as overly merciful, and even to some extent broke the law (healing on a Sabbath day for example) to show God’s mercy. They are throwing a challenge, no longer hypothetical that Jesus will have to respond in such a way that, they think, will either fail to meet His standard of mercy or fail to meet the standard of the law.

GOSPEL OF JOHN 8:1-11 FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT Standing Before our Sins: Question 3: What do the Scribes and Pharisees do when Jesus says, “you who are without sin may cast the first stone”? Answer: They respond by walking away because they know their own sins. Starting with the eldest as they are wiser and know how many sins they have committed throughout their lives…could their sins be as great though…could their sins be the very same sins?

GOSPEL OF JOHN 8:1-11 FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT Standing Before our Sins: Question 4: Could there be another reason the Scribes and Pharisees brought this sinful woman to Jesus? Answer: Perhaps not as obvious is that in the Jewish law it is clear that if someone is caught in the act of sin there must be two or three true witnesses…people who were there as eye witnesses. This in the case of adultery, with a professional prostitute, could only happen if you were the customer of the prostitute…meaning it was a public confession of your own sin to accuse her as an eye witness. This is not to scandalize us about these men, but to show that their attempt to catch Jesus in a mistake, was also an attempt to perhaps rid themselves of either the burden of paying her their debts or perhaps to attempt violence as a means to rid themselves of their own sinful temptation. Jesus succeeds at defeating every evil in this trial of sinfulness.

GOSPEL OF JOHN 8:1-11 FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT Standing Before our Sins: Question 5: All this time the woman is just standing there watching Jesus seem like He is unconcerned, then her accusers just slowly walk away as though nothing happened. What do you think she was thinking, sensing about her guilt, feeling about herself and what do you think she wanted to do? Answer: Pure fear might be the answer, confusion, shame, embarrassment, or even anger. She had had so many times the experience of being treated like an object, a thing to be used for another persons pleasure. She was now going to be stoned to death to reaffirm what she had always believed about herself… “I am evil!” The repeated event of her sin could only be done away with by death, and even that would not make her clean.

GOSPEL OF JOHN 8:1-11 FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT Standing Before our Sins: Question 6: Finally Jesus speaks to her and says, “Has no one condemned you?” She responds, “No one sir.” And Jesus says, “Neither do I condemn you…go and sin no more.” Why is Jesus able to do this and still fulfill the laws requirements for punishing an adulterer? Answer: It was really a death sentence to be stoned as they did for adultery and the sentence applied to the adulterer as well. In this case, as with all those whose sins He had forgiven, Jesus is taking the penalty upon Himself for her sins. For her the effect of His mercy would have been immediate as He publicly defeated and exposed her accusers. In effect, He had taken upon Himself both her and their sins without disgrace - besides their obvious theological and political failure. Jesus would die in their place for their sins…and for ours!

GOSPEL OF JOHN 8:1-11 FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT Standing Before our Sins: Question 7: How does this change your mindset about Jesus’s regard for you in your sin? Does His mercy change your mindset about sin and guilt itself? How will it help you to approach the Sacrament of Confession? How will this change the way you pray? How will this new mindset change your behavior?

TAKEAWAY: I’M NOT AFRAID TO STAND IN HIS MERCY OVER ME! LENT 2016 FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT

“YOU ARE A WALKING MONSTRANCE OF MY PRESENCE! “YOU ARE A LIVING BANNER OF MY INFINITE MERCY!” JESUS CHRIST - LENT 2016