NEITHER DO I CONDEMN YOU

V SUNDAY OF LENT - John 8:1-11

We continuously compare the present with the past and consider the past better than the present. The golden age is always in the past. We hope for better times, but our references are in the past. However, in the Scriptures, we are called to look forward since the golden age will be in the future.

In the first reading, taken from Isaiah 43:16-21, the prophet remembers the past, bringing to mind the crossing of the Red Sea (Sea of Reeds), but then, he turns his mind to the future with the promise that God is going to do more extraordinary wonders for the sake of his people:

“No need to recall the past,

no need to think about what was done before.

See, I am doing a new deed,

even now it comes to light; can you not see it?

Yes, I am making a road in the wilderness,

paths in the wilds.”

Christians live in the hope that the Lord Jesus Christ will bring salvation to completion. Many times, we live trapped in our past, which pulls us down, destroying any hope of renewal and redemption. The encounter with Christ fills us with light, dispelling the darkness of our hearts and giving us a path to the future. In his youth, Paul was filled with a zeal for God so strong that it left him blind and unable to discover God’s presence and action beyond his narrow mind. His heart became full of anger and hatred, leading him to persecute innocent people in the name of God. The deep experience of the encounter with God transformed him and allowed him to look upon new horizons. In the letter to the Philippians, Paul speaks of his experience, which marked him forever.

For Christ, “I have accepted the loss of everything, and I look on everything as so much rubbish if only I can have Christ and be given a place in him.” The love of Christ became the only motivation of his life. “I believe nothing can happen that will outweigh the supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” (Phil 3:8-14).

In this Sunday’s gospel, we have another instance of redemption and salvation. The encounter with Christ sets the woman free not only from the ones who want to stone her to death but also from her sinful past. God shows forth his justice through his mercy, while human beings pretend to exercise justice through revenge and punishment.

In the episode of the woman caught in adultery, Jesus unmasked the hypocrisy of her accusers., saving her from stoning. Due to Jesus’ intervention, the woman was not condemned. Then, Jesus told her: “‘Neither do I condemn you. Go away, and do not sin any more.”

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (Jn 3:17)

Jesus reveals to us God’s mercifulness and love.