Monday 7 April 2025 - Neither do I condemn you

Sunday 6 April 2025

Today is Sunday the 6th of April, the 5th Sunday of Lent. Good Shepherd Collective sings, ‘Help Me Jesus’. Today’s reading is from the Gospel of John. John 8:1-11 Early in the morning [Jesus] came again to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, 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. Now what do you say?’ They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, ‘Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.’ And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus straightened up and said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, sir.’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.’ Today, we spend time with Jesus and a woman caught in adultery. We don’t know her name, but we can try to imagine her face, her clothes and her demeanour. Picture the woman being brought to Jesus by the scribes and pharisees, how are they treating her? Now in your imagination, draw close to Jesus as the woman is being brought to him. ‘Teacher, they say, ‘this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?’ Which feelings, do you think are round for the woman now? Now wait with the woman, as together, you watch Jesus bending down and writing something with his finger in the sand. As the scribes and pharisees continue to question him, try to sense the atmosphere. Now, as you and the woman see Jesus straighten up, listen to his response: ‘Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.’ Once again you notice that he is writing in the sand. What is this time of waiting like? And what is happening among the scribes, pharisees and spectators? Finally, as each person leaves, Jesus and the woman are the only ones left. How is the woman now? Jesus straightens up, saying, ‘Woman, where are they? No one has condemned you? You hear her say, ‘No one, Sir.’ And Jesus says, ‘Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.’ Now, watch the woman walk away. What might she do or say as she leaves? What can you sense in her: gratitude, remorse, wonder, maybe? Can you identify with some of these feelings? As you come to the end of your prayer, give thanks to the Lord for your encounter with him today, and perhaps notice a moment where you’ve felt most moved during this time. You have given all to me To you, Lord, I return it Everything is Yours Do with it what You will Give me only Your love and Your grace That is enough for me Amen