"while
Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he 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.”
- John 8:1-11
Reflection:
When
people have done something wrong to us we often feel angry and want
them to be punished, don’t we? But in today’s gospel Jesus
teaches us that this isn’t always the right way. After all, none of
us are perfect.
Through
today's story God makes us realize that, when
we start complaining about others, God will prompt us to see within
ourselves. Are we worthy to judge others? We all are weak by
ourselves, being sinners by ourselves, we are not able to judge
others. The lord teaches us this prayer “forgive us our sins as we
forgive those who trespass against us”. Hence we must forgive
others, then only our heavenly Father will forgive us as
we forgave others.
This
is what happened in today's story. A
woman who did wrong was brought in front of Jesus by people who
thought themselves to be noble and good. They proved their points
bringing to light the laws given by forefather Moses in-order to trap
Jesus. But Jesus dealt with them very wisely. He didn't respond
immediately. But waited for a while, may be He was praying to God, to
give Him wisdom to deal with the situation and then He replied “Let
anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at
her.” No
one dared to throw. Jesus gave a chance to the people to look into
themselves how unrighteous are they themselves while condemning the
woman.
She
said, “No one, sir.”
Then
Jesus replied “Neither
do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.”
He
made the woman too realize that she has done wrong, but now the Lord
has seen her tears and forgiven her, but never sin anymore.
We
have all done things wrong. Can you think of a time when you did
something wrong? Don’t say it out loud, but keep it in your heads.
How did it feel when you knew you had done something wrong? What
happened next? Did you get told off? How did it feel when you had
said sorry, and been forgiven? Will you try not to do whatever it was
again?
Jesus
asks us not to judge people who have done something wrong, because we
all do wrong things sometimes. Instead we should try to forgive
others, as God forgives us. But we should also try to help them see
that they need to change, so that they no longer do what is wrong
.Lord
sees our sincere tears of repentance. He always wishes that His
children realize their wrong doings and return to Him asking pardon
so that He can forgive them and remind them that to remain in lord
always and never do wrong any more. He also wishes that His children
forgive others and pray for them for Lord mercy so that they are led
to God who can forgive their sins.
Prayer.
God
of love, you forgive us when we go wrong, and encourage us to try
again to be better. Help us to do the same to our friends and others
so that we never judge others. Jesus help us to help each other be
good instead of being mean to each other. Amen.
“Yet
even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with
fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not
your clothing. Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and
merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents
from punishing”- Joel 2:12-13
Reading
Luke 6:37-42
