The Gospel for December 8, 2004
John 7:53-8:11
They all went home, and Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At daybreak he appeared in the Temple again; and as all the people came to him, he sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and Pharisees brought a woman along who had been caught committing adultery; and making her stand there in the middle they said to Jesus, ‘Master, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery, and in the Law Moses has ordered us to stone women of this kind. What have you got to say?’ They asked him this as a test, looking for an accusation to use against him. But Jesus bent down and started writing on the ground with his finger. As they persisted with their question, he straightened up and said, ‘Let the one among you who is guiltless be the first to throw a stone at her.’ Then he bent down and continued writing on the ground. When they heard this they went away one by one, beginning with the eldest, until the last one had gone and Jesus was left alone with the woman, who remained in the middle. Jesus again straightened up and said, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ ‘No one, sir,’ she replied. ‘Neither do I condemn you,’ said Jesus. ‘Go away, and from this moment sin no more.’ -- The New Jerusalem Bible. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1995, c1985
A Study
We observe here how the religious powers in Jerusalem were conspiring to use the Law as a club to beat Israel into submission (to the religious powers) as well as to attempt to discredit Jesus.
And once again, we observe Jesus answering the question that should have been asked.
A Reflection
Perhaps, just perhaps, when we say "My prayers are never answered," it's another case of Jesus giving us the answer to the prayer we should have prayed?
Gordon Atkinson, Real Live Preacher, has written a dramatized version of this text. This is my first encounter with it in the lectionary since reading Gordon's version. Gordon fills in the details that bring the story to life in its proper context. I cannot recommend his version highly enough, nor his book, another blessing from him.
There is a prayer in the Anglican tradition that contains the phrase, " ... God, who desireth not the death of a sinner, but that he should turn from his wickedness, and live ...."
And it has always encouraged me. So often we encounter false paths that seems to have traps everywhere, each baited with something irresistable to us, and each poised over a slide leading to the destruction of our souls. And we fail to recognize that it's not the individual trap that is the danger, but the path. The longer we stay on the path, the more traps, each with more attractive bait.
And God does not desire our deaths. God's desire for us is to be our lover, to hold us as we desire to hold our own children when they are cute and cuddly. God loves us the same even after we're no longer cute and cuddly, but when we have really gone astray, missed the mark by a mile, smell foul, look awful.
But there are those about who will condemn us when we fall short, sometimes just because they think we have fallen short. And like the religious elite in this text, they have all the answers and will do much to destroy those whom they consider to be against them.
Using the maxim that the end justifies the means, they will sanctimoniously violate the rules they impose on others to ensure their own correctness.
That, too, is a false path.
I can hear the thud of the stone falling at the opposition leader's feet. It sounds like the footfall of YHWH walking in His garden, calling for His first human creatures after they had eaten from the forbidden tree.
What is our response to Him?
A Collect
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, we pray you to set your passion, cross, and death between your judgment and our souls, now and in the hour of our death. Give mercy and grace to the living; pardon and rest to the dead; to your holy Church peace and concord; and to us sinners everlasting life and glory; for with the Father and the Holy Spirit you live and reign, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
10:15:44 PM 
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