Gospel Reflection on John 8:1-11

April 6, 2025

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 full view of everybody, they said to Jesus, ‘Master, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery, and Moses has ordered us in the Law to condemn women like this to death by stoning. What have you to say?’ They asked him this as a test, looking for something to use against him. But Jesus bent down and started writing on the ground with his finger. As they persisted with their question, he looked up and said, ‘If there is one of you who has not sinned, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.’ Then he bent down and wrote on the ground again. When they heard this they went away one by one, beginning with the eldest, until Jesus was left alone with the woman, who remained standing there. He looked 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 do not sin any more.’

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In the Gospel today, a woman is publicly accused of adultery. Her accusers are many. But by the end of the story, only she has been set free. All her accusers still bear their guilt. They could not stone her because Jesus said: let the one who is without sin cast the first stone.

And so they walk away still trapped in their sin. What has changed? One thing. The accusers leave, and the woman is alone with Jesus. This is the key to the story.

She's the only one who enters into to an intimate and loving relationship with God. And in the end, that's the only authentic substitute for the disorder in our lives. If moral laws and ethical codes were capable of stopping us from making mistakes from sinning, then God would not have needed to become incarnate. But the real shock in this story is Jesus saying, go and sin no more. Sin is separation from God, born from our basic mistrust in the goodness of God.

We turn away, turn inwards in individualistic and self directed actions. So God took our flesh and lived through our isolated condition. That complete separation from God, which happens on the cross. And in that moment, he opens up a way of life different from sin, which is simply closeness with him. The life of sin for this woman ends when she remains alone with Christ.

She no longer needs to look for intimacy somewhere else. And this is the pattern that appears over and over in our faith story. The Jewish people endured the suffering of the exile so that God could begin to draw them back to himself.

On the road to Damascus, Paul endures the shock of being thrown to the ground and becoming suddenly blind. He realizes that he previously understood nothing and is finally liberated from the darkness that once absorbed him.

Later on, Paul will write, there is no condemnation for one who is in Christ Jesus. When we appreciate the heart that God has before our sins, the look of love with which he turns on us despite our faults and failings, we stumble onto the passage to new life. God wants to tell each one of us that our sins are not the central truth about us, but that these are illusions, deceptions. As we draw closer to the days that accomplish this miracle, we need to hear what he says to each one of us. Go. Do not sin anymore. Turn the page. Walk in my love on this new path.