Like many of the prophets before him, Jesus’ life and ministry was tied to the Temple in Jerusalem. It was there that Jesus was presented by Mary and Joseph when he was just forty days old. It was there that he held priests and scribes spellbound when he was twelve years old. It was there that he was drawn to worship and teach especially during the Jewish High Holy Days.
Today we hear of one particular visit to the Temple during the Feast of Tabernacles, the ancient Jewish feast held at the end of the harvest, also known as Pentecost or the Feast of Booths. As we hear in today’s Gospel, Jesus was teaching a large group of people in the Temple courtyard when a group of scribes and Pharisees interrupted him, bringing with them a woman, and they say: “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. What do you say?”
Jesus knows that the scribes and Pharisees are setting a trap, and he doesn’t answer right away. Instead he writes in the dirt. No one knows what he was writing. Was he listing the sins of the accusers? Or, perhaps, was it the relevant passage from the Law that condemned both partners in an adulterous relationship? He couldn’t help but notice that the man who was involved in this adulterous event was conspicuously absent. According to the law that the scribes and Pharisees quoted, both the man and the woman were to be stoned.
The scribes and Pharisees press him, and he answers simply, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to cast a stone at her.” They have nothing to say in response, and one by one they walk away. Once Jesus and the woman are alone, he asks her, “Where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She replies, “No one, sir,” and he tells her, “neither do I condemn you. Go and from now on do not sin anymore.”
Jesus is the only one without sin, the only one with the right to condemn this woman, but he doesn’t. He dismisses the woman without condemning her. This says a lot about Jesus and the invisible God whom he has come to make visible.
St. Augustine wrote an insightful commentary on the gospel passage that we hear this morning. He wrote: “As the sinner faces the sinless one, human misery meets divine mercy.” Remember the root of our English word “mercy” is the Latin word “misericordia.” We see the English word “misery” at the beginning of that word and the Latin word “cordia” at the end of that word. It is from the depth of his heart that God accompanies us in our misery. In Jesus, we see God dwelling among his people. And we see the kind of God he is. Not a God of condemnation, but a God of forgiveness. Not a God of wrath, but a God of mercy. Not a God who conquers by the sword, but a God who overcomes evil on the cross.
Of course, Jesus doesn’t let the woman remain in her sinful ways. He calls her to repentance, saying, “Go, and from now on do not sin any more.” That’s what Lent helps us to focus on every year. It’s an opportunity to both experience God’s mercy and to repent and return to him, just like the young man in last week’s gospel did, just as Jesus calls the woman standing before him to do in today’s gospel.
Elsewhere in John’s Gospel, we hear Jesus tell his disciples that “he who has seen me has seen the Father.” In his letter to the Colossians, Saint Paul, who saw the risen Lord on the road to Damascus, calls him “the image of the invisible God” and in today’s reading from his letter to the Philippians, we hear Paul say that knowing him is “the supreme good.” We don’t have the privilege that the disciples had of seeing Jesus in the flesh. We don’t have the privilege that Paul had of seeing the Risen Lord in heavenly glory. But, we do come to know Jesus through the teachings of the apostles, through sacred Scripture, through the teachings of the Church and through the sacraments. And, like the apostles, we are called to make Jesus known to the world.
In Jesus, we see God entering his Temple and dwelling among his people. And we see the kind of God he is. This is the God who is making something truly new, as we hear in today’s first reading. Something the world has not seen or even imagined. And we are invited to be part of this something new. As we continue our Lenten journey in this, the Jubilee Year of Hope, let us be grateful to God for the mercy he has extended to each of us and so be missionaries of hope, announcing God’s praise and extending God’s mercy to those we meet in our everyday lives. That will prepare us to walk closely with Jesus as he goes to Jerusalem to suffer and die and then, to do something completely new – rise from the dead to a new life in the Resurrection. That’s where we all want to be!