Gospel reflection 5th Sunday of Lent

This weekend sees another Gospel that I am happy to share my reflection on. The Gospel for the 5th Sunday of Lent in Year C is a personal favourite for me (Jn 8:1-11). The one line that I particularly like and is, 'Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.' (Jn 8:7). I often think of this line as, 'let him who is without sin cast the first stone'. I often think of it when I feel somebody is judging me.

This Gospel has a clear message this week, it is about judgement. Nobody has the right to judge another because we are all sinners, there is something that we are all guilty of. Neither will God ever judge us. The Gospel finishes with Jesus telling the woman, 'Go your way, and from now on do not sin again' (Jn 8:11). This line encourages us to pick ourselves up when we fall to sin and live a sin free life. In the world we live in today it is difficult to live sin free. But it is okay, when we fall we need to approach God, say sorry and try again. God our Father has forgiven us our faults before we ever approach Him seeking forgiveness. So then, why do we need to seek His forgiveness? When we do wrong in any part of our life we need to apologise to the one we have caused hurt to. When we sin we cause hurt to God so that is why we need to say sorry.

Again, the theologian within me feels I need to look at this Gospel again to look at who Jesus is talking to. This Gospel does not include a parable told by Jesus to a group of people. When Jesus was teaching the people in the temple the scribes and Pharisees presented a woman to him. This woman was being accused of committing adultery. The main characters that Jesus spoke to in this passage were; the scribes, Pharisees and the woman. To the scribes and Pharisees Jesus conveys the message that they have no right to judge this woman because of her sins for they themselves are also sinners. I think this is a very important thing to remember when someone does wrong, even to us. We are no angels, so who are we to judge? The scribes and Pharisees having realised that they had no right to judge this woman then left. This meant that it was just Jesus and the woman left. The woman didn't leave when the others left. She was willing to accept the consequences of her actions. But Jesus refused to condemn her for nobody else had condemned her. Instead Jesus showed this woman love by not condemning and letting her leave. Love is the most important gift that God can give to us. In essence God is love. Let us not forget that during this Lenten season as we approach Easter. The greatest love that one can show for another is to lay down his life for his friends. God showed the ultimate love for us when Jesus, the Son and second person of the Trinity (God) died for us on Good Friday.