5TH SUNDAY OF LENT: GRACE FLOWS WHENCE YOU DROP THE STONE.

Great friends from years back. The joy is evident.

The story of the woman caught in adultery (5th Sunday's gospel) reinforces God’s overflowing grace and mercy. It continues the narrative of forgiveness and freedom that Christ offers during Lent. The Scribes and the Pharisees present the woman whom they claimed was “caught in the very act of committing adultery.” In the law of Moses, adultery would require capital punishment. So, it is about being caught and legal requirements. The woman is alone, shamed, paraded for public ridicule and condemnation. Her title is “the woman caught in adultery” (stigma). A woman like that is not supposed to exist. No second chance and no future. Her partner is not identified in the act, just that she was caught in adultery.

The accusers in this story ask Jesus, “What do you say?” Scripture says, “They said this to test him.” The first sin here is duplicity. The men are dishonest. They display unwarranted self-righteousness by parading as good people. They violate the dignity of womanhood in how they handle her case. This woman is like the fisherman’s bait, whereas the big fish is Jesus. The Jews want to catch him. Should Jesus say, “Stone her,” then he isn’t merciful. Whereby he says, “Don’t stone her, he denies the law.” This is like tossing the coin at him with the question, “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar?” Can the God of mercy condemn mercy?

Jesus does something theologically important here. He bends down and begins to write. The Lord is writing to help them understand the law beyond artificiality. He reflects on their commitment to truth and compassion. He foresees the ultimate judgment, that day of reckoning. He allows them to reflect on the stones in their hands and challenges them to drop those stones. Importantly, Jesus wants them to realize that God sees the human heart. When God writes, depraved souls go into crisis. God’s finger goes into action here as Jesus said, "If I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you" (Luke 11:20). The same fingers that cast out Beelzebub will cast the demons of lies and hypocrisy in the accusers of this woman. He bends down to write. 

Let us recall what happened in the Book of Daniel, Chapter 5:

King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine with them. While Belshazzar was drinking his wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver goblets that Nebuchadnezzar, his father, had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. So, they brought in the gold goblets that had been taken from the temple of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. As they drank the wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone. Suddenly, the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote. His face turned pale, and he was so frightened that his legs became weak, and his knees were knocking. (5:1-6)

Interpreting those writings for the king, the prophet Daniel announced that God had numbered Nebuchadnezzar’s days. That he had been weighed on a scale and found wanting. Through Jesus’ writing, God is weighing these accusers on a scale. Each of them is found wanting, broken, and depraved. Their legs became weak, with their knees knocking. The finger of Christ invokes the presence of the Holy Spirit at that moment, for which he spoke, “When He comes, He will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; concerning righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged” (Jn. 16:8-11).

The accusers of this lady are not in a position to judge. They could neither stand their past nor face their present. Hence, they start to leave “one by one, beginning with the elders.” Imagine the post-encounter discussions among these men after they depart with their stones left behind.

What is your attitude towards others, especially those struggling with behavioral issues and addiction? Do you have your stone in hand? Let’s assume that you caught that individual in the very act. Does your soul still hold the stone of resentment, malice, and anger towards that individual? How long will the stone stay in your hands? These words of Christ are powerful: “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone.”

However, the meaning of this story is how Jesus rewrites our stories. The accused woman is left alone with Jesus. What a privilege! Jesus cleans her past. Her present becomes an opportunity. Her future gets transformed. Jesus looks up and says to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She replies, “No one, Sir.” And he says, “Neither do I condemn you. Go home and from now on do not sin anymore.” This is the real Law of freedom, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death” (Rom. 8:2).

Fast-forward this story and see this lady preaching to those people who brought her to Jesus after this encounter. She is going to be telling them about “the supreme good” of knowing God’s mercy, which Paul preaches to the Philippians. Her supreme advantage shows mercy over selfishness and condemnation. Do you wonder why converts are on fire with the good news? This woman is a testimony.

What comes to your mind as you hear this story? Have you been a victim, ridiculed, or snubbed for your faults? Have you felt humiliated for your mistakes? The story of the woman caught in adultery offers hope and, importantly, demonstrates God’s mercy. God’s transformation is at work for each of us. Jesus’ mission is to rewrite our stories.

Lent offers us two options: either drop the stone and pick up grace or hold the stone and walk away from grace. The hand that holds the stone cannot pick up God’s grace because both are incompatible. While the stone signals condemnation, grace bestows freedom. For this, Jesus exclaims, “If the Son therefore makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (Jn. 8:36). I don’t believe there are stones in heaven. Otherwise, God would have stoned the hell out of us. That also means we cannot get into heaven with stones in hand. But I am sure we see many stones on television and social media today, even in our homes.