“ ...NEITHER DO I CONDEMN YOU.”
Dear Brothers & Sisters,
Today we see yet another dimension of the kind of God the Father is through and in His Son Jesus. He is a Father who does not want to condemn anyone, but who at the same time challenges all of us not to sin when our sinfulness lands us in His presence. Here, Jesus is presented with someone caught committing a deadly, malicious act. They brought her to Jesus for two reasons: one to get him to join them in stoning her to death (and then he would be seen as a fraud); or to trap him to spare her and thus be deemed lawless and encouraging people to go against the Commandments.
Jesus, it should be noted, did not condemn them for self-righteously demanding that she be annihilated, nor did he condemn them for trying to trick him. He simply challenged them to throw stones at her if they were sinless. John tells us that as they pressed him for action he bent down and started writing on the ground. As he wrote, they went away one by one beginning with the eldest. When they had all left not condemned by Jesus, he tells the woman, if no one condemns you “... neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more.”
When our sins land us before Jesus, we too will hear the words, “... neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more.”
May God Bless You.
Fr. Clement Paul.
Parish Priest.
Dear Brothers & Sisters,
Today we see yet another dimension of the kind of God the Father is through and in His Son Jesus. He is a Father who does not want to condemn anyone, but who at the same time challenges all of us not to sin when our sinfulness lands us in His presence. Here, Jesus is presented with someone caught committing a deadly, malicious act. They brought her to Jesus for two reasons: one to get him to join them in stoning her to death (and then he would be seen as a fraud); or to trap him to spare her and thus be deemed lawless and encouraging people to go against the Commandments.
Jesus, it should be noted, did not condemn them for self-righteously demanding that she be annihilated, nor did he condemn them for trying to trick him. He simply challenged them to throw stones at her if they were sinless. John tells us that as they pressed him for action he bent down and started writing on the ground. As he wrote, they went away one by one beginning with the eldest. When they had all left not condemned by Jesus, he tells the woman, if no one condemns you “... neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more.”
When our sins land us before Jesus, we too will hear the words, “... neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more.”
May God Bless You.
Fr. Clement Paul.
Parish Priest.
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