Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Grace Pending

Home
Catholic
Everybody Must Get Stoned

Everybody Must Get Stoned

Last updated on: August 24, 2015 at 8:54 pm by Tom Zampino

Everybody Must Get Stoned 2015-08-24T20:54:21-05:00 Tom Zampino

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The story of the woman caught in adultery (John 8) has always shaken me to the core.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve done all too many things in my life that could have gotten me stoned back then under the law of Moses.

Hell, looking back over the years, there are a few things in my life that might have at least gotten me arrested even today.

Or, at a minimum, totally and completely humiliated should they ever become publicly disclosed.

Some can be chalked up to youthful indiscretions.

Others . . . not so much.

And I’m not exactly Mr. Badass either.

(But no, I’m not going to publicly confess them here so just hush.)

Still, unlike the laws of man, I know that God’s justice never fails and is always correct.

And it’s always merited, unlike his divine mercy – a mercy which should be as shocking to us, as it is unmerited for us.

But you know, I don’t always see myself in the place of the woman in this little, man attempts to one-up God, drama.

No.

More often, in fact, I find myself to be one of her accusers.

One of the many self-righteous, hypocritical, arrogant, vengeful, petty, vain, know-nothing, accusers that Christ totally demolished.

But he did so without words, or deeds, or displays.

In fact, he broke them with his silence:

By his silence he invites everyone to self-reflection. On the one hand, he invites the woman to acknowledge the wrong committed; on the other, he invites her accusers not to shrink from an examination of conscience:

“Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her” (Jn 8: 7).

And once they had confronted themselves, they just walked away.

Perhaps they walked away partly humiliated, partly angry.

But walk away they did, for they had no choice.

Now, as we all remember, Christ didn’t excuse the woman’s breach. And a serious breach it was.

But he revealed that his divine mercy was even greater than her sin:

While this authoritative reply reminds us that it is only the Lord who can judge, it reveals the true meaning of divine mercy, which leaves open the possibility for repentance and emphasizes the great respect for the dignity of the person, which not even sin can take away.

“Go, and do not sin again” (Jn 8:11). The last words of this episode show that God does not want the sinner to die, but to repent of the evil he has committed and live.

So there’s the key, the one that applies to the woman and to her accusers, both:

Go, and do not sin again

As St. John Paul II has reminded us:

[I]n whatever condition we find ourselves, we can always open ourselves to conversion and receive forgiveness for our sins.

We can, I think, reasonably surmise that the woman of the story did just that. She likely had a sincere change of heart.

Her accusers: well, we really can’t be so sure.

As for me, sometimes the woman accused, but more often the self-absorbed accuser, I’m still working on it.

He’s not done with me quite yet.

Thank God for that.

Peace

Image Credit: Rembrandt, The Woman Taken in Adultery, Public Domain

With a stupendous thank you to Jimmy Akin for leading the way here.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

August 20, 2015

Fulton Sheen: "Believe The Incredible And You Can Do The Impossible"

Next Post

August 27, 2015 John Henry Cardinal Newman: The Mission Of My Life

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Belief Changes Evil Faith Guest Post Jenner Laudato si Lawyers Life Prayer Priesthood Reviews Uncategorized

Select a Month April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does Proverbs 23:4-5 warn against pursuing too much?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Status Power Wealth Knowledge