Jesus offers a two-fold mercy

The story of the adulterous woman and Jesus proved somewhat of a problem for the very early Church. For some time it floated within the Christian community as a verbal tradition, yet it did not form part of the earliest written records of the gospels. Why the challenge? It was one thing that Jesus told parables about the merciful ways of God. It was another thing that he actually lived by it. To be a follower of Jesus would mean walking with him on this same path.

So what are we to make of the story? May I suggest we start by reminding ourselves of last week’s Gospel. Remember, it was the parable of the Prodigal Son. That story and today’s event are not unrelated. The situation involving the treatment of the adulterous woman is a real-life unfolding of the parable of the Prodigal Son. Jesus takes the part of the forgiving and merciful father, the woman is like the wayward and reckless younger son, and the scribes and Pharisees are reminiscent of the accusing and bitter elder sibling.

This remarkable – and confronting – event was not some sanitised, formal encounter between the religious leaders and Jesus. It was instead a situation of high drama for the crowd and of utter distress for the unnamed woman. Having been caught in the very act of adulterous sex, her sin and shame was exposed for all to see. Yet, having been dragged before Jesus and the crowd, her accusers then completely ignored her. As it transpires, this unnamed woman was of no genuine concern to them. The scribes and Pharisees had contrived to use the humiliation of this woman as bait to trap Jesus. She was literally dragged through the dirt for the sake of winning a point.

For his part, Jesus turned away from this brutal scene. Bending down, he refused to enter into the cruelty of the others. There can be no dialogue, no genuine communication, with people who would want to wield the truth to bludgeon others. As the scribes and Pharisees push for a response, Jesus throws their accusation back in their faces, and again turns his back on their thuggery. With his back turned away from them, and his challenge ringing in their ears, they drift away one by one. You can almost hear their sense of impotency – unable to achieve even a hint of triumph. The accusers had departed as the accused, and Jesus was left alone with the woman.

And only now the woman becomes an active participant in what was happening. Jesus addresses her in a familiar, personal way. She is no longer an object, a thing to use to make a point – with Jesus the woman is someone: a person to talk with, a person to share with. From the few words they exchange, Jesus is able to offer the woman the possibility of hope out of her situation, and the woman is able to find again her dignity. Jesus doesn’t fudge the moment: he certainly reminds her of her sin, but he does so without condemnation, without humiliation. So, as she moves away, the woman is restored to new life, in right relationship with God.

This moment between Jesus and the unnamed woman is a very precious one. The mercy of Jesus demands of us both to drop the stones of condemnation from our own hands and to avoid the paths that lead to sin. It is a two-fold mercy because it both offers real hope, and it demands real action. It gives witness to the strength of Jesus’ desire to bring life and not death, to save those who are lost and not to condemn them. Surely, this is a path worth pursuing with Jesus, even to Calvary.

Feature image: Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery (Rubens)