5th Sunday of Lent Year C–April 6, 2025.
Isaiah 43:6-21; Philippians 3:8-14; John 8:1-11
Theme: The Lenten Season is a Transition Time from Old to New Lives
A. A Brief Exegetical Analysis of John 8:1-11
1. Historical
and Literary Contexts
Most
biblical scholars agree that this Gospel passage is not part of the original
Gospel of John; it is a later insertion, and the Catholic Church accepts it as
canonical Scripture.[1]
It is inserted between the story regarding the discussion about the origins of
the Messiah (Jn 7:40-52) and Jesus’ speech about him being the Light of the
World (Jn 8:12-20), interrupting then the theme called “The Tabernacle
discourse,’ discussed in chapters 7 and 8. Through this story of a woman caught
in adultery, the sacred author intends to expose the hypocrisy of the Pharisees
and scribes on the one hand and, on the other hand, teach God’s mercy.
2. Form,
Structure, and Movement
This
Gospel text is a narrative account structured into four movements. The setting
(vv. 1-2), the Pharisees and scribes test Jesus (vv. 3-6a), Jesus’s gestures
and response (vv. 6b-9), and Jesus’ conversation with the woman caught in
adultery (vv. 10-11).
3.
Detailed Analysis
Vv.
1-2. The biblical tradition usually portrays mountains as places of prayer and
encounter with God. So, Jesus going to the Mount of Olives (v. 1) and arriving in
the temple area early in the morning (v. 2) suggest that Jesus spent the whole
night on this mountain in prayer. Jesus taught the people who came to him in
the temple. These two verses describe the two dimensions of Jesus’ life: Prayer
and Ministry.
Vv.
3-6a. John says nothing about the man involved in this act of adultery. Maybe
it is because the woman is a “paid actor” or because John arranged his account
to appear like this to support the objective of the Pharisees and Scribes,
which is to entrap Jesus. However, the law of Moses also holds the man involved
in adultery equally responsible (see Dt 22:22; Lv 20:10). Here is the trap
through their question to Jesus. Everybody knew that the authority to apply
capital punishment was exclusively reserved for the Roman government. No one
was allowed to execute someone in the whole empire. Now, if Jesus tells the
Scribes and Pharisees to stone the woman, they will immediately report him to
the Roman authorities that he advocates rebellion against the Roman government
and laws. On the other hand, if Jesus tells them not to stone her, the Scribes
and Pharisees will discredit Jesus to the Jewish community that he is not a true
prophet since he defies the law of Moses.
Vv.
6b-9. Jesus suggests that the execution of the woman should be done only by
those among them who think they are without sin. The scribes and Pharisees
understand that Jesus has turned the trap on them. Jesus’ response means that if
they stone the adulterer woman, the responsibility for her death will be on
their shoulders. Now, they have two choices to make: either stone the woman and
be arrested, condemned, and tortured by the Roman authorities, or not stone
her, which will appear in front of the Jewish crowd that they admit publicly
they are sinners. They chose the shame of being seen as sinners rather than
being incarcerated and tortured in prison by the Roman authorities. So,
their decision of not stoning the woman is not because they sincerely admit
they are sinners and need forgiveness but because they do not want the Roman
authorities to incarcerate them.
John
mentioned twice that Jesus bent down and wrote on the ground (vv. 6b and 8)
but did not say what Jesus was writing and why on the ground. From the
perspective of the law of Moses, Jesus’ gesture of writing on the ground contrasts
with how the law of Moses was written and perceived. The Mosaic law was written
on a pair of stone tablets. A stone is dense and unyielding, meaning the law is
rigid and permanent. In contrast, Jesus’ gesture of writing on the ground
reveals that sins are not written on the stone (meaning unforgivable) but on
the dirt where God’s gift of mercy washes them away.
Vv.
10-11. The conversation is now between Jesus and the accused woman as all the
accusers have walked away. When Jesus straightened up (see v. 10a), he
certainly realized that all the accusers had left. Yet he asks the woman a
double question, “Woman, where are they?” “Has no one condemned you?” (v. 10b),
perhaps to allow her to express her emotion and gratitude. Jesus saves her from
the hands of the Pharisees and scribes not to encourage her to continue
sinning but to give her a second chance to repent.
4.
Synthesis
After spending the entire night in prayer to God and teaching the people in the temple in the morning, Jesus is tested by the Pharisees and scribes, who are seeking a charge to bring against him. They are ready to execute a woman they caught in adultery by stoning according to the law of Moses. Now, they asked Jesus to give his opinion on the case. The trap is that if Jesus says “Yes,” they will report him to the Roman authorities that he advocates rebellion against the Roman government because the authority to execute someone was reserved exclusively to the Roman government. If he says “No,” they will discredit him to the Jewish community that he defiles the law of Moses. Turning the trap on them, Jesus’ response suggests that the woman should be stoned only by those among them who are without sin. This means that if they execute the woman, the responsibility for the woman’s death will be on their own shoulders, and they will be arrested and incarcerated by the Roman authorities. However, if they do not execute the woman, it will appear they publicly admit that they are sinners. So, they preferred shame in front of the Jewish community than to be arrested and tortured by the Roman authorities. They walked away and did not condemn the woman, not because they sincerely admitted they were sinners and needed forgiveness, but because they were afraid of being condemned by the Roman authorities. Jesus then asks the woman to go and sin no more, giving her a second chance to repent. This explains Jesus’ gesture of writing something on the ground in vv. 6b, 8. He was probably writing the sins on the ground to contrast with the laws of Moses, which were written on stone. A stone means the laws of Moses are rigid and permanent, while ground means sins are not permanent but erasable because God’s gift of mercy washes them away.
1. Liturgical
Context
The
liturgy of this fifth Sunday of Lent reminds us that the Lenten season is a
time of transition from old to new lives. The first and second readings ask us
to “remember our past events no longer.” Instead, we should focus on the new
life that Jesus offers us through his gift of forgiveness (Gospel).
2. What
the Church Teach Us Today
As
we conclude the Lenten journey this week, the Church, in this liturgy, expects us
to have already repented and completed our works of penance, which include
prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. We are now ready to begin Holy Week this
coming Sunday. That is why Jesus tells us today, as he told the accused woman, “[…]
Go, [and] from now on do not sin anymore” (Jn 8:11). During these forty days of
Lent, God’s gift of forgiveness washes away our sins without judging or
condemning us. Let us now resolve to sin no more. Our first and second readings
exhort us to set aside our old lives and focus now on the new lives we will
begin at Easter.
The
prophet Isaiah first reminds the people of Israel of their “old exodus,” how
God marvelously guided their ancestors in the wilderness during their journey
from Egypt to the Promised Land (Is 43:16-17; 20-21). Then, he calls them to no
longer remember or consider the events of this old exodus because God promised
to do something new (Is 43:18-19). Isaiah talks about the new life with the
resurrected Jesus that we will celebrate at Easter. In our second reading, Saint
Paul also invites us to be optimistic about the future, forgetting what lies
behind but straining forward to what lies ahead (Philippians 3:13).
However,
since life is a challenge, we should not become discouraged when we fall short
of our goals through sin. In our second reading, Saint Paul reminds us that Christ Jesus has indeed taken possession of us. Therefore, we must
continue our pursuit toward the goal, which is our new lives with the Resurrected
Jesus now in this life and later in the life to come. This means that whenever
we sin, we must get up and return to God through the sacrament of
reconciliation as soon as possible (see Philippians 3:12-14).
As
we have experienced Jesus’ gift of forgiveness during this Lenten season, let
us ask for God’s grace in this Eucharistic liturgy so that we may sin no more
as we prepare to begin Holy Week, which will lead us to Easter. Amen.
Rev. Leon Ngandu, SVD
Pastor at Holy Family Catholic Church in Jackson, MS
&
SVD USS Biblical Apostolate Coordinator
[1]
Urban C. von Wahlde, “John” in The Jerome Biblical Commentary for the Twenty-First
Century. Third Fully Revised Edition, 1411. See also NABRE, note to John
7:53–8:11.
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