RBWords

     The incident of the adulterous woman is not really about her.  It is about those who set up the scene.  They are basically a lynch mob.  Lynch mobs are not interested in justice but only in revenge and violence.  No one disputes that the lady in question was guilty of adultery.  But she could be grateful that those who passed judgment on her were more interested in getting at Jesus because otherwise she would have been stoned to death!  Jesus defuses the whole situation with the line quoted above.  An old tradition has it that his writing on the ground listed the sins of the elders because they were the first to leave!

     It seems to me that we can learn much about ourselves and mercy in this scene, whether it be on an individual level or community level.  Yes, there are laws and those laws are intended to guarantee the integrity and rights of both individuals and communities.  However, if someone is found to be guilty of breaking one of these laws, does it matter to us that they are members of a class of people that we do not care for?  Would we call for a different penalty if the person is someone we might know?  Is the guilty party being used as a way of "making a statement" to a given race, class, group?

     A mob can be incited and take on a life of its own.  Have we ever felt ourselves swept up in such a situation?  Perhaps we could remember what Jesus said to the mob who brought the woman before him.  It is just when we are about to say, "Guilty!  No mercy!" that we should ask if we would want that said to US!  AMEN