Monday of the
Fifth Week of Lent
(Daniel 13:1-9.15-17.19-30.33-62; John 8:1-11)
Last week the State of Texas executed another
criminal. The man was a serial killer
who victimized young girls. Who but a Jesus
could have taken mercy on him?
But isn’t this the point of the gospel? Does it not urge Jesus’ followers to become
like him? In today’s reading Jesus
pardons the woman caught in adultery. It
should not be thought that Jesus is just another liberal ready to excuse sexual
misconduct as inconsequential. He makes
no attempt to invalidate the law (Leviticus 20:10) which demands that adulterers
be put to death. Rather he looks at the
woman as a child of God who, like everyone else, stands in need of mercy.
This does not mean that we are to excuse serious offenses
and least of all murder. In justice
criminal activity must be corrected and criminals must compensate for their
crimes. Jesus’ example, however, does
oblige us to treat offenders with love by seeking amiable ways to reconcile them
with society.
