They call it the story of the “Stone Never Thrown,” demonstrating God’s compassion, repudiation of the judgment of the world, the last statement in rejection of the thirst for blood in death penalty, and call to abandonment of sin. The charade orchestrated by Jesus’ enemies appeared as an inescapable bait, set deviously to trap Him. These master traitors, comprising of a gang of scribes and Pharisees—enforcers of ancient religious orthodoxy—believed that they had Him nailed. Little did they know that they had up against them the Wisdom and Justice of God, and were about to get a lesson on super-duper judicial power.
Clearly, the accusers of the woman had no interest in whatever becomes her fate. In the cultural, religious, and judicial environment where they ruled, her life had only a tiny value. The woman was, for them, the “weaker sex” to be used and exploited freely, with laws sealing her degradation and inhumanity. Neither were they interested in rooting out sin—any sin; for the sin of adultery necessarily takes two to commit. They were simply motivated by their hatred of Jesus and also to make a jest of His message of compassion for the downtrodden—for, to them, Jesus had only one option, which was to condemn the woman. Should He exonerate the woman, He’ll be clearly and openly going against the law and would face dire consequences.
How does Jesus respond? He sees behind their trap and their thirst for blood, the smoke of injustice. Then, He writes on the ground: the first and only time scripture has Him write anything. What did He write? We’re not told. But we can arrive at it by deductive reasoning. First, we are told He wrote on the dust, not on stone. Why? To be blown away by the wind, for “Love keeps no record of iniquity” (I Cor 13:5). Second, He challenges anyone among them who is without sin to be the first to throw a stone. We find in this episode, God, to whom nothing is hidden writing their sins on the ground, unsealing the secret door of their conscience. Fulton Sheen said that Jesus wrote their names, beginning with the eldest, and, against each name, the number of adulteries, with whom, where, and on what occasion. Hence, thirdly, they went away, one by one, in that order—beginning with the elders. Clear enough, adultery, fornication are sins not easily forgotten. You might forget what you had for dinner last night, or with whom, but people scarcely forget with whom and where they committed their last adulterous act or related sin.
So, who am I or you to judge anyone? How easy it is for us to criticize, judge and condemn others; and how embarrassing when our own sins are exposed. We look for compassion when our wrongdoings are exposed. Where is our compassion and mercy for others? In a similar vein, we fail to see the lopsidedness of our judgment and some of the laws on which we base many of our biases. Do we realize that often human laws are framed to target some and exonerate others? Two people committed adultery today, one is exonerated and another condemned to capital punishment. Two people enter the US without papers, one from Cuba, another from Guatemala. The Cuban is without question installed a permanent resident, the Guatemalan is tagged an illegal immigrant. Yet, justice is supposed to be blind and there is equality under the law. We file away the injustice and turn a blind eye to its effects once we are not affected. Jesus has the same compassion for all: sinner, man, woman, poor, rich, native-born, foreigner. To the sinner, He says: “Neither do I condemn you,” but warns, “Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.” It’s a call to total conversion, not a license to continue in sin. Those who promote liberal orthodoxy of sin on, no shame, all opinions are equal, no one is allowed to think, religious convictions are private, should hear Jesus’ words loud and clear.
Fr. Chukwudi Jo Okonkwo