NEITHER DO I CONDEMN YOU!

We need to hear these words of Jesus more often!
A few circumstantial details describing the scene are worth pondering.




1) It was daybreak.

  • A new day had dawned.
  • The dawn is always a sign of light, of a fresh beginning, of change.
  • No matter how dark the night of our sin may have been, the dawn of God's merciful Love and amazing Grace has the power to dispel that darkness.
  • We need never stay on in darkness.
  • If we do, strange though it may seem, we get not only accustomed to it but also, and this is worse, we begin to feel comfortable in it.
  • Darkness provides a safe cover for evil.
  • The break of day challenges us to break away from the darkness of the night.
  • It reminds us that good can overcome evil.

2) Jesus was in the Temple.

  • The woman caught in adultery according to the Scribes and Pharisees, was the embodiment of sin.
  • Sin is brought into the presence of the Sacred, The Holy One, God Himself.
  • What an encounter!
  • Human frailty meets Divine Fidelity.
  • Human misery meets Divine Mercy.
  • A victim of lust meets the God of Love.

3) He straightens up.

  • Jesus was seated (posture of a rabbi)
  • Now Jesus straightens up.
  • What he says come straight from the shoulder.
  • He does not mince words.
  • He tells them the truth and with the authority that comes from God Himself.

4) Jesus offers her the challenge of...

  • Conversion.
  • The Grace to repent.
  • and return to Goodness.

5) Fresh chapter of life.

  • He opens for her door to understand that the evil into which she had fallen does not express the totality of her person.
  • She need not be a slave to the shackles of sin.
  • Night is over and day has broken.

6) Confession.

  • Sacramental confession is the celebration of God's love for us.
  • The focus is on His love and not on our sins.
  • Indeed! A good penitent makes a good confessor!

"Neither do I condemn you"- I need to hear these words myself.



Taken from the book, "Eyes Opened Hearts Afire"
GOD BLESS YOU!

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