Livestream/Mass Information for the 5th Sunday of Lent, April 6, 2025
5th Sunday of Lent
April 6, 2025
The Lord Jesus and the Woman caught in adultery.
(John 8:1-11)
Next Sunday is Palm Sunday!
This episode opens with an intensely dramatic scene. Jesus is at the Mount of Olives early in the morning. [Jerusalem is bordered on the east by the Kidron Valley. Arising from the east side of the Kidron Valley is a mountain ridge with the Mount of Olives as one of its three peaks. Jesus will leave the Passover Supper followed by his apostles (Luke 22:39) to pray on the Mount of Olives. There that Jesus will be betrayed by Judas with a kiss. Jesus will triumphantly ascend into heaven from the Mount of Olives. (Luke 22:39-44)]
Jesus leaves the Mount of Olives and returns to the temple courts where people gather to hear Jesus teach. [the outermost area of the Temple was known as the Court of the Gentiles for all people could enter. There was a fence between the Court of the Gentiles and the rest of the Temple Mount with signs announcing that Gentiles were forbidden, under the penalty of death, from passing through its gates into the interior areas of the Temple. The next area was the Court of Women or outer court. Women could worship here but no further. The Inner Court was for Jewish men who worshiped and waited in silence as their sacrifices were being offered.]
While Jesus is there the scribes and Pharisees haul before Jesus a woman caught in the act of adultery. The purpose of this is to trap Jesus in a dilemma. According to Mosaic Law, such women were to be stoned to death, yet Roman Law disallowed Jews from conducting executions. By this the scribes and Pharisees hoped to either show that Jesus was unfaithful to Jewish Law or to rebel against Roman rule.
Jesus’ response is both strategic and merciful. Jesus stoops down and writes on the ground with his finger, a gesture filled with possible symbolic implications. While people can only speculate as to what Jesus wrote, what is crucial is the authority and composure Jesus demonstrates. When pressed for an answer Jesus says, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” By saying this, Jesus not only diffuses the trap but also redirects the focus onto self-reflection regarding sin. One by one, the accusers slip away, convicted by their conscience.
Jesus’ treatment of the woman is equally telling. Jesus asks her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” and the woman replies, “No one sir.” Jesus then declares, “Then neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.”
This powerful interaction highlights Jesus as the embodiment of grace and truth, offering forgiveness while also calling for repentance. It emphasizes that judgement belongs to God and serves as a profound lesson mercy, reminding readers that no one is beyond the reach of God’s grace.
https://youtube.com/live/XUpgWHNWPzM?feature=share
You are welcome to watch our 10:00 morning Mass on YouTube either live or later that afternoon or evening
