Becoming A Child in Old Age 反老還童

Fifth Lenten Season, Year C
Theme: Becoming A Child in Old Age 反老還童

The gospel story today reminds me of a well-known Chinese opera 《感天動地竇娥冤 Heaven and Earth are moved by Dou E’s tragedy》in which a lady was framed for murder. In one version, she was delivered by a righteous magistrate who happened to be her husband. This version echoes the story of redemption of the adulteress in the text today by Jesus. However, the original opera was tragic as well as moralistic. It was written in 13th century as a criticism of the corruption and oppression of the generation. The heroine was beheaded in June. The earth refused to receive her blood, the heavens snowed immediately and a famine followed for three years to prove her innocence. In the end, her father came as a circuit judge to retry the case and rectified her innocence. It’s tragic because justice prevailed too little too late.

You might complain that the adulteress in the gospel story was not innocent, was she? At least the adulteress also accepted herself to be guilty. She had not declared her innocence before Jesus like Susanna did (Daniel 13:42-43). Furthermore, Jesus says, “From now on do not sin anymore.” (John 8:11) Therefore, it is meaningless to dispute anymore whether the adulteress was a victim of structural sins or not. It is also meaningless to speculate that this story should be located in the gospel of Luke and had been misplaced here by accident in John because mercy is one of the main themes of Luke. I opine that Jesus’ words and deeds are full of mercy. Whichever gospel narrates the stories of Jesus, the readers should be able to see mercy. The gospel of Luke does not have the monopoly of mercy! When we read or study the gospel, we only need to ask, “Dear Jesus! What do you want to tell me?” In this story, we need to humbly acknowledge that all of us, including the adulteress, the scribes, the Pharisees, and all the bystanders etc., have sinned and deprived of the glory of God (Romans 8:23).

In the beginning, God says, “It is not good for the man to be alone.” (Genesis 2:18) Thus, men should live together in a community in which conflicts and disputes are inevitable. Law was given to us as a guideline to our living in order to maintain fairness and peace. In order to enforce the law, sanction and punishment are instituted. God sanctioned death as a punishment is a mystery but it could be understood as a containment to prevent further spread of crimes/sins (2:17). Stoning has been one such punishment widely practised in the Middle East up to these days. It was carried out and recorded in the Scriptures in cases of blasphemy only. The Bible does not have any record of adultery cases punished by stoning though the law is there. Of course that doesn’t mean it has never been carried out. Punishments in public could also be a deterrence so as to discourage others from committing the same crime/sin. Punishment is a necessary evil!

Regrettably, like the corrupt officials in the tragic opera mentioned above, the scribes and the Pharisees were not eager to see justice done. Here is an example of how they used the law not for the good of the community but abused it to trap Jesus, the Supreme Law-Giver Himself. How sarcastic it is! Of course, Jesus came not to abolish the law but to fulfil it (Matthew 5:17). He did not come to abolish the practice of stoning or other forms of capital punishments but neither did He come to strike abusers and sinners dead with thunderbolts though He is absolutely entitled to (Romans 12:19)! No! He did not come to abuse His might but to show us the power of mercy. It is easy for us to see Jesus’ mercy towards the adulteress. But today, I would like to invite you to see mercy done to all the bystanders, the Pharisees and the scribes.

All readers are curious about what Jesus was writing on the ground with His finger (John 8:6, 8). Some speculate that Jesus was writing the Ten Commandments because the Lord gave Moses the two tablets of the covenant inscribed by God’s own finger (Exodus 31:18). This speculation shows the role of Jesus as the Supreme Law-Giver. But this is not satisfactory because the Lord prefers to write His laws upon our hearts (Jeremiah 31:33), not on stones or on the ground! Others suggest that Jesus was writing the sins of all the people present. This suggestion explains well why the people left one by one, beginning with the elders (John 8:9) But this is incompatible with the role of Jesus as the Supreme Law-Giver who is not the accuser. Satan is (Revelation 12:10). A parishioner has a very good sharing of this piece of text. She said that it didn’t matter what Jesus was writing on the ground. The crucial point is that Jesus gave all the accusers sufficient time to reflect and repent! When the accusers grew impatient and pressed Him further, Jesus gave these self-appointed law-enforcers clear and concise instruction, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” (John 8:7)

It’s a miracle that none of the bystanders took a stone to throw at the adulteress. God be praised! Wouldn’t it be possible that some “die-hard” sinners happened to be on the spot? I’m sure there must be! But Jesus is truly powerful and merciful. “Where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more!” (Romans 5:20) All the defences of die-hard sinners melted away. They were able to know their iniquities which they had repressed. They walked away not only because they felt guilty and unworthy to throw a stone but I believe that love began to sprout also in their hearts. Without love, there can be no repentance.
It was a miracle because instantly, Jesus had performed dozens of “heart transplant surgeries” on the spot (Ezekiel 11:19, 36:26), beginning from the elderly whose hearts would fail sooner because they had undergone heart-hardening for too long. Now with a heart of flesh, these elderly had become children again. When they returned home, they were justified and were able to enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 18:3, Luke 18:13b-14a) because their plan to trap the Supreme Law-Giver had been frustrated. They could have “departed from him for a time” (4:13) and looked for another occasion to come back again! I pray that they repented instead.

Brethren! We are approaching the Passion Sunday. Let’s trust in the mercy of the Lord and repent so that on Easter Vigil, we may die and rise with the Lord. Amen.
2019 Reflection
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