By Father Paul Nord, O.S.B.
Sunday Scripture
First Reading: Isaiah 43:16-21; Response: Psalm 126:1-6; Second Reading: Philippians 3:8-14; Gospel: John 8:1-11
Isaiah 43 recalls the Exodus in which God destroyed Pharaoh and the Egyptian Army at the Red Sea while saving the Israelites by opening “a way in the sea and a path in the mighty waters.” But Isaiah 43 then shifts its focus to the present: “Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not; see, I am doing something new!”
This passage probably is referring to the decline of the Babylonians (and their army) as the Persian Empire grew in power. The Babylonians had destroyed Jerusalem and many Israelites were exiled to Babylon. The message is that God is allowing the Babylonians to be destroyed for their sins — just as God had destroyed the Egyptians for their oppression of the Israelites.
So God is liberating the Israelites from Babylonian oppression. Again Isaiah 43 invokes the event of the Exodus, in which God provided “water in the desert … for my chosen people.” This recalls Exodus 17, in which the Lord God commanded Moses to strike the rock in Horeb. God then caused water to flow from the rock for his people to drink in the desert.
Thus God is providing for his people also now. Isaiah 43 says: “See, I am doing something new! Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” After the Babylonian oppression, God provides for the Israelites — water, and all that they need. God promises to provide for “the people whom I formed for myself, that they might announce my praise.”
The Responsorial Psalm 126 can be neatly divided into two halves: stanzas 1-2 versus stanzas 3-4. The first half describes God’s past actions of redemption — bringing back “the captives of Zion.” This might describe the Israelites’ return to Zion (Jerusalem) from captivity in Babylon. They laugh and rejoice. The Israelites’ remarkable redemption causes the Gentiles (nations) to exclaim: “The LORD has done great things for them.”
The second half of this psalm begins: “Restore our fortunes, O LORD.” This is a community lament in which the Israelites are begging the Lord to redeem them again today — like he redeemed them in the past.
Imagery emphasizes their petition for help. First: “torrents (of water) in the southern desert” shall flow. This abundance of water is compared to those who now “sow in tears.” But God will replace these tears with rejoicing. Second is a pair of images: “seed to be sown” and “carrying their sheaves.” The metaphor is that weeping today is like a seed that will produce a harvest of future rejoicing by God’s salvation.
Next Paul tells the Philippians: “I consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (3:8). This immediately follows Paul’s description of his “reasons for confidence in the flesh” (3:4). Paul says: “Circumcised on the eighth day, of the race of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrew parentage, in observance of the law a Pharisee, in zeal I persecuted the church, in righteousness based on the law I was blameless” (3:5-6).
Yet Paul considers these “qualifications” to be of no value. Paul says, “I consider them so much rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him.” Paul concludes that his observance of the Law of Moses had not gained any true “righteousness” for himself. Instead, Paul is righteous before God because of Paul’s “faith in Christ, the righteousness from God.” Paul lives his faith by knowing Christ and by Paul’s “sharing of (Christ’s) sufferings by being conformed to his death.” By thus living his faith in Christ, Paul hopes to share also in Christ’s resurrection from the dead.
Paul then quickly concedes that he has not already reached his goal of resurrection with Christ. Paul uses wordplay to make his point. Paul says “I have not already taken hold of it” but “Christ has taken hold of me” (3:12). The Greek verb is quite strong: “Christ has seized me.”
Paul uses the same verb to describe his single-minded pursuit of resurrection with Christ. “But I pursue so that I may seize it.” Again Paul concedes, “I do not consider myself to have (already) seized” this goal. But Paul emphasizes his determined focus — “forgetting” the past, “straining forward” to the future. “I pursue the goal, the prize of God’s call from above in Christ Jesus.” Paul chooses powerful words to communicate his absolute determination to receive resurrection in Christ.
Today’s Gospel is Jesus’ encounter with a woman “caught in adultery.” This passage appears in brackets [like these] in some Bible translations because the earliest manuscripts of John’s Gospel do not include this passage. Still, the early Church preserved this important teaching event of Jesus. Father Raymond Brown discusses evidence of this story’s antiquity in his “Anchor” commentary on John’s Gospel.
The scribes and the Pharisees bring the woman to Jesus because they want “to test him, so that they could have some charge to bring against him.” Jesus avoids their trap by not contradicting the law against adultery, but still finding a way to show compassion for the accused woman.
The scribes and the Pharisees force the woman to “stand in the middle” of the crowd. This is an act of intimidation and judgment, but Jesus refuses to participate. Instead, he bends down and begins “to write on the ground with his finger.” But the scribes persist — “they continued asking him.” So Jesus stands up and says: “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” The scribes are focusing on this woman’s sin, but Jesus demands that they also recognize their own sinfulness. Jesus likewise taught us to pray: “Our Father … forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
Jesus bends down again and continues writing. The scribes leave, one by one. Then Jesus stands and speaks directly to the woman with love. Jesus refuses to condemn her while telling her, “do not sin any more.”