Breaking the Word – Page 2313 – Rev. Dr. Victor Antonyraj SDB

11.04.11 SIN

Posted under Reflections on April 11th, 2011 by

while Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area, and all the people started coming to him, and he sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle. They said to him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?" They said this to test him, so that they could have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger. But when they continued asking him, he straightened up and said to them, "Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." Again he bent down and wrote on the ground. And in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders. So he was left alone with the woman before him. Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" She replied, "No one, sir." Then Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you. Go, (and) from now on do not sin any more." (Jn 8:1-11)

Pharisees and the Scribes brought a woman caught in the act of committing sin. They were justified in condemning her to death. Moses had commanded to stone such women. But Jesus never argued about Moses and his statements. Jesus knew the writings of Moses. The writing of Moses was the word of God for Jesus. What Moses had written were in the book.

Jesus bent down to the earth and wrote something on the ground. What he wrote was anyone’s guess. He could have written the names of those who were standing and who were also sinners. He could have written the list of sins that they had committed to remind them of their own situation. Because when he starts to write, the author says, ‘and in response, they went away one by one’. Their movement was in response to his writing on the ground.

Jesus is left alone with the woman. (Jesus the sinless and the woman, caught in the act of sin). Since Jesus was sinless, could we say that he did not see the sin in the woman but rather the woman in a context of sin. Sin did not stand out against the woman (it was so for Pharisees and Scribes) but a woman in need of healing (cleansing). That is why Jesus says “from now on do not sin any more."

10.04.11 FAITH AND FAITH ALONE

Posted under Reflections on April 10th, 2011 by

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that he was ill, he remained for two days in the place where he was. Then after this he said to his disciples, "Let us go back to Judea." The disciples said to him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you, and you want to go back there?" Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in a day? If one walks during the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if one walks at night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him." …When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home. Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. (But) even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you." Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise." Martha said to him, "I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day." Jesus told her, "I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" She said to him, "Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world."… When Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping, he became perturbed and deeply troubled, and said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Sir, come and see." And Jesus wept… "Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?" So they took away the stone. And Jesus raised his eyes and said, "Father,I thank you for hearing me. I know that you always hear me; but because of the crowd here I have said this, that they may believe that you sent me." And when he had said this, he cried out in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, …(Jn 11;1-45)

When Jesus heard the news of Lazarus he remained in the place where he was for another two days. Why did he do that? And what did he do in those do days? Certainly he prayed those two days. Because later when he was at the tomb of Jesus he prayed to the Father saying thank you Father for having heard my prayer. So he prayed those two days for Lazarus and probably for his own self because after this incident he would journey to Jerusalem.

Waiting was not a time of wasting for a believer. Waiting patiently for the will of God to be revealed was also a time of prayer. It was a time of prayer in trying to discern the will and the plan of God. Once Jesus had discerned the will of God he was ready to meet the dead and challenge the death. It was no longer he who was acting but it was God who was acting in and through Jesus.

Belief in the person of Jesus and believe that he was the resurrection was essential for the work of miracle. People in general, and Martha and Mary in particular, were people of faith. They believed in the resurrection. Yet they were surrounded with facts and figures of death and realities. Jesus made them realize that life (with its facts and figures) should be accompanied by faith and faith alone would make them see God in events.