John 8:1-11( NIV)
1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
11 “No one, sir,” she said.
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.
Many had this usual thought that in this Gospel, the sin of the adulterous woman has not been paid because of the Mercy of GOD. It is not that simple. Yes, the woman was not stoned to death as punishment according to the Law of Moses because GOD is a Merciful God. But His Mercy took place when Jesus Christ took the punishment due to her. He did free her from condemnation by taking the punishment for her at the Cross.
According to the Law in Deuteronomy 22:22, “If a man is found sleeping with another man’s wife, both the man who slept with her and the woman must die.” Death is the punishment for both man and woman who committed adultery. But in the story, what happened to the adulterous man was not mentioned. Nothing says whether he was stoned to death or freed by the teachers of the law and the Pharisees.
There must be a reason why the writer St. John did not mention it but just rather focused on the woman. One reason that cannot be denied is that St. John focuses more on proclaiming that Jesus is the Messiah, than Miracle Worker. John 20:30-31 stated the purpose of John’s Gospel. It says, “30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” While St. John set aside the adulterous man in the story, he indeed brought everyone to a bigger picture. The woman here represents Jerusalem as represented by Gomer, the adulterous wife of Hosea…and us, the church. The Prophetic Book of Hosea is about GOD’s plan to show great Mercy for His adulterous Israel. Hosea 3: 1 says, “The Lord said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods…”
The prophecy is not only to show His Love or Great mercy but about how it is going to take place. To do this, The Great Sacrifice should be undertaken when The Messiah comes which was foretold in Isaiah 53:4-6;
4 Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
At that moment in our Gospel, what Jesus Christ had shown the adulterous woman and everyone there is this; that He Himself is the Messiah, the Lamb of GOD who takes away the sins of the world. Let’s see what the Gospel of St. John emphasized on John 1:29-31. It implied, “29 John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”
The Messiah was sent so that the LORD can take away our sins and laid on Him the iniquity of us all, to make us heirs to eternal promises of GOD.
In the Old Testament, sins sacrifices have to be offered usually by pouring the blood of animals that have no defects for the forgiveness of sins. But through the Great Mercy of GOD, He made the Law obsolete for us. Hebrews 8:13 says, “By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.”
St. Paul clearly explained how Jesus became the Great Sacrifice as He had covered even our sins, once and for all, to this very day once we truly and deeply believe in Jesus and abide in His Words.
Hebrews 10:1-10
Christ’s Sacrifice Once for All
1 The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 2 Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. 4 It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
5
Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:
“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but a body you prepared for me;
6
with burnt offerings and sin offerings
you were not pleased.
7
Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—
I have come to do your will, my God.’”
8 First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. 9 Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Knowing Jesus is our Sacrificial Lamb, what should be our sacrifice then?
Psalms 51:17 says,
“My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart
you, God, will not despise.”
Our sacrifice then, is to completely turn away from sins, be detached from this world, know Jesus more and let Jesus live in us. We should learn now to deny our will and proceed and get used to living only according to the Divine Will Of GOD. AMEN.
Comentarios