1But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" 6They 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. 7When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." 8Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9At 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. 10Jesus 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." (John 8:1-11)
Jesus did not focus His message on sin. He took people where they were at, not emphasizing their past mistakes. With Jesus, everyone had a new beginning. His approach was to teach love, love of God, and love of neighbor and everyone was a neighbor. His emphasis was on the need to care and to be concerned for God, for others and for all of God’s creation. It was a positive message about love and relationship.
Jesus spoke in very down to earth parables about life, His values and His vision of what our life could be. He preached a message of hope and freedom and salvation. He gathered thousands of people into a new community, a community in which there would be no vestige of the complex structure of laws and prohibitions and rituals that had so burdened their lives. Setting people free was part of His main goal. Bringing people back to His Father's family was part of His gift to us.
Jesus realized this life He was sharing was fragile and easily shattered, so He gave His apostles the authority to reconcile those who had drifted or damaged their friendship with God. He also gave His disciples a food, which would nourish the divine life within them. He promised His followers that when they accepted His friendship, He and His Father would come and live within them.
The gift of God's living within us is the basis for the natural growth of the divine life received in baptism, except in many cases the relationship is not nourished. The intimacy with God was the source of Jesus' own strength in His humanity. It flowed from the rich prayer life that He nourished constantly. This is the secret to intimacy with God. We must maintain constancy in prayer, because it develops within the soul a communion and a sharing of thoughts and feelings between the soul and God.
On earth, Jesus tried to help people understand that God knows our weakness and our efforts. He understands our struggling, our pain, and our determination to do better. As long as we are sensitive to the pain and loneliness of others, and reach out to heal, our own sins, as many as they may be, will be forgiven. This is the Good News!
Share the good news with someone you love.
Peace and Love,
Sue
"Be still and know that I am God"(Psalm 46:10)
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