This gospel scene of the woman caught committing adultery is presented in a manner at once vivid and truly inspiring (Jn.8:1-11).
There is even (for those who would not know the story) a touch of… suspense!
About this text, spiritual writers and Bible exegetes have published many articles and commentaries.
Yet, there is one aspect I have never seen referred to…
You could say it is ‘a matter of… attitude’!
While the scribes and Pharisees accuse the woman, Jesus has bent down and is writing in the sand.
To reply to the accusers who are now questioning him, Jesus gets up, looking straight at them.
His reply catches them unawares, or rather all too aware of their own past conduct!
But having spoken to them, Jesus stoops down again.
He had placed himself at the level of the accusers, now he returns to the level of the woman –
a woman surely very ashamed and probably trembling with the fear that her life may be coming to an end.
God coming down to our level… is this not essentially the meaning of what theologians call ‘Incarnation’ –
God becoming one of us “in all things but sin”, we are told (He.4:15).
Yes, God has come down to our level and… he remains there – with us and for us.
This woman would possibly not have been able to put this reality into words,
but she had made the experience of it and would never forget it!
Yet, it seems that many of us… forget it, or is it that… we cannot believe it?!
Note: Another reflection is available on a different theme in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/5e-dimanche-du-careme-annee-c-2019/
And, in a video, Jeannie Calavrias presents the meeting of Jesus with the adulterous woman at: https://image-i-nations.com/the-woman-caught-in-adultery/
Source: Image: bilderbe