Immersed in Christ: March 22, 2021
Monday of the Fifth Week of Lent
Daniel 13:1-62; Psalm 23; John 8:1-11
A Father Of Saints And Sinners
I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Psalm 23:4
Through Daniel God saved Susanna from being punished for a sin she did not commit. Then through Jesus he saved another woman from being punished for a sin she did commit. The obvious conclusion is that God our Father is a real father to saints and sinners alike.
Adultery is bad. But what human father would stone his daughter for committing adultery? What makes us think God our Father would burn a son or daughter of his at the stake for all eternity for all those things we so easily call “mortal sin”?
When Jesus said to the woman, “I do not condemn you. Go, and… do not sin anymore,” he spoke for the Father: “The Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son” (John 5:22). Jesus became human to show us how God responds in particular human situations. It is different from what we were led to expect.
The Pharisees said to Jesus, “The law commands us to stone such women. What do you say?”
Jesus said nothing. How explain to Pharisees that many things in the law were just concessions to human vindictiveness, decreed as the lesser of two evils to keep a savage people from killing each other? In his New Law Jesus reveals the true mind and heart of the Father (see Matthew 5:28).
ACTION: Respond to others’ sins like a loving father or mother.
PRAYER: “Father, show us your true heart.”
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