Readings: Isaiah 43:16-21; Philippians 3:8-14; John 8:1-11
Theme: God of Mercy and Compassion
By Michael McCabe
Mercy is the most striking manifestation of God’s love as revealed in the life and ministry of Jesus. The God of Jesus Christ is a God of unlimited mercy and forgiveness – shown supremely in Jesus’ death on the Cross, when he prays to his Father to forgive those who are crucifying him. This was indeed an extraordinary act of mercy, but it was the climax of a life and ministry marked by consistent and compassionate outreach to sinners. The God revealed in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ is a God who not only forgives, but who delights in forgiving, who reaches out to the sinner, actively seeks out the lost, and loves the company of sinners.
It was his compassionate outreach to sinners that led Jesus into conflict with the Scribes and the Pharisees. These were Jews who prided themselves on their strict observance of the law and despised all those who were not like themselves: the uneducated, the morally weak, the tax collectors, public sinners, prostitutes. This conflict is highlighted in the dramatic scene portrayed in today’s gospel passage from John. The Scribes and Pharisees bring before Jesus an unfortunate woman, caught in the act of adultery, asking him to condemn her in accordance with the Law. John, however, pinpoints their real motivation. They did not require Jesus to condemn her. They had already done that themselves. What they wanted was to use her as a bait to trap Jesus. As John tells us, they wanted ‘to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him’ (Jn 8:6).
Without condoning or trivialising the woman’s sin, or appearing to contradict the Law, Jesus finds a way to turn the tables on his opponents and show mercy to the woman. He invites them to look into their own hearts and judge themselves before stoning the woman: ‘Let the one who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her’ (Jn 8:7). These words of Jesus dissolve an extremely volatile situation. The opponents of Jesus, realising that that they are not without sin, walk away, one by one – displaying, in this instance at least, an admirable honesty. Left alone with the woman, Jesus says to her: ‘Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more’ (Jn 8:11).
Jesus’ act of mercy must surely have given this humiliated and terrified woman the freedom and the strength to turn her life around. We notice that Jesus’ forgiveness is given before the woman shows any signs of repentance. We usually think of repentance as a necessary precondition for forgiveness. However, as this story illustrates, God’s forgiveness is not dependent on our repentance. It is rather God’s forgiving love that makes repentance possible. In the words of the noted English theologian, Herbert McCabe O.P., ‘It is not literally true that because we are sorry, God decides to forgive us….The literal truth is that we are sorry because God forgives us. Our sorrow for sin is the forgiveness of God working within us’.
While Jesus did not come to abolish the Law – he came to complete it – mercy was his number one priority. But what is mercy? It is that divine creative impulse, the fruit of God’s unconditional love, which heals the wounds caused by human sin, sows seeds of hope where there is despair, restores broken relationships, and draws life from the jaws of death. And it was this divine impulse that determined the life and ministry of Jesus. It was the elixir of divine mercy that enabled him to fulfil his mission of life-giving service: ‘I have come that you may have life and have it to the full’ (Jn 10:10). At the very heart of Jesus’ message and ministry was a concern for the integral well-being of the human person, created in the image of a God who is Love.
From Jesus’ words and actions, it is clear that God wants us to be healed, to be fully alive and well, at all levels of our being: spiritual, psychological and physical as well as social and political. Jesus’ entire ministry was the outward expression, the sacrament, of God’s mercy and compassion. In the words of Pope Francis: ‘Faced with a vision of justice as the mere observance of the law, that judges people simply by dividing them into two groups – the just and sinners – Jesus is bent on revealing the great gift of mercy that searches out sinners and offers them pardon and salvation.’
I will end with a story that illustrates the gratuitous nature of mercy. ‘One day a mother came to plead with the Emperor, Napoleon, for her son’s life. The young man had committed a very serious offence for which the penalty was death. The Emperor was determined to ensure that justice would be done. But the mother insisted, “I have come to ask for mercy, not justice”. “But he does not deserve mercy” answered Napoleon. “Your Excellency”, said the mother, “it would not be mercy if he deserved it.” “So be it”, said Napoleon. “I will have mercy on him.” And he set her son free.’ Like grace, mercy is not earned, it is pure gift. In the words of Portia in The Merchant of Venice, ‘It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven/upon the place beneath… It is an attribute of God himself. And earthly power doth then show likest God’s when mercy seasons justice.’
Alternative audio by Tom Casey: