Today’s Gospel Reading (John 8:1-11) is drawn from pericope adulterae (John 7:53-8:11), which is believe to be an addition to the original Greek text of John’s Gospel. Likewise, today’s First Reading (Daniel 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62) is taken from the Book of Susanna, which is not in the original Hebrew Tanakh and Protestant version of Christian Bible. In the Catholic Bible, the Book of Susanna is Daniel 13. The pericope adulterae (John 7:53-8:11) is found both in the Catholic Bible and most Protestant versions of Christian Bible.
What is common across these two readings (Daniel 13:1-9,
15-17, 19-30, 33-62 and John 8:1-11) is a woman being accused of adultery. In the First Reading, the accused is a
beautiful righteous woman, Susanna, wife of Joakim, while the name and details
about the woman accused of adultery are not given in the Gospel Reading.
Susanna was falsely accused of adultery by wicked
elders, who attempted rape her, upon trespassing into the property of her
husband. These wicked elders, who were also appointed as judges, let their
conscience gave its way to lustful desire dictate their actions. They were
supposed to be good example to the community to serve as judges. The Parashat Shoftim (Deuteronomy 16:18-21:9)
in the Torah says on judges in these
words:
In all the communities which the Lord,
your God, is giving you, you shall appoint judges and officials throughout your
tribes to administer true justice for the people. You must not distort justice:
you shall not show partiality; you shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds
the eyes even of the wise and twists the words even of the just. Justice,
justice alone shall you pursue, so that you may live and possess the land the
Lord, your God, is giving you (Deuteronomy 16:18-20).
These two elders, though judges, grossly violated
Exodus 20:17 (the 10th commandment – not to covet neighbor’s wife),
as they laid their lustful eyes on Susanna, wife of Joakim, to violate her for
their own pleasure. It was when Susanna was about to take a bath, dismissing
her maids for privacy, these wicked judges came out of the ambush, threatened
her to put her to punish her by the Law, for they had the judicial authority to
do so, and tried to rape her, saying:
If you refuse, we will testify against
you that you dismissed your maids because a young man was here with you
(Daniel 13:21 - NRSV).
Susanna was trapped and knew that these wicked judges, who were about to
violate her, would put her to death. So, she screamed and cried out to God,
never losing her faith in Him and hope in His care.
Susanna’s servants came to the scene, hearing her
scream. But, the wicked offenders made up false witnesses against Susanna that
she was committing adulterous sexual act with a young unidentified man, as if
they had witnessed so and tried to catch the man (Daniel 13:36-40).
Susanna knew these wicked men, who were about to
rape her, had the power to sentence her to death, according to Leviticus 20:10;
Deuteronomy 22:22. And people believed
what these wicked men said because they were well-respected elders of the
community, serving as judges (Daniel 13:41).
Imagine what it would be like to be in Susanna’s situation.
Would you sink into despair?
Not so for Susanna – though she was in immeasurable anguish
and distress. Perhaps, anger, too, for she was about to put to death by the
hands of those who violated God’s trust and the Law in their attempt to violate
her for their lustful pleasure. She was made a victim of injustice by the
wickedness of corrupt judges.
To Susanna, God was the only hope, and she never
lost her faith in Him – even in such a circumstance, as she was a righteous
woman. So she cried out to God in her prayer:
O eternal God, you know what is secret
and are aware of all things before they come to be; you know that these men
have given false evidence against me. And now I am to die, though I have done
none of the wicked things that they have charged against me! (Daniel 13:42-43).
And, God heard Susanna and stirred up the Holy Spirit
in Daniel to dispatch him to the scene, as she was being taken to the execution
site (Daniel 13:45). And Daniel shouted:
I want no part in shedding this woman’s
blood! (Daniel 13:46).
Daniel is a young man of justice, sent by God to
rescue Susanna, who was unjustly accused by the wicked judges.
So, Daniel called these two judges, who made false testimonies against Susanna,
whom they tried to violate but made false accusation against her, separately and
respectively to question: Under what tree
did you see them being intimate with each other? (Daniel 13:54, 58). To
this question from Daniel, they gave different answers, thus, proving their own
testimonies against Susanna to be false. They just exposed themselves that they
have falsely accused Susanna and were about to execute her by their wickedness.
They just testified against themselves to show that they violated the 8th
commandment (Exodus 20:16; Deuteronomy 19:16–19). So Daniel sentenced these
wicked judges, who attempted to rape and falsely accuse Susanna of adultery, to
death. The justice of God brought through Daniel saved Susanna from shedding
her innocent blood. And the wicked dug their own grave in response to Daniel’s
intervention.
Justice was hidden. And Susanna cried for this
justice to be made shown by God in her prayer. The wicked perished.
Now, in the Gospel Reading (John 8:1-11), the
scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery to Jesus (John
8:3) and asked him to trap him in a legal conundrum so that they can put a
charge against him (John 8:6), asking:
Teacher, this woman was caught in the
very act of committing adultery. Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone
such women. So what do you say?
(John 8:4-5).
What Moses commanded about dealing with an adultery
case is referred to Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy 22:22.
In response, Jesus bent down and began to write something on the ground with his
finer (John 8:6) and said:
Let
the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her
(John 8:7).
Again, Jesus bent down and resumed writing on the
ground (John 8:8).
In response, one by one, starting with the elders, the scribes and the Pharisees
went away, leaving Jesus alone with the accused woman (John 8:9).
Then, Jesus asked the woman who was then to condemn
her (John 8:10). She said no one, and Jesus said to her:
Neither
do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more
(John 8:11).
Nobody knew for sure if the woman had really
committed adultery, thus, deserving to be put to death according to the Law or
if she was falsely accused as Susanna was, for a wicked purpose – to trap Jesus
in a legal question to accuse him. Regardless, the way Jesus handled the case,
in conjunction with the way Daniel handled the Susanna’s case, tells that God’s
justice comes with mercy.
Literal application and imposition of the Law can be
made mercilessly, as the scribes and the Pharisee did, for abused by the wicked
for their evil purposes, as these elders, who attempted to violate and falsely
accused Susanna did. But, as today’s readings show, God’s justice and mercy
prevails.
The Law was given to us through the stone tablet (Exodus 31:18). And, it was abused and implied not in the way God had intended, though Daniel corrected an abuse. Then, Jesus came to renew the Law (Matthew 5:17). Perhaps, Jesus was writing the renewed law on the ground to bring justice to the woman’s case, or a list of all the sins her accusers had committed in light of Jeremiah 17:13.
Only Jesus and the Father know what exactly Jesus was writing on the ground with his finger.
It is Jesus, who reiterated God's desire for mercy (Hosea 6:6), in expressing his care for sinners (Matthew 9:13). Touched by God’s mercy through Jesus and having the Law renewed by him (Matthew 5:17), written in our hearts (Jeremiah 31:33; Ezekiel 11:19; 36:26; Hebrews 8:10), then justice shall prevail, reflecting God’s will in Amos 5:15.
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