Such is taken who believed to take

Wednesday June 16, 2021

Such is taken who believed to take

May he of you who is without sin... John 8: 7

We know this proverb well. This is the moral of a La Fontaine fable : The rat and the oyster. A rat that didn't know much about the world meets an open oyster. He is delighted with the good meal that is offered to him. But the oyster closes, imprisoning its leg... This proverb is used when an individual who tries to trap another is himself the victim of his schemes.

This is what happened to legal scholars in the proposed text. They come before Jesus dragging an adulterous woman. They wanted to set a trap in the hope of finding something to accuse Jesus of. But he thwarts this trap. It does not directly answer whether or not this woman should be killed with stones as their law says. Jesus does not contradict or approve of this law. He gives them permission to throw stones, but sets the rule : Whichever of you is without sin, be the first to throw a stone at her.

Neither of them picks up stones. They all know they are not without sin. They who wanted to accuse Jesus are accused by their own conscience !

We could say : Well done for them ! Certainly ! But we must recognize that they let themselves be taken over by their conscience, that little voice that God placed in every heart. I want to pay attention to this voice. This is one of the ways God uses to talk to me. To talk to you too...

Elfriede Eugene

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Proposed reading : Gospel according to John, chapter 8, verses 1 to 11.

Source (Live Today)