Everywhere you look these day, politics is the top news story. We have those who have power and those who don’t. We have those who want power and those who won’t relinquish any. We have those who profess change and those who want to maintain the status quo. Politics and politicians have been around forever and I am sure will remain.
Even in the time of Jesus, politics and politicians were everywhere. One difference however was that politics and religion were much more intertwined than they are today. All you have to do is read a book like Killing Jesus to get a sense how the Roman government and the Jewish hierarchy worked hand in hand.
Today’s Gospel reading I think is permeated by those politics. On the surface the scribes and Pharisees bring a woman before Jesus who is accused of adultery and they want Him to agree to her stoning. If Jesus refuses and goes against the ancient Jewish tradition HE is not only snubbing the scribes and Pharisees but also the roman government. And St. John says that they set this up in order to test Him.
At first it seems that Jesus is ignoring them. However when He raises His head, and begins to speak, He cuts through the politics and the testing and HE goes to the heart of the issue: Let the one among you who is without sin cast the first stone!
Jesus does what He came to do all along: He teaches all who were present about God and about the mercy of God. He avoids getting into the politic present and cleverly gets to the heart of the matter.
It is the same message we heard last week in the Parable of the Prodigal Son. The Father’s love is unconditional and His mercy is unmeasurable. Nothing and no one can get in the way of that, no matter how powerful or how influential they may be in the eyes of the world.
Let us turn to our God this day and be refreshed and renewed in that merciful love.