A Few Words On "The Word"

March 25, 2007
5th Sunday in Lent, Year C

John 8:1-11

You Be the Judge?

Making judgment calls is a part of life. We have to decide who to be friends with and who to trust. Judgments are required when we make moral choices. Judging situations and other people is an important aspect of how we live. If we didn't make judgments we would often find ourselves in problematic situations. Unfortunately, human pride sometimes leads us to take judging to the extreme.

Now pride isn't always a bad thing. It's quite good to have pride, especially in yourself. Pride helps us belong to a community or team and boosts our self-esteem. However, we sometimes realize how stuck up or selfish we really can be when our pride gets out of control. On one hand, pride makes us think we don't need God. On the other hand, pride can lead us to believe that our relationship with God is in great shape. This aspect of pride often leads us to think that we're holier than others. What usually comes next is a judgmental attitude toward those around us. Instead of seeking to change our own hearts, we think we have the wisdom to judge the hearts and souls of others.

In today's gospel we again encounter that group of Jews known as Pharisees. The Pharisees were continually trying to trick Jesus into committing a heresy of some sort. This time, they've caught a woman in the very act of adultery. According to ancient Jewish law, the woman should be stoned. Knowing that Jesus' approach to sin is a bit unconventional, the Pharisees try to force Jesus to judge her.

What the Pharisees, who think they have God's law totally figured out, fail to realize is that Jesus has a very particular understanding of how God relates to the world. As a result, Jesus once again turns the tables leaving the Pharisees to hang their heads and skulk off - foiled again!

When we become prideful and judgmental we're not that different from the Pharisees in today's reading. We often feel that our set of moral rules and regulations, our requirements for being a Christian are the best. We forget that God's way of doing things isn't the same as ours. Despite what our pride leads us to believe, we too have problems.

The task of faith isn't to stop caring about the lives of those around us or to lapse into a type of relativism where anything goes. Rather, the task of faith is to realize that while we may not have everything figured out, God does. God is the ultimate judge of character and it is God, not us, who will make a final decision regarding each individual heart. Lent encourages us to call upon God's mercy for our own erroneous judgments as we pray for the strength to serve others instead of judging them.

Reflection Question

Have you ever experienced a time when you unjustly judged someone else and later realized your judgment was wrong? What were the consequences?

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