Week 8 - I entrust myself to God
Theme:
To my great surprise I see that God is looking at me lovingly.
He accepts me just as I am.
He lets me live.
We can direct our hearts to our God while listening to the music, and we can ask Him to let us see His loving eyes and experience His acceptance of us just as we are. He accepts me just as I am.
Music: Hildegard von Bingen, Kyrie: Kyrie Eleison
Kyrie Eleison Lord have mercy
Christe Eileison Christ have mercy
Kyrie Eleison Lord have mercy
Spotify Link:
https://open.spotify.com/track/3PdaEYtGmxqOFS3xIYuvhH?si=2170e51e2b604f21
YouTube Link:
https://youtu.be/QbLAk_RViC4?feature=shared
John 8,1-11
Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, they said to him, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?’ They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him.
A disturbance. A group of men bring a woman to Jesus. The strongest seem to have all the rights. She has been caught committing adultery and that means the death penalty. The man with whom she was caught committing adultery is not even mentioned. I look at the woman and also at the men who have brought her to Jesus. Do I recognize something of myself in these people? What effect does this have on me?
Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, ‘Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.’ And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground.
Not a single biblical scholar knows what He wrote on the ground. We are completely free to fill this in ourselves. I allow Jesus’ words to penetrate my thoughts: ‘Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.’ What do these words mean for the woman, for the people accusing her, for me?
When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus straightened up and said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, sir.’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.’
Jesus’ words bring about discernment. All the men walk away, the most senior first, and only the woman is left standing there in an empty circle, alone with Jesus. What went through her mind? I use my powers of imagination to see and hear the conversation between Jesus and the woman.
I imagine how the woman felt when she left to go home. She has just faced death, and is now filled with relief. Upright. No less than the others. At the beginning of this story, we heard that Jesus began to teach the people. I have witnessed a demonstration of what He wanted to teach. How He doesn’t condemn, but redeems. He also does that with me.
Music: Hildegard von Bingen, Kyrie: Kyrie Eleison