Isaiah 43:16-21 / Philippians 3:8-14 / John 8:1-11
Whenever we talk about justice, we tend to understand it as a judgement between right and wrong.
So, when we say “Let justice be done”, we would want to see the innocent being vindicated and the guilty punished.
We understand justice as it happens in the court of law, that following the process of investigation and with the presentation of the facts and evidence, a judgment is pronounced.
With that judgement, the party that is guilty of wrongdoing will be given a sentence which could be anything from a fine, to imprisonment, to corporal or even capital punishment.
It can be presumed that the judgment of the court is correct and unbiased, and the sentence is appropriate to the offence committed.
That is how justice is generally understood, and it is a means of keeping law and order in a society.
It is also a way to remind people that there are laws and regulations to keep, and it is also to protect the poor and the lowly.
And of course, no one should take the law into their own hands.
In the gospel, we heard that Jesus was in the Temple and the people came to Him and He sat down and began to teach them.
The fundamental teaching of Jesus is the Law and the Commandments of God so that the people would know the ways of God and walk along the road of salvation.
Then the scribes and Pharisees brought along a woman who was caught committing adultery. And they said that according to the law, that woman was to be condemned to death by stoning.
Then they asked Jesus for His opinion, but the intention was to test Him in order to look for something to use against Him.
But Jesus turned the situation around by showing the true meaning of the justice of God.
The justice of God is founded on righteousness and peace, as well as mercy and compassion.
God wants us to do what is right so that we can be at peace with God and with others.
But when we do wrong, God who is merciful and compassionate, forgives us and helps us to repent so that we can walk again on the right part.
Jesus did not say that the woman was innocent, but He didn't condemn her and told her to go and don't sin anymore.
Jesus showed the true meaning of God's justice which is righteousness and peace, as well as mercy and compassion.
In doing so, Jesus revealed the objective of justice, and that is God wants all to be saved, and in this case, it is not just the guilty woman but also the scribes and Pharisees.
There is this story of a 24 year old man who was jailed for a crime that he did not commit, and he spent nine years in prison before he was proven innocent and released from prison.
But he was angry and resentful about all that had happened and he was bitter about the 9 years of his life that was lost.
He lived his life unhappily till he was 70 years old when he became seriously ill. He asked to see a priest, and before giving him the anointing, the priest asked the man if he wanted to make a Confession.
The man thought for a while, and said that he was angry and bitter about being implicated and lost nine years of his life in prison.
And all this while, he cursed at those people who were involved in the case, because of the injustice done to him.
The priest thought for a while and said: You came out of prison when you were 33 years old and now you are 70. But you didn't really come out of prison. Because for 37 years you locked yourself in the prison of anger, resentment and bitterness. It is time for you to come out and be truly free.
Although it is just a story, we know that we are gripping in our hands the stones of anger, resentment and bitterness and we want to throw these stones at others.
Jesus is telling us that we are not without sin, and it is only for our good that we drop those stones.
Yes, let us drop those stones so that we can hold on to the hand of Jesus and walk in the path of righteousness and peace, so that we can experience the healing love of God's mercy and compassion, and be freed from the prison of sin.