There’s a striking parallel with the incidents in the readings from the Book of Daniel and from the Gospel of John. In both stories, a woman, threatened by a crowd, is saved because one person intervenes and alters things. The stories, however, end very differently: one in peace and the other in violence.
At the end of Susanna’s story, Daniel turned the crowd against the woman’s accusers, demanding their deaths by stoning; and the crowd, in a frenzy of emotion, obliged.
In the Gospel story, Jesus calmly backed down the accusers of the woman caught in adultery. Unlike Susanna, this woman probably was guilty, but that was incidental to what was happening. Like Susanna, the adulterous woman before Jesus was there because of jealousy and mob frenzy. And Jesus, like Daniel, confronted the crowd. His protest to the crowd was more penetrating in conscience than Daniel’s—let the one without sin cast the first stone—and had a very different effect. The woman was saved, but the exact opposite of mob-scene hysteria followed. Jesus’ words not only saved a woman but defused a potential explosion. Nobody died; instead, everyone went home more attuned to humility and truth.
Gossip and Judgment
One of our most common weaknesses is our tendency to participate in gossip, regardless of whether we are the initiator or the contributor. Gossiping is bad enough. However, the most damaging aspect of gossip is that judgment is also involved. Whenever we gossip about someone, it is likely that the person’s reputation is tarnished and his or her character is smeared. Adding to that, these kinds of judgments can also literally cost a life, as we heard in the first reading.
In the gospel, Jesus showed us what to do when we encounter a gossiping or slandering session. His initial silence when asked for a judgment on the adulterous woman showed His one concern. His concern was for the woman who had already suffered so much degradation and came to the point of almost losing her life.
So, before we indulge in gossip, let us remember this scene of Jesus stooping down and writing in the sand in silence. By our silence, others would know our opinions.
We should also ask ourselves, how often have we unhesitatingly judged someone for wrongs they have done without ever considering our own culpability, picking specks out of others’ eyes while there are planks in our own?
All of us have had bad experiences. Jesus wants us not to get stuck there. Let His words speak to us: “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on, do not sin anymore.”
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