Seeing “none but the woman”

There’s a healing recorded in the eighth chapter of the Gospel of John. It’s a well-known account that is often viewed as either a lesson in not judging or condemning others or a healing of sin. A woman had been convicted of adultery, and the scribes and Pharisees were looking for an opportunity to accuse Jesus of not teaching and preaching according to rabbinical law. It was an attack on the very basis of his healing mission.

Although it’s unlikely that most of us would be confronted with a situation such as this, there may have been times when we’ve come face to face with the fear of disease or the harmful action of another, or we’ve felt in the place of the accused. We might feel condemned for a mistake we’ve made, or are feeling guilty for what we haven’t done, and believe we’re not deserving of healing. It’s tempting to search around in the problem. But Jesus didn’t go there. He did not question the woman about her sad history, the whys and wherefores of her situation. Nor did he ask the scribes and Pharisees more about this woman. His calm poise and dominion kept him safe, kept them both safe, kept them all safe. 

Jesus knew who he was. He knew that his oneness with his Father was the source of his every thought and action. The spiritual fact of the inseparability of God and man (all God’s sons and daughters) also means our complete separation from anything that doesn’t originate with an all-loving God. And anything that has no divine cause has no right to exist or even present itself for consideration. Knowing this, Jesus was able to see God’s pure and perfect creation more clearly than anyone else ever has, right where discordant situations appeared.