Molly Fernandes
Have you ever been a witness to lies! I was enlightened one of these days while listening to the Word of God. Yes, there is need to introspect about the glasses we use to see the other; about that which breeds violence, hatred, insecurity and greed filled with lust! Certainly, in today’s throw away culture and the male dominated society the story of Susanna in the book of Daniel and the adulterous woman in the Gospel of John is adequate and radical to see through with a magnifying glass. As the Church prepares for the great mystery of Christ, His Passion, Death and Resurrection, offers us opportunity to look within. These two stories represent reprehensible or guilty behaviour on the part of people who are up to no good, like the old fools who conspire to do harm to the beautiful Susanna and the people that were intent on stoning the woman caught in adultery. They do inspire, enlighten and are disturbing episodes which need attention and deeper reflection.
Both the stories have people who blow the whistle on lying and the deceitfulness: Daniel and Jesus. They call the offensive actions for what they really are and prevent further harm. (How do I react to such incidents?) Daniel stops the violence by confronting the mob intent on harming Susanna (listening to one side because they were elders with reputation and designation, everyone believed what they related!, but the hard truth behind the Chair, status, designation only the Spirit of God knows!) and Jesus shows us the proper relationship with sin and sinners by an unusual way. Jesus’ message is that we should not judge one another; to leave judgment to God.
The gesture of Jesus kneeling down and writing something on the ground – What did he write? No one exactly knows what Jesus wrote. Did Jesus write the sins of those who were carrying stones in their hand? As one by one beginning with the eldest everybody left! No one dared to carry on the intended violence towards the woman.
There are varied lessons we can look for in these passages John 8 and Daniel 13. For example, we need to realize that we are sinners and have no right to invade others with our negative judgments. That we need to leave judgment to God alone; trust in God’s love and care for us and those other sinners are like us. Secondly, we are called to treat others as sacred. For sure, the elders did not treat Susanna with respect, but saw her only as an object of their lust. Daniel saved the day by standing out from the crowd and calling them to account for their wicked intentions to carry out the hard core original lies and deceptions of the elders.
We come across many such situations in our day to day living. Many people suffer the worst treatment and humiliation because there are no Daniel’s to defend lies and challenge the deceitful. There is no one who can love and care for the sinner overlooking the sinfulness as Jesus did, as Jesus understood. Very often I say that there are no Daniel’s in our society, presbyteries and communities to cry aloud: “I have no part in….”
