C: 5th Sun of Lent (7 Apr 2019) - INJUSTICE LEAGUE - Jn 8:1-11

“This woman is caught in the very act of committing adultery” (Jn 8:4).

This is the accusation against a woman who was caught red-handed doing adultery. The scribes and the Pharisees brought her to Jesus for judgment (v. 3). They claimed that she should be stoned to death according to the law of Moses since she is truly guilty of the crime (v. 5), to which even Jesus did not object. Put in the same scenario, most of us will surely say: “Do what the letters of the law say if she is indisputably found guilty; otherwise, we will be bending the rule and this watering down will be a precedent for more favorable bendings in the future”. Thus, even if she is a pitiful helpless poor woman, we need to punish her accordingly since failing to do so will only cause more havoc and disorder in the society. With this statement, we acclaim boldly the dictum: “No one is above the law!”

Supporting this train of thought, however, is more of a sentimentalist position. One is driven by a call for justice, for equality, for harmony, for order, and for fairness, that argues that punishing criminals with no considerations should be done, otherwise, the just ones of the greater population are left unprotected. Actually, most of us harbor the same mindset nowadays. In the Philippines, for example, the Duterte Administration, along with those running to the senate under its endorsed party, continues to receive a strong public approval. It is because the Filipino public is sold out to its banner statement that the criminals (especially drug addicts) should be eradicated from the Philippine lands. An iron fist should, in effect, reign lest we end up hastening our socio-economic freefall.

Indeed, I support that criminals should be held liable and responsible for the wrongs they have done—they should be punished—but doing it so outright will make ourselves criminals to them, for instead of implementing justice, we are actually doing injustice to them.

Our society is nothing different from what happened in our gospel today. At first glance, one views the accusation therein as an honest demand for justice by the Jewish community. However, at a close examination of the episode, one can notice several injustices committed by the accusers against the adulterous woman.

First, where is the man she was having adultery with? Adultery is done by two, but it was only the poor woman (the weaker gender in their Jewish society) who was criminalized. By letting the man go, the accusers were not following the Mosaic law that both man and woman should be punished (cf. Lev 20:10; Deut 22:22).

Second, where is the fair trial? According to Jewish laws, nobody should be put to death without the sworn testimony of two (cf. Dan. 13:34-41 in the story of Susanna). Nobody from the crowd stepped in front to give his name and deliver his statement under pain of death. Rather, it was a rowdy clamor that they did similar to what would happen later to Jesus before Pilate (Jn 19:15).

Third, where is the formal court with a duly mandated judge? The mock trial occurred in the open dusty streets where Jesus could write on the ground (Jn 8:6b, 8). Instead of being performed before the Sanhedrin or a gathering of respected elders (Mk 15:1; Mt 26:59; Lk 22:66; Acts 6:12), it was done before Jesus who is definitely not one of them—he is a mere carpenter’s son, albeit a great prophet of God. What happened then is a trial by publicity, with the sole purpose of testing Jesus (Jn 8:6a).

Similarly, we parallel this gospel story to what is happening in the Philippine society, and we ask three opportune questions: First, where are the narco-lords, or the so-called “big fish,” since only small drug couriers are being caught? Second, where is the due process of law, wherein everyone should be presumed innocent unless proved guilty, for much extra-judicial killings have been transpiring more often in the open streets instead? Third, where is the fair representation of every accused in court, since what is happening nowadays is a trial by publicity wherein narco-lists and police intelligence reports are taken as absolute?

If we continue to subscribe to the abovementioned way of thinking, then I say that we are not becoming true superheroes of our own society. For in our pursuit of establishing order and justice, we end up becoming members of the Injustice League instead… not much different from the villains we try to fight against.

- Rex Fortes, CM