In this week’s Gospel reading from John 8, Jesus commands an adulterous woman to “Go and sin no more.”Here’s my question:What if Jesus meant what He said? What if it was actually a command to go out and stop living in sin? Is that impossible? If so, why would Jesus have said it? What does it mean to “sin no more?”
Let’s face it, we all sin, though it might be more accurate to say that we live in a state of sin. The same John that wrote the gospel reading, also wrote that we’re liars if we say that we don’t have sin. We do. But does that mean that we must sin? Is there a difference between committing sin and having sin? Maybe. What’s the difference? Is have the ability to sin or the capacity for sin mean that we must sin? I don’t think so. I think it comes down to desire and how we act on them. James wrote that “¼each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
Does that mean that we have to give in to these temptations? I don’t think so, hard as that might be. Jesus—no stranger to temptation—knows this. So when he says, “Go and sin no more,” I don’t think he’s expecting that this woman will never be tempted again. I’d say he’s telling her to say no to the sin that dwells in her and stop the desire from being conceived; stop the temptation from becoming sin. And isn’t this the same command that He gives to the rest of us? Yes, but that’s easier said than done. Despite our good intentions we fall and fall and fall again. So, what do we do?
I think Paul had the right idea when he exhorted the Galatians to: “¼walk by the Spirit, and¼ not gratify the desires of the flesh. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”
“Go and sin no more.” I think Jesus meant it. Yes, we’re to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, but we humans are pretty resourceful species and we‘ve have received the gift of the Holy Spirit and the Church to help us. So, something tells me that if we really want to, with God’s help, we’ll figure it out!