Monday of 5th Week in Lent
Do Not Condemn God Forgives
The first reading is an addition from a later period to the Book of Daniel. Probably Shushanna (Lily) stands for faithful Israel. And so, in the form of an allegorical tale the story comments on the faithfulness of the pious Jews to Yahweh, notwithstanding corruption among (some of) the leaders. This popular tale was a warning against adultery, false witnessing and abuse of power, and an appeal for faithfulness in faith and marriage. In any case, the false accusers of the innocent are condemned themselves.
Not only is the false accusation and condemnation of the innocent reproved, but even that of the guilty. The gospel story about the adulterous women (written possibly by Luke rather than John) tells us that Christ does not give up on sinners; he continues with them a dialogue of grace and forgiveness and invites them to love. Sin is not minimized, but God’s forgiveness is greater than our human reasoning.
First Reading: Daniel 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62
There was a man who lived in Babylon whose name was Joakim. He married the daughter of Hikiah. a Model of beauty and piety, she was considered quite a catch in her time, her name was Susanna. Her parents were devout Jews and educated their children according to God’s word.
Joakim himself was quite wealthy; his manor house was attractively situated on a tract of land with an enclosed orchard and garden. There was constant traffic to and from the place by the Jewish locals, for they considered him more honorable than the rest and therein lies a tale.
The people elected two elderly men as judges of this small Jewish community. Parenthetically, what the Lord said about evil being Babylon’s only export could certainly be applied to these two men. They were supposed to serve and protect the people who elected them, but as you will hear they abused their power and almost brought down an innocent woman.
These two held court regularly in the public rooms of Joakim’s manor house, presiding and deciding the cases of the people. these meetings rarely ran beyond noon, after which the crowd returned to town and the judges took advantage of Joakim’s hospitality.
About that time each day, Susanna strolled in her husband’s orchard and garden.
The two noticed that this beautiful woman took the same walk every day. At first it aroused their curiosity, then their unholy lust. They suppressed their consciences, turned their eyes away from justice, and abandoned the virtues they so urgently advocated for others in their judicial pronouncements.
They sight of Susanna mad them feel like love –struck teenage boys although they didn’t admit it to each other. They were too ashamed to acknowledge they each wanted to have sex with her. Every day they shadowed Susanna as she walked; every day they ended their surveillance with the same words:” Let’s go home; it’s time for dinner.” they both agreed ad went off in different directions.
One day, however, they both retraced their steps at the same time and spotted the other lurking in the garden shrubbery. Both demanded to know just what was going on. Then they admitted they were aroused every time they saw Susanna in her garden. So they decided to join forces and make a plan to have her. The first thing to do was to pinpoint where and when they could find her alone.
Just such an opportunity presented itself one day. Susanna had entered the main gate, accompanied by two female servants. The heat was intolerable; perhaps a bath would help. as far as she could tell, nobody was around; she has no idea that peeping through the shrubbery were two dirty old man who were stalking her.
“Would you go and get my bath oils and perfumes? she asked her two maid servants. Off they went on their errand, locking the main gate from within and exiting through a side gardener’s gate that locked behind them. They did not know that two rapists were lurking in the foliage inside the walls.
The moment the girls left, the two judges rose and made their move and said to the started woman: “We have you now, Susanna! The gates are locked. No one will see us or hear us. You know what we want. Don’t put up a fight. We intend to have you, whether you want it or not. If you don’t submit, we’ll destroy you in court. We’ll swear that you sent your servants off so you could have sex with some young boy.”
Susanna cried out: “I’m pinned in on all sides! You have me right where you want me. If I give in, I’ll be brought to trail and stoned for adultery. If I don’t give in, you’ll rape me and then abandon me to a life of shame. Better, though, that I shouldn’t give in and sin before the Lord.”
So Susanna started shouting at the top of her lungs; the old men shouted back, ran to the main gate, unlocked it form inside and fled.
When the servants in the house heard the clamor, they rushed to the main gate of the garden, only to meet the two frazzled men on their way out who told their lying story about Susanna and fictional young man. The two ladies in waiting just stood by in disbelief; they’d never heard a story like that about their mistress.
Next day the two men made their way to Joakim’s house; they were still outrage that their plan had failed. They demanded that Susanna, daughter of Hilkiah, Joakim’s wife, be brought in front of the entire community.
Susanna entered the public room with their parents and children and all her relatives. She was a beautiful woman, but something about her now made her seen fragile.
The two judges ordered her to take off her veil; they wanted to see her cringe under their attack. Everyone in the room was crying; everyone except the accusers, that is.
The two would be rapists rose from their chairs and went to her and laid their unclean hands on Susanna’s head. With tears in her eyes, she looked up to heaven; she had complete faith in the Lord. The two judges spoke to everyone assembled.
“We were ambling around Joakim’s garden, the two of us, when who should come in but this woman with her two maids; she dismissed the maids and locked the gate from the inside. Then a young man came to her; he must have been hiding in the shrubbery. He lay down with her and made love to her.
“Where were we while all this was happening? We were in a corner of the garden behind a tree, but we could see and hear everything. We ran to them, but it was too late; we saw they were already having sex. We grabbed the young man but he was too strong for us; he slipped out of our hands and fled through the garden’s gate. But we were able to get hold of her; we questioned her and demanded the young man’s name, but we couldn’t get a peep out of her. All we say now is that we saw and heard everything.”
The people assembled believed the two men; after all, they were respected seniors in the community and judges to boot. What else could the crowd do but condemn Suzanna to death?
Susanna, However, raised a prayer in a confident voice:
“Eternal God, you who know all secrets, who knew everything before it was something, you know these men have brought false testimony against me. It is the law that I
must die if I did what they claim, but I’ve done none of the things they accuse me of. They made it all up!”
The Lord heard her cry. As they were leading Susanna away to her execution, God strengthened the spirit of a young man, a junior prophet if you will; his name was Daniel.
Daniel stepped in front of the crowd and spoke up: “I will not be a party of her death.”
The crowd answered him: “What are you saying?”
He stood his ground in their midst.
“People of the house of Israel, how unjust can you be? What evidence did the two accusers actually present? Has anybody corroborated their charges? Are you willing to condemn a faithful daughter of Israel without proof of their guilt? Reopen the case, and you’ll find that the testimony of the two accusers against her is tainted.”
The people were convinced enough to return to the court, along with Susanna, her supporters, and the two prosecutors. The crowd said to Daniel: “Come, sit in our midst, young man, tell us what you know. God seen to have given youth the wisdom that usually comes with age.”
“ Separate the two accusers from each other,” directed Daniel, “ and I’ll interrogate then one at a time in front of you.”
They put two men in different rooms where they could not hear the other’s testimony. Daniel then questioned the first one.
“You veteran old sinner, your sins have come back to haunt you. You’ve churned out unjust judgments; you’ve oppressed the poor; you’ve freed the guilty. All the while you quoted what the Lord has commanded: ‘Don’t sentence the innocent and just the death!’
“ Now, more to the point, if you did indeed see Susanna committing adultery, tell us – precisely- where you and your partner in crime were standing in the garden when you supposedly saw her and her lover together.”
“Behind a small gum tree,” the man responded, beads of sweat starting to form on his upper lip.
“You’re lying through your teeth,” Daniel said. “Behold the angel of the Lord! Once your sentence has been rendered by God, the angel will cut you I two with on swift stroke!”
That judge was taken out of the room, and the other one brought in. Daniel spoke first.
“Are you really a Jew? Your actions seem more like those of a Canaanite to me. Beauty has tempted you; lust has led you to sin. You’re not used to being refused by daughters of Israel, are you? You intimidate them with threats and insults, then steal their virtue.
“Now, more to the point, answer me this: What tree –precisely- were you and your partner in crime standing behind when you supposedly saw the young man whispering sweet nothings into Susanna’s ear?”
“Behind a large oak tree,” the man said, his eyes darting around the room.
“You’re lying through your teeth,” Daniel said. “The angel of God with sword in hand is waiting, ready to separate your top form your bottom, and that will be the end of you.”
The congregation let out a shout, blessing the God who always saves those who put their hope in him. They rose up against the two judges. Daniel had convinced them that both had given false testimony under oath. Their punishment would be the same as the one they had pronounced against Susanna: according to the Law of Moses, they had be stoned to death. And so it happened. Innocent blood was spared that day, but guilty blood was not. Hilkiah and his wife praised the Lord for their daughter Susanna, who had her reputation restored, along with that of her husband Joakim and their relatives, thanks to the budding prophet.
Gospel: John 8:12-20
Jesus once again addressed them: “I am the world’s Light. No one who follows me stumbles around in the darkness. I provide plenty of light to live in.” The Pharisees objected, “All we have is your word on this. We need more than this to go on.” Jesus replied, “You’re right that you only have my word. But you can depend on it being true. I know where I’ve come from and where I go next. You don’t know where I’m from or where I’m headed. You decide according to what you can see and touch. I don’t make judgments like that. But even if I did, my judgment would be true because I wouldn’t make it out of the narrowness of my experience but in the largeness of the One who sent me, the Father. That fulfils the conditions set down in God’s Law: that you can count on the testimony of two witnesses. And that is what you have: You have my word and you have the word of the Father who sent me.” They said, “Where is this so-called Father of yours?” Jesus said, “You’re looking right at me and you don’t see me. How do you expect to see the Father? If you knew me, you would at the same time know the Father.” He gave this speech in the Treasury while teaching in the Temple. No one arrested him because his time wasn’t yet up.
Prayer
Just and merciful God,
you take pity even on sinners
and you continue with them
a dialogue of grace and hope.
Help us too never to condemn,
never to give up on people,
but to be patient, understanding and forgiving,
together with you and Jesus your Son
who lives with you and the Holy Spirit
for ever and ever. Amen.