A Weekly Bible Study

5th  Sunday of Lent
Isaiah 43:16-21   Psalm 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6
Philippians 3:8-14   John 8:1-11

When all we have is God…

Sometimes it takes loss or tragedy to help us appreciate who God is for us.  In each of the three readings and the psalm response today we hear biblical voices witnessing to this disturbing (and hopeful) truth.

Isaiah expresses hope to the Israelites returning from captivity. Having been exiled in Babylon, they were removed from all that they held dear: homeland, worship, family ritual and routine. It took the stripping away of their securities to make them realize that what truly mattered was God’s love for them. The psalm response captures their sentiments. As they return home, the exiles are like people “dreaming, their mouths filled with laughter and rejoicing.” They can hardly believe they are home. This rejoicing at God’s saving act must surely have come from a deeper place in their hearts following their experience of loss.

Paul, too, is in a place of exile, presumably in Ephesus (located in the region that is now Turkey).  It is from there that he writes to the Philippians. In his imprisonment Paul realizes that all else is “rubbish” save his knowing Jesus Christ and the power of his resurrection. Perhaps in the stripping away of all that Paul had previously depended upon, he came face to face with the only reality that really mattered. Paul realizes that he still has to mature in faith, but his being “possessed by Jesus Christ” is a monumental step.

The woman of today’s gospel is beset by condemnation and rejection. The law has intervened to bring her to justice. Human criticism of her behavior only magnifies her burden. She is truly exiled, not only by her sinfulness but by the court of human opinion. In the end, all she has is God. We imagine that all she recognizes in her need is her savior. In this is her freedom.

What would it take for us, in the exile known only to each of us ourselves, to believe more fully that Jesus Christ is the center of our lives and that is all that really matters?

The author, Ms. Barbara Gawle, leads Bible studies at her parish, Incarnation Church of Wethersfield, CT. She is a CBS graduate and the 2012 recipient of the Biblical School's highest award, The Lawrence Boadt Memorial Medal.