This is the 13th day of Lent.
 
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace through the power of the Holy Spirit.   

Take a moment and quiet yourself. Take a deep breath. Welcome God’s presence. And say, “Come Holy Spirit.”  
 
Today’s reading is from the Gospel of John, chapter 8.

 
Then they all went home, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
 

Take a moment and place yourself as a bystander in the scene. You are there in the Temple courts as an ordinary person wanting to hear from this popular teacher, Jesus. And with great commotion, the teachers of the Law, people who love God fiercely, bring in a woman caught in Adultery. What do you hear them saying? How do you feel about what you hear?

Think now about the woman who is there. What do you feel when you look at her? Embarrassment, judgment, compassion, anger at what’s happening to her?

Now look at Jesus, bending down. What do you think he was writing on the ground? As you hear the passage again, think about someone in your life who you find hard to forgive. Or someone who needs to experience God’s mercy, and ask to see them with new eyes.
 
The older ones went away first. That tells us something about wisdom, but it also tells us something about how God wants our lives to increasingly be marked by mercy. As we close our time of prayer, think of one person that you can show mercy toward today.
 
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your holy Spirit from me. Give me the joy of your saving help again and sustain me with your bountiful Spirit. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Music: O My Soul - Vineyard Worship - (YouTube)