1. Once again we have a feast and forgiveness. This is the jubilee. God does new things. To believe in the jubilee and in salvation is to believe that he can do new things. In this sad and unjust world. And in me, poor sinner! ‘What mercies fit for us, we are in great celebration!
2. In the gospel, how do you think the woman would feel to see this young rabbi, Jesus, save her life from certain death? And he also forgives her sin… but sends her away with these wonderful words… ‘sin no more’. For her, Jesus is the Saviour! No more is needed to live the Jubilee!
3. Sometimes we have to fall low, very low, to understand my sin and to want to change. Like the woman, do you have an experience of this kind? Did someone forgive you at that moment? Surely God did! How did you feel? That’s Jubilee!
4. Today, do I have to ask for forgiveness, do I know how to do it?
5. Explain the steps to confession. Ask to change your life: may the Lord make things new. Invite to confession.
6. Psalm 50 (51) This psalm shows us what the true spirit of penitence is. Only when the believer has confessed and invoked God’s love and mercy can he acknowledge his sin, sincerely and without apology. According to the Bible, this hymn was composed by David after he took Bathsheba, the wife of a general in his army, and had him killed to hide his crime.
7. It’s easy to understand why David, whatever his crimes, remains the prototype of the believer: the one who knows that beyond all evil, God still opens the door to forgiveness and hope.

John 8,1-11

It is said that the religious leaders of John 8 left one by one, starting with the eldest. It is not known why this happened; some assume that they were more aware of their sin than the younger ones. Jesus remains alone with the woman and draws her attention to the emptiness that surrounded them and to the fact that all those who brought her to his feet were sinners too. Legalism leads us to believe that others are greater sinners than we are. Injustice leads us to apply God’s law unjustly.  The adulteress is brought in without the man who was with her. A notorious injustice.  Jesus dismantled legalism and injustice through his mercy. His last words to the woman: ‘Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more. God’s mercy is not an excuse for sinning, but a recognition that when we sin, we can turn to Christ for forgiveness and a covering for our guilt.