Other Sunday and Holy Day Readings
5th SUNDAY OF LENT (Cycle C)
(the readings for Cycle
A are used for the instruction of Catechumens)
Readings:
Isaiah 43:16-21
Psalm 126:1-6
Philippians 3:8-14
John 8:1-11
Abbreviations: NJB (New Jerusalem Bible), NABRE (New American Bible Revised Edition), IBHE (Interlinear Bible Hebrew-English), IBGE (Interlinear Bible Greek-English), or LXX (Greek Septuagint Old Testament translation). CCC designates a citation from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The word LORD or GOD rendered in all capital letters is, in the Hebrew text, God's Divine Name YHWH (Yahweh).
God reveals His divine plan for humanity in the two Testaments, and that is why we read and relive the events of salvation history in the Old and New Testaments in the Church's Liturgy. The Catechism teaches that the Liturgy reveals the unfolding mystery of God's plan as we read the Old Testament in light of the New and the New Testament in light of the Old (CCC 1094-1095).
The Theme of the Readings ~ God Prepares the Way
Life is a constant struggle, but the readings encourage us
to be optimistic and have confidence that God is with us no matter what we face
in life. He is willing to forgive our sins and show us how to restore our
fellowship with Him, resulting in an eternal union in the "Promised Land" of Heaven.
In the First Reading, the people of God condemned to exile in Babylon received hope from the book of the prophet Isaiah, written a century and a half earlier, that promised that God would not forget them. Isaiah told them that the time would come when they could let go of the sad events of the past in which His divine judgment led to their exile. In the future, they would look to God's promise of restoration as He prepared the way for their return to their "Promised Land," just as He did in the Exodus liberation when He opened a path through the Red Sea on their journey out of Egypt.
In the Psalms reading, as pilgrims made the journey to the holy city of Jerusalem, they recalled the event of the "coming home" and restoration of the covenant people to their "Promised Land" after the Babylonian exile. Just as the returning exiles were joyous in traveling the way God prepared for them to return from Babylon to Jerusalem, the pilgrims experienced a joyful journey to God's holy city of Jerusalem to worship Yahweh in His Holy Temple.
In the Second Reading, St. Paul continues the theme of God preparing the way of the faithful by calling for the same unshakable faith in God to guide them on the path to eternal salvation in the "Promised Land" of Heaven. Paul tells us to forget about the hardships we have endured in the past and to push forward on our journey of faith. He assures Christians that we travel the path God has prepared for us with the promise that no matter what struggles we face in life, the trials we endure are worth the promised prize at the end of our journey: our eternal salvation in Christ Jesus. God prepares for us a new Exodus liberation. He redeems us from bondage to sin and death through the sacrificial death and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
In the Gospel Reading, the Pharisees tested Jesus by asking Him to judge the case of a woman accused of adultery. Her own choices may have caused her suffering, but that does not mean that God would not offer her His grace to be restored and forgiven. God can rescue us as He saved her by offering repentance and salvation through the intervention of God the Son. Like the woman in the Gospel reading, God urges all of us to receive His mercy by repenting our sins and making our commitment to sin no more as He continues to "make a way" for us on our journey to eternal salvation.
Isaiah 43:16-21 ~ God's Mighty Works for Israel in
the Past Repeated
16 Thus says the
LORD [Yahweh], who opens a way in the sea and a path in the mighty waters, 17 who leads out chariots and horsemen, a
powerful army, till they lie prostrate together, never to rise, snuffed out and
quenched like a wick. 18
Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider
not; 19 see, I am doing
something new! Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? In the desert, I
make a way, in the wasteland, rivers. 20 Wild
beasts honor me, jackals and ostriches, for I put water in the desert and rivers
in the wasteland for my chosen people to drink, 21 the people whom I formed for myself, that they might announce
my praise.
Through the prophet Isaiah, Yahweh revealed to the covenant people that He would use Babylon as His instrument of judgment to punish Israel/Judah for abandoning their covenant with Him and for the many sins the people in their stubbornness refused to repent (Is 39:5-7). Therefore, the Babylonians would conquer them and take them away into exile.
However, Isaiah also told the people not to lose hope, for when they made full atonement for their sins, God would prepare the way for them to return to their land (Is 40:1-11). In our passage, Isaiah reminded the covenant people that God redeemed them from slavery in Egypt and transformed them into a free nation as His chosen people. He also told them to recall the great works God had done for them in the crossing of the Red Sea and the destruction of Pharaoh's army. The use of the present tense in verse 16 in the Hebrew text is deliberate. God's work of salvation in the Exodus liberation was not just a past experience in Israel's history. They could look for similar works of God because salvation and redemption were a pattern in salvation history. For example, Scripture describes Jesus's work of redemption in Luke 9:31 as His "exodus" in the Greek text of the New Testament: and they were speaking of His exodus which he was to accomplish in Jerusalem.
18 Remember not
the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not; 19 see, I am doing something new! Now it springs
forth, do you not perceive it? In the desert, I make a way, in the wasteland,
rivers.
The past mighty deeds of God in the Exodus liberation
will pale in comparison to the "something new" in the greater works of God in making
"a way" for the faithful in a promised new exodus out of Babylon (verse 19).
The "road in the desert" is the path God will create for His people to return
to their homeland as He guides them and gives them water on the journey. He
will sustain them like He did when He gave them "water in the desert" (verse
20), like the Exodus miracle in Exodus 17:1-7. The "something new" is the water
of eternal life that is the gift of God the Son that He promised in John 7:38-39
and comes from the sanctifying water of Christian Baptism that gives "new life"
to every Baptized believer through the grace of the Holy Spirit (see 2 Cor 5:17
and Rev 21:5).
The Catechism quotes Isaiah 43:19 in CCC 711: "'Behold, I am doing a new thing.' Two prophetic lines were to develop, one leading to the expectation of the Messiah, the other pointing to the announcement of a new Spirit. They converge in the small Remnant, the people of the poor, who await in hope the 'consolation of Israel' and 'the redemption of Jerusalem.'"
20 Wild beasts honor
me, jackals and ostriches, for I put water in the desert and rivers in the
wasteland for my chosen people to drink, 21
the people whom I formed for myself, that they might announce my praise.
In 1 Peter 2:9, the Apostle quotes from Isaiah 43:20b and
Exodus 19:5-6: But you are "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy
nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises" of him who
called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. God's "wonderful light"
is God the Son who announced in John 8:12, "I AM the light of the world.
Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
See Is 9:1, CCC 1141 and 1179.
Isaiah's oracle of future redemption and restoration gave the people hope that they would survive the Babylonian captivity and that God would prepare the way for them to return home to their "Promised Land." In it, Isaiah presents the Exodus liberation as the prototype of every act of liberation brought about by Yahweh for His covenant people in salvation history. But the future exodus liberation from Babylon will be "new" by surpassing all that happened in the past (verses 18-19). Isaiah Chapters 40:1-48:22 contain the doctrinal core teaching of the third part of the Book of Isaiah called the "Book of Consolation."
Responsorial Psalm 126:1-6 ~ The Joyful Journey of
the Redeemed
Response: "The Lord has done great things for us; we are
filled with joy."
1 When the
LORD brought back the captives of Zion, we were like men dreaming. 2 Then our mouth was filled with
laughter, and our tongue with rejoicing.
Response:
2b Then they
said among the nations, "The LORD has done great things for them." 3 The LORD has done great things for us;
we are glad indeed.
Response:
4 Restore our
fortunes, O LORD, like the torrents in the southern desert. 5 Those that sow in tears shall reap
rejoicing.
Response:
6 Although they
go forth weeping, carrying the seed to be sown, they shall come back rejoicing,
carrying their sheaves.
Response:
This psalm is one of the "Songs of Ascents" that the covenant people sang on their pilgrim journeys to the holy city of Jerusalem. The psalm celebrates the memory of the faithful remnant of the covenant people returning to Jerusalem from Babylon in the 6th century BC. After seventy years in exile, God "made a way" home for them as He promised in the writings of the prophets (see the First Reading, Is 43:16, 19; also 35:8; Jer 2:17).
As the pilgrims reached the city, they relived the joy felt by those returning from the Babylonian exile. They remember the amazement of the Gentile nations who witnessed their return and the mighty work of Israel's God on behalf of His people (verses 1-3). In verses 4-6, their song of joy changes to a petition for the Lord God to "restore our fortunes," or literally, "change our lot." The pilgrims ask God to bless their journey to salvation, restoring them with His spirit, just as He blessed the path He made for the return of the exiles in giving them rain in the desert to restore the land so they could survive the journey. They have confidence that God will change the tears of sorrows they experience to gladness, like the farmer who struggles to sow his seed that will one day yield a bountiful harvest.
We must have the same faith and trust in God as we make our way through the wilderness of this life on our journey to our ultimate salvation in the Promised Land of Heaven. God has prepared our way; our "way" is the path set for us by Jesus Christ who is the "Way, the Truth and the Life" because, as Jesus told us in His homily at the Last Supper, "no one comes to the Father except through me" (Jn 14:6).
Philippians 3:8-14 ~ Life with Christ
8 I consider
everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my
Lord. For his sake, I have accepted the loss of all things, and I consider them
so much rubbish, 9 that I may gain
Christ and be found in him, not having any righteousness of my own based on the
law but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God,
depending on faith 10 to know him
and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by being conformed
to his death, 11 if somehow I may
attain the resurrection from the dead. 12 It
is not that I have already taken hold of it or have already attained perfect
maturity, but I continue my pursuit in hope that I may possess it, since I have
indeed been taken possession of by Christ Jesus. 13 Brothers and sisters, I for my part do not
consider myself to have taken possession. Just one thing: forgetting what lies
behind but straining forward to what lies ahead. 14 I continue my pursuit toward the goal, the prize of God's
upward calling, in Christ Jesus.
St. Paul shares his optimism for his future with the Christian community at Philippi. He writes to them that whatever success he may have had in his life before becoming a Christian is worthless compared to the blessings he has gained in belonging to Christ.
9 that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not
having any righteousness of my own based on the law but that which comes
through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God, depending on faith
The difference between righteousness according to the Mosaic
Law and the righteousness imparted by Christ forms the entire subject of St.
Paul's letters to the Christians of Galatia and Rome. In this letter, St. Paul distinguishes
between "a righteousness of my own" obtained through one's efforts and the gift
of grace that comes from God. The righteousness the covenant people obtained by
obedience to Mosaic Law was good; it served as a tutor and a guide in
preparation for the Gospel of salvation. However, it was not sufficient to give
one a share in the glory of Jesus Christ, to impart the indwelling of the Holy
Spirit, nor could it give the promise of eternal salvation (CCC 1963-64).
10 to know him and
the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by being
conformed to his death 11 if
somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Paul is not referring to the general resurrection of both righteous
and the wicked at Christ's Second Advent before the Last Judgment
(Jn 5:29;
1 Thes 4:16;
2 Thes 1:7-10;
Rev 20:11-15), but to the resurrection of the saints
who are separated from the spiritually dead to enjoy eternal life with Christ
(Lk 20:35). If we are willing to share in Christ's suffering in our journey
through this life, we will also merit, through His sufferings, the promise to
share in His resurrection from the dead.
12 It is not that I
have already taken hold of it or have already attained perfect maturity, but I
continue my pursuit in hope that I may possess it, since I have indeed been
taken possession of by Christ Jesus. 13 Brothers
and sisters, I for my part do not consider myself to have taken possession.
Just one thing: forgetting what lies behind but straining forward to what lies
ahead. 14 I continue my pursuit
toward the goal, the prize of God's upward calling, in Christ Jesus.
Paul refers to his conversion experience on the Damascus
road, which he retells three times in Acts of Apostles
(Acts 9:1-19; 22:4-16; 26:9-18).
His point is that his conversion and acceptance of the gift of salvation
through Jesus Christ was not a one-time event. Instead, salvation is a process,
and he continues to strive in his journey of faith that he might ultimately
obtain salvation through Christ at the end of his life. Paul expresses the same
teaching about salvation being a process in 1 Corinthians 1:18 when he says he
is "on the road to salvation," and he is "being saved."
Paul's point is that salvation is not a one-time event but a process with many points of justification along each individual's faith journey to the gates of Heaven and eternal union with the Most Holy Trinity. Scripture supports the past, present, and future dimensions of salvation and its four aspects of justification, sanctification, redemption, and forgiveness (see the document: the 4 different aspects of salvation). Also, see CCC # 588, 1256-57, 1277, 1739-42, 1889.
St. Paul recognizes that everything he valued before his conversion is worthless in comparison with the gift of grace he has received in the knowledge of Christ. The Church teaches: "once a person experiences the riches of Christ the Lord, he looks down on everything else: property, wealth and honors he views as filth. For there is nothing that can compare with that supreme treasure, nothing that can be placed beside it" (St. Pius V Catechism, 4.11.15). Paul is confident if he remains faithful in pursuing his goal by traveling the path God has prepared for Him through the redeeming work of Christ Jesus, "the prize of God's upward calling" that is Heaven will one day be his reward.
John 8:1-11: The Case of the Woman Accused of Adultery
1 Jesus went to the
Mt. of Olives. 2 But early in the
morning, he arrived again in the Temple area, and all the people started coming
to him, and he sat down and taught them. 3
Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught
in adultery and made her stand in the middle. 4 They said to him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the very
act of committing adultery. 5 Now
in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?' 6 They said this to test him, so that they could
have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and began to write on
the ground with his finger. 7 But
when they continued asking him, he straightened up and said to them, "Let the
one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." 8 Again he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 And in response, they went away one by one,
beginning with the elders. So he was left alone with the woman before him. 10 Then Jesus straightened up and said to her,
"Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" 11 She replied, "No one, sir." Then Jesus said,
"Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on, do not sin anymore."
This incident occurred about six months before Jesus's last journey to Jerusalem. The season is the early fall and the annual pilgrim Feast of Tabernacles, also called Shelters or Booths (Jn 7:2; Lev 23:33-43; Num 29:12-38; Dt 16:16). The Mt. of Olives was to the east of Jerusalem with a gate in the city's wall that led to the entrance to the Temple Mount. Jesus often spent the night on the Mt. of Olives or the village of Bethany on the southeast side of the mount when visiting the holy city (Mt 21:14; Mk 11:11; Lk 21:37).
Jesus was on His way to the Temple to take part in the morning liturgical services and to teach the people when He met a group of scribes and Pharisees who wanted to entrap Him so they could have an excuse to arrest Him. The scribes were the authoritative teachers of Mosaic Law to whom rulings and legal interpretations were attributed. They are frequently identified as members of the Sanhedrin, the covenant people's great assembly and ruling judicial body. Today, we would probably designate them as the theologians. St. Luke calls them "lawyers" in the literal Greek text (Lk 11:45-46). The Pharisees ("separated ones") were the most influential religious sect within Judaism that had the most influence from the 2nd-century BC to the 1st-century AD. They were known as rigid interpreters of Mosaic Law and strict observers of ritual purity rites. Most of the scribes were Pharisees, and they are often mentioned with the Pharisees in opposing Jesus. This is why He often condemned together as a single group (Mt 15:1; 23:2, 13, 14, 15, 23, 25, 27, 29, 34; Mk 2:16; 7:1; Lk 5:21, 30; 6:7; 11:44; Jn 8:3).
This story presents a delicate balance between justice and mercy and forgiveness and accountability for sin. The Pharisees brought a woman accused of adultery to Jesus to trap Him and thereby discredit Him as a false Messiah. If Jesus did not condemn the woman to death under Mosaic Law, the Pharisees would condemn Him to the people as a false Messiah who does not support Mosaic Law. Earlier, Jesus had accused them of not keeping the Law (John 7:19), and now they will get their revenge by attempting to prove that He does not keep the Law. However, if He condemns the woman to death, they can report Him to the Roman authorities as a traitor because He fostered rebellion by usurping the power of Roman rule unto Himself. Only Rome had authority over life and death in the Roman provinces (Jn 18:31). Treason against Rome was a capital crime punishable by crucifixion. The Pharisees also set traps for Jesus in Matthew 19:3 on the question of divorce and in Mark 12:13-17 on the issue of Roman taxes.
4 They said to him,
"Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. 5 Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such
women. So what do you say?' 6a They
said this to test him, so that they could have some charge to bring against
him.
In Leviticus 20:10,
Deuteronomy 22:13-21, and 22-29, the judgment
was death for both the man and woman caught in the act of adultery. However, Scripture
mentions the punishment of stoning specifically only in the case of a betrothed
girl who is caught sleeping with another man or for a bride who is found by her
husband not to be a virgin (Dt 22:13-21).
Ezekiel 16:38-40 does provide evidence
that stoning was the death penalty for all types of adultery by the 6th-century
BC. However, some scholars suggest that this is a case of a betrothed girl or
even more likely that of a bride being accused since stoning is the penalty in
both those abuses of the Law. And, in the case of a bride, no other man would be
brought forward since it would be her bridegroom who would accuse her.
If she was caught "in the very act of committing adultery," then where is the man who shares her guilt, and where are the witnesses, including the husband? According to the Law, no one could be condemned to death without the testimony of two to three witnesses (see Dt 17:2-7). If this was the case of a bride being accused by her husband when there was no evidence of her virginity (as in a bloody sheet from the marriage bed), she could be condemned on his testimony alone. The question is, of course, were these men so wicked and without a conscience that they had set up a young girl to be killed just to trap Jesus?
6b Jesus bent down
and began to write on the ground with his finger. 7 But when they continued asking him, he
straightened up and said to them, "Let the one among you who is without sin be
the first to throw a stone at her."
No one knows what Jesus wrote in the dust. Some scholars
have suggested that He was writing the sins of those who accused the woman, and
others that He was writing out the Mosaic Law or perhaps relevant Scripture to
condemn the men like Exodus 23:7. Or, perhaps, He was writing a Scripture
passage to comfort the distraught woman. In that case, Jeremiah 17:13-18 is a
likely passage that He may have written. It offers comfort and links this
incident to writing on the earth and the declaration of the living water He
spoke of the day before in John 7:38-39. Jeremiah wrote: all who abandon you
will be put to shame, those who turn from you will be registered in the
underworld [or more literally, "written on the earth"] since they have
abandoned Yahweh, the fountain of living water (Jer 17:13).
There may be a reason why St. John doesn't tell us what it is that Jesus wrote in the dirt. John 9:13-16 suggests that the day is the Jewish Sabbath. Writing was considered a form of work and therefore forbidden on the Sabbath unless it did not leave a lasting mark [Mishnah Shabbat 12:5]. Writing with fruit juice or in sand or dirt was permitted. We do not know if He was writing Scripture verses or the accusers' sins. Still, whatever He wrote, His actions show that He did keep the Law perfectly, even according to the Oral Law later recorded in the Jewish Mishnah tractates of the Talmud. We do not know what Jesus wrote because His writing was not permanent, and it does not appear in Scripture because the record of what He wrote was also not permanent. Jesus did, however, deftly remove Himself from the Pharisees' trap while placing His accusers in one of His own.
He sprung the trap on the Pharisee with His statement, "Let the one among you who is guiltless [without sin] be the first to throw a stone at her" (8:7). At first, they would have been overjoyed! "He fell into our trap! Now we'll report Him to the Romans, and they will get rid of Him for us!" But then the thought must have occurred to them that under the Law, only the witnesses against her could cast the first stones, and, if it was the Sabbath, throwing a stone would be a Sabbath violation. According to the Law, two or three witnesses against the accused must agree on the guilt and provide evidence in their testimony (Dt 17:6; 19:15). Only those who bore witness in agreement against the accused could cast the first stone (Dt 17:7; Mishnah: Sanhedrin 6:4). This article of the Law of the Sinai Covenant explains Jesus's challenge to the crowd to bring forward those witnesses against her to cast the first stones. Perhaps it is not so much a case of none of them being guilty of sin as none of them being able to truthfully, without sinning, offering themselves as witnesses against her because none of them had seen her commit the act of adultery, nor could they produce the husband. If that was the case, no one present was qualified to cast the first stone. The punishment for witnesses giving false testimony was excommunication or, in a death penalty case, the penalty for false testimony was death (Num 15:30; Dt 19:16-21). Perhaps they were not willing to risk their own lives!
9 And in response,
they went away one by one, beginning with the elders. So he was left alone with
the woman before him.
Jesus's statement that only those without sin could stone
the woman was His trap. The Pharisees believed that they were without sin (see
Phil 3:6), but Jesus did not believe their self-righteous claims
(see Matthew 12:34; 15:7-9). Previously, He had condemned them for their transgressions
against the people and against God, and He will call down a greater condemnation
against them on His last day in Jerusalem before the Feast of Passover in
Matthew 23:13-32 and
Luke 11:39-52 in a series of curse judgments.
The oldest and wisest Pharisees were the first to understand Jesus's trap. They would have reasoned: "If we stone her anyway, even though there are no honest witnesses, the Romans will ask why we took her death sentence upon ourselves, and we will say, "Jesus told us to stone her." But He will say He told those honest witnesses who were without sin to do the stoning, and that doesn't mean us because we know He has chastised us for our sins in the past; everyone knows this! Therefore," they would have concluded, "It could be said that we did it on our own authority!" Jesus reset the trap. He neither authorizes the stoning nor contradicts Mosaic Law. There is no way for them to recover from His trap except to walk away as sinners discredited in the eyes of the people!
10 Then Jesus
straightened up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned
you?" 11 She replied, "No one,
sir." Then Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not
sin anymore."
Jesus seems to express surprise that the accusers had gone;
however, knowing all things, He was certainly not surprised. Jesus's gentle
sarcasm is an ironic contrast to the woman's desperate situation a few minutes
earlier when it must have seemed to her that her life was about to end.
This incident with the woman accused of adultery reminds us of the Old Testament story of the righteous woman falsely accused of adultery in the Book of Daniel chapter 13. When Susanna was condemned to death by the elders, young Daniel, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out, "Are you so stupid, children of Israel, as to condemn a daughter of Israel unheard, and without troubling to find out the truth?" (Dan 13:48). However, unlike Susanna, the woman brought before Jesus does not seem to be entirely innocent because Jesus commands her to "go away and sin no more."
The Church demands the tempering of justice with mercy. Mercy does not mean the forgiveness of sin without consequence or accountability but that the circumstances that led to sin or the degree of contrition can promote the granting of mercy. In this case, the woman, who may have been purposely entrapped, has lost her family and her husband. Her life will be extremely difficult, yet her life was spared. St. Augustine wrote: "The two of them were left on their own, the wretched woman and Mercy ... gently he asks her, 'Has no one condemned you?' She replies, 'No one, Lord.' And he says, 'Neither do I condemn you; I who perhaps you feared would punish you because in me you have found no sin.' Lord, can it be that you favor sinners? Assuredly not. See what follows: 'Go and sin no more.' Therefore, the Lord also condemned sin, but not the woman" (St. Augustine, In Ioann. Evang., 33, 5-6). Also, see CCC# 1472-73.
Jesus did not judge the woman because His purpose was to elude the Pharisees' trap and show the crowd the extent of their sins. Jesus also stated His mission was not to judge the world at this time but to save it (Jn 8:16; 12:47). He condemns her sin, but He gives the woman the chance to take the path to salvation through her repentance, just as He offers us all the same forgiveness and mercy. His mercy does not negate her accountability for sin; she still has to live with the consequences and suffering associated with her actions. His judgment will come later at the end of her life, and by that time, she has had the opportunity to atone for her transgressions through His death and Resurrection (see CCC#1441-3; 1846).
For the Bible study on Lent and Easter, see the Lent And Easter Study. For the article on "The Lenten Journey."
Catechism references (* refers to Scripture quoted or
paraphrased in the citation):
Isaiah 43:19 (CCC 711)
Philippians 3:8-11 (CCC 428); 3:8 (CCC 133); 3:10-11 (CCC 989*, 1006*); 3:10 (CCC 648*)
John 7:37-39 (CCC 728*, 1287*, 2561*); 7:38-39 (CCC 1999*); 7:38 (CCC 694*); 7:39 (CCC 244*, 690*); 8:2 (CCC 583*)
Jesus manifests the Father's mercy (CCC 430*, 545*, 589*, 1846*, 1847*)
The surpassing wealth of knowing Christ (CCC 133, 428*, 648*, 989*, 1006*)
Rash judgment (CCC 2475*, 2476*, 2477*, 2478-2479)
Michal E Hunt, Copyright © 2013; revised 2022 Agape Bible Study. Permissions All Rights Reserved.