Fifth Sunday of Lent

Isaiah 43: 16-21
Thus says the Lord,
who made a way through the sea,
a path in the great waters;
who put chariots and horse in the field
and a powerful army,
which lay there never to rise again,
snuffed out, put out like a wick.

No need to recall the past,
no need to think about what was done before.
See, I am doing a new deed,
even now it comes to light; can you not see it?
Yes, I am making a road in the wilderness,
paths in the wilds.

The wild beasts will honour me,
jackals and ostriches,
because I am putting water in the wilderness
(rivers in the wild)
to give my chosen people drink.
The people I have formed for myself
will sing my praises.

Psalm 125
When the Lórd delivered Zíon from bóndage,
it séemed like a dréam.
Thén was our móuth filled with láughter,
on our líps there were sóngs.

The héathens themsélves said: "What márvels
the Lórd worked for thém!"
What márvels the Lórd worked for ús!
Indéed we were glád.

Delíver us, O Lórd, from our bóndage
as stréams in dry lánd.
Thóse who are sówing in téars
will síng when they réap.

They go óut, they go óut, full of téars,
carrying séed for the sówing:
they come báck, they come báck, full of sóng,
cárrying their shéaves.

Philippians 3: 8-14
I believe nothing can happen that will outweigh the supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For him I have accepted the loss of everything, and I look on everything as so much rubbish if only I can have Christ and be given a place in him. I am no longer trying for perfection by my own efforts, the perfection that comes from the Law, but I want only the perfection that comes through faith in Christ, and is from God and based on faith. All I want to know is Christ and the power of his resurrection and to share in his sufferings by reproducing the pattern of his death. That is the way I can hope to take my place in the resurrection of the dead. Not that I have become perfect yet: I have not yet won, but I am still running, trying to capture the prize for which Christ Jesus captured me. I can assure you my brothers, I am far from thinking that I have already won. All I can say is that I forget the past and I strain ahead for what is still to come; I am racing for the finish, for the prize to which God calls us upwards to receive in Christ Jesus.

John 8: 1-11
Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At daybreak he appeared in the Temple again; and as all the people came to him, he sat down and began to teach them.

The scribes and Pharisees brought a woman along who had been caught committing adultery; and making her stand there in full view of everybody, they said to Jesus, “Master, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery, and Moses has ordered us in the Law to condemn women like this to death by stoning. What have you to say?” They asked him this as a test, looking for something to use against him. But Jesus bent down and started writing on the ground with his finger. As they persisted with their question, he looked up and said, “If there is one of you who has not sinned let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Then he bent down and wrote on the ground again. When they heard this they went away one by one, beginning with the eldest, until Jesus was left alone with the woman who remained standing there. He looked up and said, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she replied. “Neither do I condemn you,” said Jesus, “go away, and don't sin any more.”

This week we have Isaiah telling us about the things God has done for his people in the past and that he is doing things for his people now. In the gospel we hear about how Jesus makes real the things God does for his people; just in a new and different way from before.

Split into two groups to discuss these offences and how you think they might best be punished depending on your point of view. Maybe you know how they are punished in this country and others around the world.

• Shoplifting
• From the point of view of the store manager
• From the point of view of the shoplifter's friend
• Murder
• From the victim's parents' point of view
• From the murderer's parents' point of view

Compare your answers.

From the readings we've heard today, how do you think God sees these crimes? How would Jesus respond to them?

What do you think about applying Jesus's approach in this country today?