Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd.
“Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?”
They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.
When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”
“No, Lord,” she said.
And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.” John 8:1-11
I was going to write about the delight of the Lord today, but the Lord has stopped me in my tracks. My sister called me early this morning about a situation that she is in, not a bad situation by any means, but one that she doesn’t want to be in. Me, being a Christian, there is only one way for her to choose in her situation, but she doesn’t have my beliefs nor moral standards to guide her. So, I ask for your earnest prayers over the next several weeks on my sister’s behalf that she would listen to God’s voice - even if she doesn’t recognize that it is God’s - and that she would make the right choice. That is all I am at liberty to say at this time about her, I just want you to know that my heart is heavy about my sister and her dilemma.
I prayed and opened my bible to an earlier chapter in John, but I was restless there and flipped a few of the pages to this story. This story has always fascinated me. It is one of pure grace flowing from our beautiful Savior. Sometimes, I’m this woman, sometimes I’m the one wanting to throw the stones. Sometimes I’m both at the same time. How can this be?
With the very first sin of Adam and Eve, it was immediately apparent that each of them ‘cast blame’ on something else. So, by the very nature of sin, I immediately want to deflect and downplay my own sins and discrepancies by pointing and focusing attention on something or someone else. In relation to this story though, I’ve often wondered why only the woman was brought before Jesus. Was the man wealthy? Did the man have some kind of political power? Why did they only bring the woman before Jesus to be stoned? I don’t have an answer to that.
I imagine the woman was terrified. She knew the consequence of her actions. Yet, I seem to have a picture of a woman standing in the midst of the crowd, head hanging with eyes downcast before Jesus. There is no mention of the woman trying to ward off her accuser’s. It doesn’t mention her struggling at all. When Jesus said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” she didn’t cry out, she didn’t plead for her life, she didn’t cling to Jesus for mercy. She simply stood there awaiting for the first stone. Why? Why did she act this way?
My thoughts traverse the down the path of King David and Bathsheba. I suppose it is because I can’t piece together why the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees would bring only the woman and save the man humiliation and disgrace if it weren’t for the man having some kind of power, like I briefly mentioned a moment ago. Did the woman have a choice? Was she poor? Was she a prostitute? What was the story behind this woman? Since the important thing wasn’t all these details but the grace and mercy of Jesus superseding judgmental attitudes, I know that these details aren’t important. I’m just curious.
Jesus never condemned the woman. He also showed grace to the accusers in both His actions and words because he never condemned them either. These men had obviously disregarded the law when they brought just the woman. They were obviously wrong when they discriminantly pre-judged the woman. Yet, Jesus never said that they were wrong. He simply upheld the law, but demonstrated through His words that each person there should examine their own lives before they go out and actively seek someone else’s sins to eradicate.
This is a good lesson for me because I know my sins and the burdens that I carry. Yet, to those nearest to me, I tend to hold higher expectations simply because I love them more. I tend to place my moral standards and beliefs on them and expect them to uphold them as I try to do. But, this is wrong. Each person must come to their own understanding of God and His word and then live their life out in a fitting manner.
With my husband, it has been the most difficult for me. I love my parents and siblings dearly, I’d give my life for them, yet, I have been able to “allow” them to be their self and grow towards God at their own pace, with minimal frustration on my part. I suppose part of it is because I can separate myself from them when we are at odds with each other’s life view. With my husband, it is different. We are living together, raising a family together, supposed to be unified and show a unified family to others watching us so that God’s name will be glorified, but we don’t. He is more legalistic and I’m more grace minded. We can’t seem to meet in the middle for whatever reason. That said, I should be extending even more grace to my husband, but I can see that I actually extend less. Why that is, I don’t quite know, though I have some thoughts bouncing around in my head.
Jesus is the perfect balance of law and grace. In this story, He upheld the law and extended grace at the same time. This is what I must work towards. This is what I must practice. I will start with this…I have place high expectations on my husband, but I will from now on, work on extending grace where he doesn’t meet those expectations, but rely on Jesus to fulfill those expectations.
That is a lofty goal if there ever was one. These are my thoughts for today. Please keep my sister in prayer that she will choose to do the right thing by God’s standards, even if she doesn’t recognize it as such. Please pray for me that I be more like Jesus, upholding the law and extending abundant grace, both to my sister in her current situation and always with my husband. I’ll type in the notes from my study bible to finish today’s post…
Note on verses 3-6
The Jewish leaders had already disregarded the law by arresting the woman without the man. The law required that both parties to adultery be stoned (Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy 22:22). The leaders were using the woman as a trap so they could trick Jesus. If Jesus said the woman should not be stoned, they would accuse him of violating Moses’ law. If he urged them to execute her, they would report him to the Romans, who did not permit the Jews to carry out their own executions (18:31).
Note on verse 7
This is a significant statement about judging others. Because Jesus upheld the legal penalty for adultery, stoning, he could not be accused of being against the law. But by saying that only a sinless person could throw the first stone, he highlighted the importance of compassion and forgiveness. When others are caught in sin, are you quick to pass judgment? To do so is to act as though you have never sinned. It is God’s role to judge, not ours. Our role is to show forgiveness and compassion.
Note on verse 9
When Jesus said that only someone who had not sinned should throw the first stone, the leaders slipped quietly away, from oldest to youngest. Evidently the older men were more aware of their sins than the younger. Age and experience often temper youthful self-righteousness. But whatever your age, take an honest look at your life. Recognize your sinful nature, and look for ways to help others rather than hurt them.
Note on verse 11
Jesus didn’t condemn the woman accused of adultery, but neither did he ignore or condone her sin. He told her to leave her life of sin. Jesus stands ready to forgive any sin in your life, but confession and repentance mean a change of heart. With God’s help we can accept Christ’s forgiveness and stop our wrongdoing.
Well, I guess I thought of something else as I was typing in the notes. Jesus bent down and wrote in the dust, not once but twice. Was He gathering His thoughts? What was He writing? Why did He take His time in answering? Was He angry? Again, we don’t know the answers to these questions. On one hand, I can imagine that He was taking time to control His emotions. Because Jesus is Jesus, we know that He loved this woman very much. We also know that He loved the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees. We know that Jesus knew whenever these men were trying to trick Him. We know that sin grieves Jesus. We know that there was sin all around Him at this time. So, these are some of the reasons that I say He was taking time to control His emotions. I know how I feel when I’m torn by so many different emotions at once. I just want to stop and breathe and wait for the time to pass.
Jesus was the greatest orator there ever was or ever will be. He knew how to drive a point home. He made one simple statement to this woman’s accusers and didn’t have to say any more. “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” Their own consciences convicted them. The weight of His words and His actions were such an unbearable pressure on these men and brought about the seriousness of sin - all sin - that one by one, from oldest to youngest the departed.
Jesus response of silence is pretty significant to me and I didn’t want to forget to share it. I would love to hear from you your comments.
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. Psalm 139:23-24
May God provide the increase.
“O the unsearchable riches of God’s wonderful grace.” Laws are important but I believe grace is even more important. Since the beginning of the church age there has been the conflict of law verses grace. Satan loves to take two good things and use them to divide believers, saying to one “Law is most important” and to another, “Grace is most important”. Thus conflict. We must hold our self to very high standards while exercising grace to others. Jesus says, “let your moderation be known unto all men.” I believe we must strive for balance somewhere between law and grace. If we go back to, “But the greatest of these is love” we will let love rule where others are concerned. Grace is examining our own heart before pointing out another’s faults, and that should keep us from pointing out others faults.
Yes, we will pray for your sister to make the right choices. That’s encouraging that she came to you. She’s been watching your walk and she knows your for real. She’s seen your strength in handling difficult situations so she’s reaching out to you. This might be a stepping stone to her faith.