August 29 ~ John 8:1-11
Jesus walked out to the Mount of Olives. Then early the next morning he went to the temple. The people came to him, and he sat down and started teaching them. The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law of Moses brought in a woman who had been caught in bed with a man who wasn't her husband. They made her stand in the middle of the crowd. Then they said, "Teacher, this woman was caught sleeping with a man who isn't her husband. The Law of Moses teaches that a woman like this should be stoned to death! What do you say?"
They asked Jesus this question, because they wanted to test him and bring some charge against him. But Jesus simply bent over and started writing on the ground with his finger.
They kept on asking Jesus about the woman. Finally, he stood up and said, "If any of you have never sinned, then go ahead and throw the first stone at her!" Once again he bent over and began writing on the ground. The people left one by one, beginning with the oldest. Finally, Jesus and the woman were there alone. Jesus stood up and asked her, "Where is everyone? Isn't there anyone left to accuse you?" "No sir," the woman answered. Then Jesus told her, "I am not going to accuse you either. You may go now, but don't sin anymore."
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
I would love to know what Jesus wrote in the sand. I’ve done some searching on the Internet, and some suggest He was merely doodling. Others say he was drawing a circle in which the accused stood for stoning. Anyone in the circle when it was completed was subject to stoning – maybe He thought some of the Pharisees wouldn’t move fast enough! Still others say Jesus was listing the sins of every person present… who else hadcommitted adultery – and with whom. Even another suggested that Jesus was writing out the law that said that this woman could only be stoned if the sinless person cast the first blow, because inability to comply would be the only thing that would cause the leaders to dissipate.
At the end of the day, it really doesn’t matter what Jesus wrote… but the fact that He was less than fully present in the activities of making accusations and berating this woman matters greatly. See, we are all this woman, in some manner, because we are all sinners. And lest you start protesting that her sins were so much greater than yours, let me remind you again that sin is sin… and we are all sinners – except for Jesus.So when Jesus let this woman go and said, “I’m not going to accuse you, either,” He granted her grace and mercy far beyond anything any of us deserve. He told each of us the same thing, in essence, when He died on the cross for our sins. He took our burden upon Himself, and we are charged to “go now, but don’t sin anymore.” There is every chance we won’t be able to hold up to our end of the bargain, but we must try. When we fall short, we must confess, pick ourselves up, ask forgiveness, and move ahead, glorifying God for His grace, mercy, and unending love.
I don’t know about you, but when I find myself in the circle, being accused (even by my own conscience) of my sins and shortcomings, I’m so happy to know that Jesus is standing beside me – drawing in the sand. I’m grateful that He does not condemn me… and that because of my salvation through Him, I am forever set upright and given another chance. If you have asked Jesus to become LORD of your life and invited His Holy Spirit to live in your heart, you can enjoy this same grace, mercy and salvation.
So the question of the day is… “What is Jesus writing in the sand beside your circle?”
©2011 Debbie Robus
No comments:
Post a Comment