Preparing for the Test

When our children were growing up, one of them would sometimes approach me with an accusation of the other breaking a family rule and wanting me to mete out punishment immediately according to their understanding. It was most difficult for me in those situations to be just because I didn’t want to encourage the tattling. I wanted to address the situation, but I wanted it to be in private, not driven by the tattler’s need to see the sibling get punished, but by the need to teach the one who was misbehaving to help them become a better person. Yet the accuser would stand there demanding justice on the spot.

“Then everyone went to his own home. But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.” John 7:53 Why did Jesus go to the Mount of Olives instead of going home with friends for the evening? It seems that the Mount of Olives was Holy Ground for Jesus. It was where he went to meet with his Father, especially when he was troubled or had difficult things coming that he needed to deal with. He prayed through the situations and came out victorious. Jesus was preparing for the big confrontation with the teachers of the law.

The next morning, he was in the temple courts teaching again. The Pharisees decided to show the people who were listening to him that he was not a good teacher. So they found a woman who they caught in adultery and made her stand before Jesus. They then recite the Law that everyone knows about stoning such a person. Now they are giving Jesus a chance to respond, sure that he will not follow the Law and that will teach the people to stay away from him.

They were sure they had Jesus backed against the wall and there was no way out for him but to fail in front of the people. This was a very clear commitment of sin that was punishable by death. It was a clear violation of one of the ‘Big Ten.’ If Jesus let this one go, they knew they had him and the people would walk away from him.

“But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.” John 8:6 It seems that Jesus doesn’t want to get in the middle of this one. He is hoping they will go away. But they keep pressing him. I wonder what he was writing in the sand. Was he writing the Ten Commandments so they could see that he was very aware of what they were? Or was he writing, “How great is the love the Father lavishes on us…” I John 3:1 Or was he just doodling buying time? The Pharisees don’t seem to notice what he is writing but continue to question him, “Come, tell us what you have to say about this.”

Finally, Jesus stands up to address them. “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” John 8:7 In essence, Jesus gave them permission to stone her, but he wanted them to examine themselves first knowing that if they were honest with themselves, no one would be able to throw the first stone and therefore, she would be left unharmed. He was keeping the law, but helping them to see that their dedication to keeping the law was self-serving, not honoring God.

The accusers were all waiting for someone else to throw the first stone so they could join in and give this woman what she deserved, but no one started in. Instead, they began to excuse themselves “one at a time, the older ones first, until Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.” John 8:9 Now Jesus could address the woman with the love of the Father instead of the justice of the law.

Jesus was the only one who had the right to cast the first stone. Yet he refused to do so. Instead, he said, “Where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

“No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you. Go and leave your life of sin.” John 8:10-11

Jesus is giving the woman another chance. He knew why he was here and what was about to happen. He still had the cross ahead of him and was thinking more and more about it. He knew he was going to take the punishment for her sin. Justice would be served. Yet she was free to go. He only asked one thing of her, that she would leave her life of sin. I would like to believe that she did and that she became one of his followers. She had come face to face with death and often when that happens, people become followers of Jesus.

May God give me the wisdom through prayer and fellowship with him to mete out grace and mercy rather than harsh judgment on others, knowing that he alone is free of sin and justified in casting the first stone, but chooses to not do so. Because I have experienced his grace and mercy, I can extend it to others and point them to him rather than being the one to judge and pronounce them unworthy.

But first, back to the basics. Prayer and fellowship with the Father are essential if I am going to show wisdom. I don’t want to be a tattler with a self-serving agenda, but rather I want to keep my focus on God’s agenda – seeking out and saving the lost and helping them find their way back to God.