My thoughts today were moved toward Jesus and how he turned
things upside down, or did he turn the upside right. It came to mind that there
was a woman who was caught in the act of committing adultery (that is, she was
having a sexual affair). The Pharisees grabbed the woman and brought her to Jesus
(John 8:3-11). Jesus was busy teaching people. The Pharisees seize this
opportunity to try and prove Jesus to be a false teacher. They are not overly concerned
with the woman, and they are willing to sacrifice her to get to Jesus. They
even invoke the law of Moses that demands she be stoned for such a crime. One
might ask the question as to why they had not already done so. Well, as I
mentioned, it seems clear that they are not concerned with the woman’s life or
death. They are after Jesus.
Jesus does the unthinkable. He kneels down and begins writing
something in the sand. We don’t know what it was, but it must have been
something that caught those gathered by the heart. For Jesus simply says, “Let anyone among you who is
without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” (v.7 NRSV). When Jesus
looks up they are all gone. He then tells the woman he does not condemn her
either, and sends her away, with the command not to sin again.
In the midst of all my sin, Jesus forgave me and told me to go
and sin no more. I can’t say I have always lived up my end of the story, but I
am grateful for the merciful grace of God. Yet, that is not what stood out to
me today. It seems as though there are some “Christians” who are busy dragging
those who have sinned before the world to make a spectacle of them. They rail
about the sin of abortion, and demand legislation, yet one wonders if they
truly care about the women who suffer from the abuses that lead to the choice being
made.
Are we so bold as to believe that every one of these
situations is the result of a poor choice to have sexual relations. Even if
they were (which I do not believe), how might the Pharisees respond to the situation.
They would drag the issue before Jesus and challenge him to execute their brand
of justice. You see the Pharisees were busy trying to prove Jesus was a phony.
They wanted to get him to free her, so that they could accuse him of not
following the law. Because law never stops anyone of sinning, it just sentences
them to death (at least in the story of the woman).
Jesus does not fall prey to their evil desire to kill the
woman or him. He simply asks a question, “Are you without sin?” Instead of
messing around with the law Jesus does something the law cannot do, he forgives
and releases her from her debt. Jesus was more concerned with the woman than
the sin. What can we learn from this as Christians? What if we loved the person
more than the sin? In fact, what does it matter what the sin is? What if we
would spend more time with young girls who so desperately want someone to show
them love, that they fall into the arms of boy who only wants to feel he is a
man. What if we spent time with young men and taught them how to respect and
love women? What if we fought poverty which we know increases these situations?
Law has never kept a nation in a right relationship with
God. The only message for the Church is Christ and him crucified. For it is the
greatest message of love ever written. That does not mean law does not have a
place, but Jesus came to do what the law could not. Whether there is a law on
the books or not, Jesus will transform lives by the renewing of our minds. Perhaps,
we would do well to make disciples of Christ, rather than laws for humanity. Laws
make people guilty, Jesus sets people free.
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