Rash Motivations – 1 June 2006
The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"
"No one, sir," she said.
"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."
John 8:3-11 [NIV]
The story above tells us a lot about human nature. The Pharisees wanted to trap Jesus, if he agreed with the stoning he would be in conflict with the Roman authorities who were the only ones allowed to perform executions – if he disagreed then he would be seen to be going against the law of Moses. As usual Jesus found the perfect response. I am struck by a few details in the story:
- adultery requires at least 2 people, where was the man “caught in the act”?
- none of us is without sin, but sin is still wrong and should be dealt with
- the older ones left first, were they wiser or did they have more sense of their sin?
- the younger ones were perhaps more zealous, and less self-aware?
- Jesus manages to advise without condemning – how difficult is that?
Lord, help us to follow the example of Jesus and the prompting of the Holy Spirit when we are in difficult situations. Make us aware of our true motivations, Amen |
