~Casting Stones~
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 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) —
I think that this passage demonstrates to us how we should deal with someone caught in sin. If you are a follower of Jesus, then we should trace His footsteps. Let us see, Lord, let us see. ^_^
The teachers and Pharisees are experts in the Law that has been handed down from God. But they cannot see God’s reasoning behind those Laws. Sin needs to be punished and they saw themselves as delivering justice. The woman should have been stoned along with the man she commited the act of adultery with. But the man wasn’t brought, therein lies the trap for Jesus.
I interpret what Jesus said to be: Let the one without sin, dispense justice. This upholds that the Law is true… the wage of sin is death. But it asks for a different attitude and different mindset. Hate the sin, Love the sinner. So it took awhile for the younger experts to leave and the older experts understood what Jesus said quicker.
Now there is no one left… just Jesus and the woman caught in sin. I think there is an implicit (unspoken) forgiveness of the woman’s sin. Jesus forgave her and asked her to repent and turn away from her sin. Jesus did not come to condemn those around us… The Law condemns… it convicts us of our sin. Jesus comes with mercy and love. Leave judgement to God.
Lord God, Jesus called us, “Follow me…” Let us follow in His footsteps. Give us the wisdom to understand your ways, Father. In everything we do, may You shine in our lives. I pray all this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
P.S. Thank you, Lord for putting me where I could be of use… so many opportunities… help me be ready and willing to do your good and perfect will Lord God. Make me a tool.
P.L., B.C., K.L., M.W., Y.H., K.L., D.T., S.T., S.T., L.T., C.W., S.L., and H.C. are all in Your hands, Lord.
With Praise, Love and Gratitude,
ha256
=)
what was he writing what was he writing what was he writing?
Lord, what were you writing?
These stories are great.
Well, I don’t go to Church… hehe. But I know right from wrong compare to most ppl… living by virtue. I also see that those who try to follow god, doesn’t heed all that god has taught…
Do u think that we grow up with innocent? As we grow up, having to live and accept this society, we are losing our innocent? Sometime we don’t like what we see around us. We learn to accept it never-the-less.
I believe in God. A general god, who might he/she be. Some say god takes many forms… Therefore I believe in a universal. He/she is the god in any form of religion, and the head god in polytheism. I believe in what God teaches… goodness through the value of virtues, knowing what’s “right and wrong” (even if everyone has their own opinion on what’s right and wrong). I’m not saying that I do not have sin, we all do… I’ll try my best to be a virtuous person, through what I was taught or the virtuous stories I have come across.
I’m currently dealing with the real world… not until a couple years ago, after I left college. I have realized how corrupt it can be, still believing in the good, and accepting the corruption of society. Sometime I feel like I’m losing my innocents to accept society and the real world. Maybe I’m just naive… When I was little, all I wanted to do was to protect my soul from the corruption. Now, still learning to accept the real world…
Those questions you ask are complicated to explain. I’ll make it brief.
“What really is the point of living a good life?” For friendship: Trust of friends, make friends through good deed. If I do something evil, my conscious will bother me.
“Why try to do good?” Without it, it is hard to gain ppl’s trust. As we do good deeds for them, they will remember the deeds.
“What is the point of your life?” Living life to the fullest, with the friends and family I learned to love.
“Maybe I’m misunderstanding… Where do you place your hopes?” Hope… hehe… If you don’t have hope in your heart, your spirit seems weakened, and doesn’t want to pursue the determination to achieve something. So you strong hold it in your heart in thinking that you will one day achieve it… Pandora’s Box.