"Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."
Jesus words form the familiar, and powerful, story of the woman caught in adultery.
(You can read it here ......John 8:1-11.)
A caution to all of us to be careful about judging others. None of us is perfect. We could all be placed in the center of that circle.
"Ah", some say, "be careful there. You can go too far and excuse anything. Don't forget that Jesus also said, 'Go and sin no more'."
Yes, he did. That wasn't the whole sentence, though. Addressing the woman after determining no one was left, he said: "Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more."
Do you hear that? What a powerful thing! Jesus, the perfect, sinless one chooses not to cast a stone. This woman's sin affects him deeply -- he is soon to give sweat, blood, death because of it-- and he lets her go. It's....unfathomable. And get this -- he'll do the same for us, does do the same for us.
Of course, he did also give an admonition to leave the life of sin and that's important, too.
As we read this story, we need to consider our own position.
When we are, like the men who took the women to Jesus, tempted to judge we need to focus on "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." Not always the easiest, thing, but what we are called to do.
When we are the ones sinning we need to remember, "Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more." The grace is there, and the admonition. We need to heed both.
Personally, I find myself in each of these situations multiple times a day. Wrestling with all this is tough, but the growth is worth it.
What grabs you in this story?
Jesus words form the familiar, and powerful, story of the woman caught in adultery.
(You can read it here ......John 8:1-11.)
A caution to all of us to be careful about judging others. None of us is perfect. We could all be placed in the center of that circle.
"Ah", some say, "be careful there. You can go too far and excuse anything. Don't forget that Jesus also said, 'Go and sin no more'."
Yes, he did. That wasn't the whole sentence, though. Addressing the woman after determining no one was left, he said: "Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more."
Do you hear that? What a powerful thing! Jesus, the perfect, sinless one chooses not to cast a stone. This woman's sin affects him deeply -- he is soon to give sweat, blood, death because of it-- and he lets her go. It's....unfathomable. And get this -- he'll do the same for us, does do the same for us.
Of course, he did also give an admonition to leave the life of sin and that's important, too.
As we read this story, we need to consider our own position.
When we are, like the men who took the women to Jesus, tempted to judge we need to focus on "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." Not always the easiest, thing, but what we are called to do.
When we are the ones sinning we need to remember, "Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more." The grace is there, and the admonition. We need to heed both.
Personally, I find myself in each of these situations multiple times a day. Wrestling with all this is tough, but the growth is worth it.
What grabs you in this story?
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