John 8:1-12
8 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" 6 They were using this question as a trap, to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 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." 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9 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. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"
11 "No one, sir," she said.
"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."
Observations for living today:
The leadership was not looking to get an answer to their question, they were trying to get Jesus to say something they could use as a justification to kill him. They knew He was magnanimous toward women; the Pharisee who invited Him to his house for dinner (Simon of Lk 7:36-50) saw this first hand, may have been part of this crowd. There was Mary Magdalene possessed by 7 demonic spirits (Lk 8:2), the woman with the bleeding issue for 12 years (Mk 5:25) and the Samaritan woman at the well who had 5 husbands and was living with a man not her husband (Jn 4:17). Jesus led a very public life and most likely everyone knew of the kindnesses shown these women. Jesus was prone to forgiveness and they jumped on the opportunity to use the official interpretation of the Law of Moses to trap Him.
Now there is no proof of what I think happened, but logic tells me John painted the picture the way he did with a purpose; his words were not random, rather, they were selected carefully, without a doubt inspired by the Holy Spirit. Before Jesus said anything, He began to write something on the ground with His finger, in front of those educated and pious men. He did not say anything as they continued their assault, until He stood up and made perhaps one of the most misquoted verses of scripture (people use the phrase now to diminish the legitimacy of anyone disapproving of their actions). Then He went back to writing with His finger in the dirt. What was He writing? Oh, would I love to know—but I don’t, so I filled the vacuum with this thought: He wrote the names of the women these men had impure thoughts of or maybe even worse, actually had improper relationships with. Remember, Jesus warned in His sermon on the mountain, thinking of committing adultery is just as dangerous as doing it—the sinning starts with the thought, whether it be sex or murder (Mt 5:21, 27; Gen 4:6). The phrase Peter used, “having eyes full of adultery,” describes accurately a life style to avoid (2 Pe 2:14). Men think their thoughts are of no consequence, because they are not known by others. Not true, as God has made clear; sin may not be known to the one standing next to you, but it is known by God, and those men claiming to be righteous enough to pronounce God’s judgement were just as bad as the one they were condemning. This is probably why the older men left first, their list was a whole lot longer and they probably did not want to see their latest failures broadcast in front of them. So it is just as John wrote, man refuses to recognize the light God sent into the world because, their deeds were/are evil and coming into the light would/will expose their wickedness (Jn 3:19).
Jesus was not giving the woman a pass, because she was better or worse; He did not come to diminish the tragedy of sin, but show us a way out from under the curse of sin. His words were not as is so often attributed, to be a case for one not judging the action of another unless you are perfect; they were to be understood in the context of everyone needs to stop sinning, change course and leave the “life of sin” behind. Consider what Jesus said to the man He healed at the Sheep Gate pool, who had been an invalid for 38 years: “Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” What kind of sin could a man commit who was unable to walk? Yet Jesus also made it clear to that man, sin has consequences, which if he did not stop, would result in something far worse than being crippled for 38 years. What He wrote in the dirt that day probably made it just as clear to those condemning the woman, they needed to stop sinning, turn and do something else, or something worse will happen to them (Jn 5:15). They did not and something worse did happen to them: they killed their Messiah and will be held accountable for it!
Reality in Christ:
From the days of Socrates to the present it has been believed illness and tragedies were a direct result of sin, i.e., the act of disobeying or offending a deity. In the Judeo/Christian heritage some thought this meant God punished sin by visiting or striking offenders with a punitive tragedy or illness. Even in the news today we read of people/organizations of Christians holding onto this distortion of God’s character. I say distortion of character, because clearly God’s power allows Him to do such things, but such things would be contrary to His divine nature (Ro 1:20). I once listened to a Christian minister attribute the death of a five-month old baby as God inflicting suffering so people would repent. The Reality in Christ reveals God has the power to strike (2 Peter 2:4-10) and in some very specific moments in the history of this world He may in fact have done so. Some clear examples in Scripture are the Flood (Gen 6:1-8) and the tower of Babel (Gen 11:1-8). Both events reflect the power of God and are not inconsistent with His character. The flood saved eight souls and the animal kingdom from the decadent hordes bent on satisfaction of their senses; while the confusion of both language and thought saved humanity from a rapid destruction with mankind focused on fulfilling their evil desires using out-of-control technology. It does not take the imagination of Tom Clancy to understand what the history of man would have been if God had not slowed man’s ability to “improve quality of life” and call it “progress.” One only has to imagine the genocidal cruelty of the Roman Empire and Genghis Khan having access to today’s technology to understand how bad it could have been—a terrorist with tactical nuclear weapons would be a Sunday afternoon at the park in comparison.
In more than one instance Jesus made clear the unfair reality of life is not a reflection of one’s unrighteousness or that God was punishing an individual for an exceptional grievous offence (Jn 9:1; Lk 13:5). There are consequences associated with bad decisions and people who make them are inclined to always blame someone else for the result—blame shifters who think they are innocent victims of an unjust system. God loves us and He does not take our suffering lightly, and He certainly does not cause it—His enemy does, we just make it easy for Satan to strike. Sometimes I think there would be more righteousness, i.e., better religion, if there were fewer priest and preachers—misrepresenting God.
It is not unusual for a hired hand to usurp the authority of his boss, we see nurses do it to doctors, receptionist do it to CEOs, and Christians, Muslims and Jews do it to God. My fourth-grade teacher used to write quotations on the blackboard, have us think about it for a week and then gave us a chance to tell the class what we thought the author was trying to say. The only one I remember was, “Familiarity breeds contempt.” No one in the class had a clue; I do not remember what she said, but I have never stopped thinking about it. Especially as it concerns men/women who think they are familiar with God, i.e., know His mind, His intentions, what He thinks and why He did, does or will do things. I have concluded, the loudest voices speaking on behalf of God, actually hold Him in contempt and have decided they need to take action to speak and or do something on His behalf because He has somehow failed to understand what was necessary in their particular circumstance—Judas will always be the best example of this dynamic.
Man needs to stop pretending to be God; stop avenging for God; stop translating or interpreting or prophesizing for God—acting like God is not powerful or smart enough to do what He wants done. Let God speak for Himself—oh wait—He did. At many times and in various places, God spoke, but in these last days He spoke to the world through His Son! We all need to read, understand and incorporate into our daily experience what Ezekiel and Paul wrote; things have not changed much—human nature still governs the majority of this world (Ezekiel 34, Heb12), but it does not nor can it ever remove the truth of God from those who truly love Him with their whole heart, mind and body!
There are two principles to never forget, which when applied help make sense of living today.
1. Evil--unfair trials, senseless affliction and every sort of tragedy have one basic purpose--to destroy God’s creation. They all emanate from a single source: Satan, the leader of those angels who left their position of authority in the celestial realm, to become the enemy of God (Rev 12).
Mankind wanted the knowledge of “good and evil” and we got it. We each prove ourselves worthy of the consequences of this monumental error each time we do not trust or believe the word of God to be correct. Satan does what he can to destroy what little faith we have and has been given time and space for now to inflict whatever he can on us to turn us farther away from trusting God—but his days are numbered, having already been defeated by the Son of God.
We are not alone in this, if we are in Christ and we do not give up and leave the relationship looking for something better, closer, more tangible. In Christ we are all children of God through faith, having put on Christ through faith in God, we all belong to Christ and are heirs with Him, adopted by God, into the fullness of the relationship God has with His Son, our Savior (Gal 3:21-4:7). And just as God took the insults, cruelty and unfairness visited on His Son and turned it into something beyond glorious, so too He will take whatever Satan visits on us and turn it into something we can be proud of. Jesus prayed to the Father (Jn 17:20-26) asking for us to be one with Him just as He was one with the Father—if you do not see it now or understand the full significance of His prayer, one day you will, if you do not give up believing/trusting God told us the truth.
2. Prophets and angels never lie about what God said; they do not modify it in anyway and they always complete the mission they were given.
Prophets. God has us given some tests to determine the difference between false and true prophet.
Many claim to speak for God, to explain and/or interpret scriptures and doctrines of the faith, so those with lesser intellect can understand. The history of Christianity documents the danger of trusting every man of god for an accurate representation of God’s message. This danger began before the Twelve Apostle were even thrown out of Jerusalem. John, who leaned upon Jesus during the last supper was excommunicated by a church led by those who were convinced they knew more about God than the disciple Jesus loved. How to protect yourself from such insanity requires exceptional vigilance. This logic should be applied whenever there is doubt the messenger represents God.
1. God said: a true prophet is never wrong—what he says always happens.
2. If there is a difference between what a man says and what Jesus said, the man is always wrong.
There is also a pre-condition necessary for these two principles to be effective. Life has been, can be and will always be unfair and confusing, until God removes all His enemies and establishes His “new order” promised from the very beginning (cf. Gen 3:15 to Rev 21:5). Until then one must trust God and believe as all the great examples of “faith” did; that God exists and He rewards those who earnestly seek Him (Heb 11:6), therefore if you do not understand what is happening around you and to you, ask God to give you wisdom (Jas 1:5) and know for sure, what His Son said is an absolute fact—listen closely and do not doubt:
“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. "Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Lk 11:1-13)
And when you get really tired, and if you are a threat to Satan you will get tired, because he will attack you ferociously; never forget this! The angels of heaven where created and are maintained for a reason: as ministering spirits to serve those who will inherit salvation (Heb 1:14). Every child has an angel in heaven assigned to them, who is always face to face with God (Mat 18:10). Jesus told us this as a warning regarding how we treat a “child of God.” As every parent knows, your child may grow-up, but you will always love that little child; age has nothing to do with it. If we could only know, understand and see what God does for us each day, it would be no less amazing than what Elisha’s servant experienced once his eyes and mind were opened and he could see the invisible power of God enveloping them (2 Kings 6:8-23). They were protected by God and when surrounded by the enemy’s small and ineffective army, “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Jesus knew this same reality when arrested by the Soldiers and religious leaders. Peter drew a sword and struck the servant of the high priest and Jesus rebuked Him saying “Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and He will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?” God can protect His own, when they are threatened by His enemy’s army, and if He does not, there is a very good reason not to.
The Reality in Christ is God loves me and has empowered me to leave my life of sin; His forgiveness will not go unnoticed in my life: not by me or those who see me.
Prayer:
Father, your servant David taught me to pray, “search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.” Help me understand this in my life; help me know myself and become the person you know I can be. You have given your Son the power to fill us with life, and to have that life flow from us to show the world what your love really looks like. Help me understand what this means in every day of my life and in every event, I experience. Give me strength to endure and courage to act in accordance with this reality. When surrounded by threats and fear begins to creep into my mind, enlighten my spirit with your Holy Spirit. Walk with me and never let me forget you love me just like you love your only begotten Son. Thank you, Father, for this life and the chance to prove I love you. Help me to never forget everything I’m going through is not new, it has happened to others, even your Son learned from His life something that perfected Him. Give me the wisdom to understand this and rejoice, looking forward to when you reveal everything and make it possible for me to understand even as I am understood by you. Amen
8 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" 6 They were using this question as a trap, to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 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." 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9 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. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"
11 "No one, sir," she said.
"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."
Observations for living today:
The leadership was not looking to get an answer to their question, they were trying to get Jesus to say something they could use as a justification to kill him. They knew He was magnanimous toward women; the Pharisee who invited Him to his house for dinner (Simon of Lk 7:36-50) saw this first hand, may have been part of this crowd. There was Mary Magdalene possessed by 7 demonic spirits (Lk 8:2), the woman with the bleeding issue for 12 years (Mk 5:25) and the Samaritan woman at the well who had 5 husbands and was living with a man not her husband (Jn 4:17). Jesus led a very public life and most likely everyone knew of the kindnesses shown these women. Jesus was prone to forgiveness and they jumped on the opportunity to use the official interpretation of the Law of Moses to trap Him.
Now there is no proof of what I think happened, but logic tells me John painted the picture the way he did with a purpose; his words were not random, rather, they were selected carefully, without a doubt inspired by the Holy Spirit. Before Jesus said anything, He began to write something on the ground with His finger, in front of those educated and pious men. He did not say anything as they continued their assault, until He stood up and made perhaps one of the most misquoted verses of scripture (people use the phrase now to diminish the legitimacy of anyone disapproving of their actions). Then He went back to writing with His finger in the dirt. What was He writing? Oh, would I love to know—but I don’t, so I filled the vacuum with this thought: He wrote the names of the women these men had impure thoughts of or maybe even worse, actually had improper relationships with. Remember, Jesus warned in His sermon on the mountain, thinking of committing adultery is just as dangerous as doing it—the sinning starts with the thought, whether it be sex or murder (Mt 5:21, 27; Gen 4:6). The phrase Peter used, “having eyes full of adultery,” describes accurately a life style to avoid (2 Pe 2:14). Men think their thoughts are of no consequence, because they are not known by others. Not true, as God has made clear; sin may not be known to the one standing next to you, but it is known by God, and those men claiming to be righteous enough to pronounce God’s judgement were just as bad as the one they were condemning. This is probably why the older men left first, their list was a whole lot longer and they probably did not want to see their latest failures broadcast in front of them. So it is just as John wrote, man refuses to recognize the light God sent into the world because, their deeds were/are evil and coming into the light would/will expose their wickedness (Jn 3:19).
Jesus was not giving the woman a pass, because she was better or worse; He did not come to diminish the tragedy of sin, but show us a way out from under the curse of sin. His words were not as is so often attributed, to be a case for one not judging the action of another unless you are perfect; they were to be understood in the context of everyone needs to stop sinning, change course and leave the “life of sin” behind. Consider what Jesus said to the man He healed at the Sheep Gate pool, who had been an invalid for 38 years: “Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” What kind of sin could a man commit who was unable to walk? Yet Jesus also made it clear to that man, sin has consequences, which if he did not stop, would result in something far worse than being crippled for 38 years. What He wrote in the dirt that day probably made it just as clear to those condemning the woman, they needed to stop sinning, turn and do something else, or something worse will happen to them (Jn 5:15). They did not and something worse did happen to them: they killed their Messiah and will be held accountable for it!
Reality in Christ:
From the days of Socrates to the present it has been believed illness and tragedies were a direct result of sin, i.e., the act of disobeying or offending a deity. In the Judeo/Christian heritage some thought this meant God punished sin by visiting or striking offenders with a punitive tragedy or illness. Even in the news today we read of people/organizations of Christians holding onto this distortion of God’s character. I say distortion of character, because clearly God’s power allows Him to do such things, but such things would be contrary to His divine nature (Ro 1:20). I once listened to a Christian minister attribute the death of a five-month old baby as God inflicting suffering so people would repent. The Reality in Christ reveals God has the power to strike (2 Peter 2:4-10) and in some very specific moments in the history of this world He may in fact have done so. Some clear examples in Scripture are the Flood (Gen 6:1-8) and the tower of Babel (Gen 11:1-8). Both events reflect the power of God and are not inconsistent with His character. The flood saved eight souls and the animal kingdom from the decadent hordes bent on satisfaction of their senses; while the confusion of both language and thought saved humanity from a rapid destruction with mankind focused on fulfilling their evil desires using out-of-control technology. It does not take the imagination of Tom Clancy to understand what the history of man would have been if God had not slowed man’s ability to “improve quality of life” and call it “progress.” One only has to imagine the genocidal cruelty of the Roman Empire and Genghis Khan having access to today’s technology to understand how bad it could have been—a terrorist with tactical nuclear weapons would be a Sunday afternoon at the park in comparison.
In more than one instance Jesus made clear the unfair reality of life is not a reflection of one’s unrighteousness or that God was punishing an individual for an exceptional grievous offence (Jn 9:1; Lk 13:5). There are consequences associated with bad decisions and people who make them are inclined to always blame someone else for the result—blame shifters who think they are innocent victims of an unjust system. God loves us and He does not take our suffering lightly, and He certainly does not cause it—His enemy does, we just make it easy for Satan to strike. Sometimes I think there would be more righteousness, i.e., better religion, if there were fewer priest and preachers—misrepresenting God.
It is not unusual for a hired hand to usurp the authority of his boss, we see nurses do it to doctors, receptionist do it to CEOs, and Christians, Muslims and Jews do it to God. My fourth-grade teacher used to write quotations on the blackboard, have us think about it for a week and then gave us a chance to tell the class what we thought the author was trying to say. The only one I remember was, “Familiarity breeds contempt.” No one in the class had a clue; I do not remember what she said, but I have never stopped thinking about it. Especially as it concerns men/women who think they are familiar with God, i.e., know His mind, His intentions, what He thinks and why He did, does or will do things. I have concluded, the loudest voices speaking on behalf of God, actually hold Him in contempt and have decided they need to take action to speak and or do something on His behalf because He has somehow failed to understand what was necessary in their particular circumstance—Judas will always be the best example of this dynamic.
Man needs to stop pretending to be God; stop avenging for God; stop translating or interpreting or prophesizing for God—acting like God is not powerful or smart enough to do what He wants done. Let God speak for Himself—oh wait—He did. At many times and in various places, God spoke, but in these last days He spoke to the world through His Son! We all need to read, understand and incorporate into our daily experience what Ezekiel and Paul wrote; things have not changed much—human nature still governs the majority of this world (Ezekiel 34, Heb12), but it does not nor can it ever remove the truth of God from those who truly love Him with their whole heart, mind and body!
There are two principles to never forget, which when applied help make sense of living today.
1. Evil--unfair trials, senseless affliction and every sort of tragedy have one basic purpose--to destroy God’s creation. They all emanate from a single source: Satan, the leader of those angels who left their position of authority in the celestial realm, to become the enemy of God (Rev 12).
Mankind wanted the knowledge of “good and evil” and we got it. We each prove ourselves worthy of the consequences of this monumental error each time we do not trust or believe the word of God to be correct. Satan does what he can to destroy what little faith we have and has been given time and space for now to inflict whatever he can on us to turn us farther away from trusting God—but his days are numbered, having already been defeated by the Son of God.
We are not alone in this, if we are in Christ and we do not give up and leave the relationship looking for something better, closer, more tangible. In Christ we are all children of God through faith, having put on Christ through faith in God, we all belong to Christ and are heirs with Him, adopted by God, into the fullness of the relationship God has with His Son, our Savior (Gal 3:21-4:7). And just as God took the insults, cruelty and unfairness visited on His Son and turned it into something beyond glorious, so too He will take whatever Satan visits on us and turn it into something we can be proud of. Jesus prayed to the Father (Jn 17:20-26) asking for us to be one with Him just as He was one with the Father—if you do not see it now or understand the full significance of His prayer, one day you will, if you do not give up believing/trusting God told us the truth.
2. Prophets and angels never lie about what God said; they do not modify it in anyway and they always complete the mission they were given.
Prophets. God has us given some tests to determine the difference between false and true prophet.
Many claim to speak for God, to explain and/or interpret scriptures and doctrines of the faith, so those with lesser intellect can understand. The history of Christianity documents the danger of trusting every man of god for an accurate representation of God’s message. This danger began before the Twelve Apostle were even thrown out of Jerusalem. John, who leaned upon Jesus during the last supper was excommunicated by a church led by those who were convinced they knew more about God than the disciple Jesus loved. How to protect yourself from such insanity requires exceptional vigilance. This logic should be applied whenever there is doubt the messenger represents God.
1. God said: a true prophet is never wrong—what he says always happens.
2. If there is a difference between what a man says and what Jesus said, the man is always wrong.
There is also a pre-condition necessary for these two principles to be effective. Life has been, can be and will always be unfair and confusing, until God removes all His enemies and establishes His “new order” promised from the very beginning (cf. Gen 3:15 to Rev 21:5). Until then one must trust God and believe as all the great examples of “faith” did; that God exists and He rewards those who earnestly seek Him (Heb 11:6), therefore if you do not understand what is happening around you and to you, ask God to give you wisdom (Jas 1:5) and know for sure, what His Son said is an absolute fact—listen closely and do not doubt:
“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. "Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Lk 11:1-13)
And when you get really tired, and if you are a threat to Satan you will get tired, because he will attack you ferociously; never forget this! The angels of heaven where created and are maintained for a reason: as ministering spirits to serve those who will inherit salvation (Heb 1:14). Every child has an angel in heaven assigned to them, who is always face to face with God (Mat 18:10). Jesus told us this as a warning regarding how we treat a “child of God.” As every parent knows, your child may grow-up, but you will always love that little child; age has nothing to do with it. If we could only know, understand and see what God does for us each day, it would be no less amazing than what Elisha’s servant experienced once his eyes and mind were opened and he could see the invisible power of God enveloping them (2 Kings 6:8-23). They were protected by God and when surrounded by the enemy’s small and ineffective army, “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Jesus knew this same reality when arrested by the Soldiers and religious leaders. Peter drew a sword and struck the servant of the high priest and Jesus rebuked Him saying “Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and He will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?” God can protect His own, when they are threatened by His enemy’s army, and if He does not, there is a very good reason not to.
The Reality in Christ is God loves me and has empowered me to leave my life of sin; His forgiveness will not go unnoticed in my life: not by me or those who see me.
Prayer:
Father, your servant David taught me to pray, “search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.” Help me understand this in my life; help me know myself and become the person you know I can be. You have given your Son the power to fill us with life, and to have that life flow from us to show the world what your love really looks like. Help me understand what this means in every day of my life and in every event, I experience. Give me strength to endure and courage to act in accordance with this reality. When surrounded by threats and fear begins to creep into my mind, enlighten my spirit with your Holy Spirit. Walk with me and never let me forget you love me just like you love your only begotten Son. Thank you, Father, for this life and the chance to prove I love you. Help me to never forget everything I’m going through is not new, it has happened to others, even your Son learned from His life something that perfected Him. Give me the wisdom to understand this and rejoice, looking forward to when you reveal everything and make it possible for me to understand even as I am understood by you. Amen
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