2. And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.
( Early in the morning, hum bet he loves it when we rise early and the first thing we want to do is give him credit and honor, glory and praise, when we read and devour his word, look forward with anticipation to our time of prayer and devotion, when we want and desire his teaching daily)
3. And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, ( wonder where was the other partner, the male? it takes two to tangle; this sin involved more than one person & according to Jewish law both parties had to be tried and punished together, sometimes we need to watch the motives behind the accusations and judgment of others? the bible saids to speak the truth in love )
4. They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. 5. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?
( hum.. interesting, you see they wanted to find a valid excuse or reason to judge and condemn her from the word of God itself, then they asked him what he had to say or recommend about her sin, the question is would they do what he would prefer and recommend or what the word of God would seemingly allow or excuse them to do, albeit a twisting of Gods word possibly because of a judgmental attitude & hard heart or just plain lack of bible knowledge, you see we can sometimes find a seemingly valid biblical reason to judge and condemn another yet avoid, evade or reject what Christ would really want us to do! the question for us is do we and will we ask Jesus what he wants us to do?
DO I DO WHAT PLEASES ME OR PLEASES HIM when I am are faced with this same trial, same temptation, same circumstance?
sometimes could I be to busy looking for the loopholes of judgment rather than justice, that I can‘t see the escape hatch of love and compassion ) Gods justice saids your forgiven “go & sin no more.” notice the go and sin no more part, well that means to stop living in adultery so if your in an adulterous relationship like suppose a marriage of adultery, or dare we say just because we ask for forgiveness from God, that God now forgives us and we can continue to live in adultery or sin! some people think that way that’s not real repentance real repentance means real change, real desire to quit it, thus you not only have to ask forgiveness but get out of the adulterous relationship altogether ( go & sin no more) which too many a Church and Christian people want to accept and excuse )
6. This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. ( ever wondered what he may have wrote?)
7. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
( According to Mosaic law the first person required to cast the first stone was her own husband, and he had to be blameless himself, and had to be present during the trial, I wonder where was he? sounds like this was a set up? he who is without sin cast the first stone do you suppose that Jesus was trying to say don’t be so quick to judge and condemn because but for the grace of God that could be me or you! & it was me wasn’t it? this doesn’t mean that, that person will get away with it God will bring judgment in his time, his way) and that he did.. oh how it hurts!
8. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.
( wonder what he wrote this second time he wrote on the ground could it be that the first time he wrote he wrote of his divine acts of love and kindness, forgiveness and mercy, he wrote of his great care for them, maybe it was a simple ‘ HEY I STILL LOVE YOU! ‘ or maybe it was something as simple as his name JESUS! (for his name saids it all) then the second time when his love would not reach them nor change their hardened hearts he then wrote (exposed) their very sins, their coming judgment the rest is his-story of mercy and salvation, restoration and redemption, for me how often I forget that I was forgiven much and to whom much is forgiven much is required.
9. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing alone in the midst.
( Hum.. that’s just it some of us have gotten to the point where our conscience cannot be moved by the love of God nor the word of God! sometimes I wonder was I headed in that direction, was my conscience becoming so seared that I could not be sorry for my sin, my foolishness, the hurt I caused others? was I left standing alone or did I leave others standing alone? was I a stone thrower, an accuser of the brethren? a legalist? worse yet a Pharisee? self righteous? Holier than thou? ah the real question is will I be a Jesus to sinners & to my fellow brothers and sisters? or a stone caster? )
10. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?
11. She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. ( oh how I should have learned this lesson earlier “ by what measure we judge we shall be judged “ would to God that I would not only hear the words neither do I condemn thee! but also that I would learn to go and sin no more! )
12. Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. 15. Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man.
( Yeah its not always easy not to give in to the way of our flesh, our will, our anger, but to judge by Gods word, Gods will, and Gods love! for “ if we sow to the flesh we will reap of the flesh”
What this world needs is the pure and divine demonstration of Gods love to those among us who are what we consider the filth, the unwanted, unloved, unworthy, the rejected of society, you know the ones we like to call sinners, we could all learn something here from the love of God, including myself, God forgive me..)
29. And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him. Its not always easy to do what is pleasing or right, but the rewards are well worth it. Notice the connection of never being left alone with the statement that follows it; because I do the things that please him. You see its a terrible feeling to feel left all alone! )
30. As he spake these words, many believed on him.
31. Then said Jesus to those which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
( ever wonder why or how some of us which say we believe and are Christians yet fail to live by his word or admonitions, when the bible speaks clearly that if we fail to obey his word then we are none of his, we only fool ourselves and maybe a few others but not God; my my I did that for to long, thanks be to God for his mercy and judgment for judgment can be good for us! better now than later.. think about it.... )
32. And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
33. They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
(It’s a terrible thing to be in bondage but yet what is even sadder is to not be aware that your in bondage but such is the way of sin)
34. Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. 35. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. 36. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
( and the truth shall set you free! you see the lies only bring bondage and confusion, destruction and despair but truth brings freedom, liberty, and life, free from the pull of this world, from the penalty and pain of its bondage, free from the ravages of sickness and sin, you see the Truth is the Son lives! the Son is victorious! glorious! Truth is the Son is not confined to our finite conception of him, he’s not locked into the has been pages of history, but he is free & able to step into the troubled waters of your life. He can deliver you from your circumstances, your defeat, your failures etc ..)
REFLECTIONS: It is often we find an opportunity to bring accusations, but when the time arises and someone’s sin is brought to my attention I hope I will be able to smell & see the set up, rather than see the sin see the Son and remember “ love covereth a multitude of sins “ but a talebearer revealeth secrets” I pray that I will not be a stone caster but a stone catcher! that I will not be so much interested in someone’s sin as much as someone’s redemption, that my concern is not to expose ones sin but to cover it in love, to expose one to mercy, no not to excuse them but to point them to the one who can bring forgiveness and transformation, ever wonder what he may be writing on the dirt tablets of your heart? mine? theirs? hum, sometimes we tend to concentrate on the stone casters, the accusers and the self righteous but how about those caught in the act those who have been judged and found guilty and given no mercy? ah even to us there is a lesson here, you see now is our time to cast our stones in judgment at those who clearly are guilty at least in our eyes; but now will you cast or catch? give mercy or give judgment? ah it was easy for us to take mercy for ourselves and our sins when we needed it; how dare I forget that I was once a sinner saved by mercy but now is the true test of our character how about it? “ Forgive as you have been forgiven “ by what measure you give it will be given unto you! makes it hard for me to judge now huh? you see its not about my view of justice or sin, its about his view of love and mercy, truth and freedom, justice and grace! how about some definitions: Justice is when you get what you deserve, mercy is when you don’t get what you deserve, and grace is when you get what you don’t deserve! WE SHOULD STUDY AND KNOW THE DIFFERENCE. it will change our outlook for the better.
A PRAYER : Father maybe I may not stand in the court of judgment today? but maybe for me it will be some other day? maybe I have already brought judgment upon myself and have been judged and found guilty?
If so I plead thy tender mercies! Thy justice which always brings forgiveness and restoration! but actually I confess Father that perhaps the reason that I am not being judged today is because in reality it is I who am holding the stones in judgment against another?
daddy help me and remind me that many were the times when I needed mercy, so when I pick up the stones to cast at others don’t let me forget that you are love, you are mercy personified, you are kindness, warmth and gentleness, and in you is no hatred and variance, never stop reminding me dad that these huge stones of judgementalism and condemnation.
these stones of self righteousness and pride, they started out as but little pebbles of unconcern and hardness in my heart toward others, just tiny grains of a wrong attitude and an angry spirit, just a small token of an I don’t care attitude that got out of control, and now it is I who holds the stones in judgment ready to be cast at others.
God forgive me for the self righteous attitude! for misapplying holiness, wash me in your sweet presence, consume me with your Spirit, When I find fault in others show me the mirror that I may see my own reflection of sin and repent!
remind of what it feels like to be left alone, to leave others alone, oh my Lord how soon I forget that it was once I who was caught in the act!
and I thank my God that there were no accusers left when I arose before you, and I heard those precious words from your lips & heart “ neither do I condemn thee go and sin no more “ ah yet I continued on in my sin and yes as usual you also continued to be merciful! forever I will be thankful unto you daddy! Blessed be your name, because now I choose to turn from my sin, and drop these heavy stones of judgment and in place of them pick up the lighter sandy grains of love, kindness, mercy, and compassion, the tiny pebbles of care and concern toward others, and oh father when you stoop down to write in the dirt; why not just stoop down and write onto the dirty tablets of dirt and stone in my heart instead, write your name in my heart, write your love upon my heart, write whatever you want in my heart but just write something because your words are life and substance, freedom and healing.. Jesus please never let me run from my conscience if I run anywhere let it be straight into your arms, into your care, into your house, into your presence for therein I find all I need..
Prepared by : George R. Nava 2170 E. Market St. Stockton, Ca phone -46-59731
My web page: http://gospelstuffs.homestead.com/index.html