Daily Lesson for February 11, 2014

Today's Lesson is from John 8:

4 [T]hey said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5 Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” 6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”

She is a pawn in their scheme against Jesus and what he represents - for a man who claims that God does not condemn is a threat to system built on he fear of condemnation. So they hatch the plan; they catch an easy target and bring her before Jesus to test him (Exhibit A demonstrating this is only a test is the fact that there is no man here to be judged; Jesus is the man they intend to judge). They assume that Jesus will tell them to let her go and thus incriminate himself by calling for disobedience to the Law.

Instead, Jesus does something surprising. He bends down and begins to write with his finger in the dirt. The men, who cannot see what Jesus is writing because of the angle of his body, continue to demand his answer. "What should be done with this woman? Should she be stoned as Moses called for?"

Finally Jesus stands up straight. "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone," he says. One by one the men turn and walk away.

What made the men give up their attack? There is an old tradition that says what he wrote down was what turned them back - that he wrote down their own sins.

Jesus did not incriminate himself by calling for disobedience to the Law. But he did say, "The measure you give shall be the measure you get." In other words, we must all be ready to face the same judgement we meet out on others. That means that before we go off casting stones at others for their more obvious shortcomings, we should ask ourselves if we would really wish Jesus to stand up straight and reveal our most secret sins also?

God didnt make rocks to fly through the air but to lie at rest flat on the ground. This story should ensure they stay on the ground.