Putting Down The Stones

 

“There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in.”—Leonard Cohen

One of my favorite stories from the Gospels is the story of how Jesus dissuaded a crowd of overly religious men from executing a woman who was accused of adultery.  

John's Gospel tells it like this: 

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, in order 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, “Let any one of you who is without sin 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.”

They brought a woman to Jesus accused of adultery.  

But they didn't really see a woman. 

They saw a sinner.

A problem.

A theological test.

An opportunity to prove a point.  

The religious leaders placed her before Jesus and announced what she had done. According to the law, they argued, she deserved punishment.  

If he defended her, they would accuse him of violating Moses' law.  If he agreed with them, he might lose the popular support he had amassed.  

And all of this begs the question, "Where was the man who was involved?" The unfairness of the law was surely evident by his absence.  

Then they asked Jesus what he thought.

Jesus bent down and wrote on the ground.  

The Gospel account doesn't reveal what he wrote.  

Could he have been writing the names of those gathered, and the sins they had committed?  Or was he writing down the very law they claimed governed their actions? 

Eventually he stood and said words that have echoed through the centuries:

“Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”

One by one, the stones stayed on the ground.

It's easy to condemn someone when we have reduced them to the worst thing they have ever done. And in doing so, we often ignore our own mistakes, failures, and sins against others.  

Jesus refuses to reduce this woman.

He doesn't pretend the woman's choices don't matter. In fact, he acknowledges them, and tells her to leave her life of sin behind.

But before Jesus addresses what she has done, he reminds everyone gathered there of who they are, and all of the ways they have fallen short.  

He reminds them that like her, they are imperfect, complicated, and in need of mercy.

Just like her.

Jesus makes a similar point in Matthew 7 when he asks why we notice the speck in another person's eye while ignoring the log in our own.

This isn't an invitation to abandon discernment. Jesus certainly confronted injustice, hypocrisy, and harmful behavior.

It is an invitation to confront those things without forgetting grace.

Our culture gives us plenty of stones.

Labels.

Insults.

Public humiliation.

Social media posts.

The satisfaction of proving that someone else is terrible and we are right.

But followers of Jesus should be suspicious whenever condemnation begins to feel good.

Because the closer we move toward Christ, the more clearly we recognize our own dependence upon mercy.

What would Jesus do?

He would tell the truth.

He would call people toward transformation.

But he would also protect dignity, extend mercy, and refuse to reduce a human being to their worst moment.

Perhaps following Jesus today begins with something surprisingly simple:

Put down the stones we've picked up to cast at others, and extend the grace that we have been so freely given. 

Because, as the Apostle Paul so succintly sums up, we are all broken and fall short of the glory of God.  We all need grace, forgiveness, and the chance to do better once we know better. 

May it be so, and may the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us all, now and forever. Amen.  

Prayer

Merciful Jesus, help me see others with the same grace you have shown me. Free me from self-righteousness and quick judgment. Give me courage to speak truth without abandoning compassion, and remind me that every person I encounter is someone you love. Amen.

Reflection Questions

1. Who am I most tempted to define by their worst action, belief, or mistake?
2. When has remembering my own need for grace changed how I viewed someone else?
3. What “stone” of judgment, resentment, or condemnation might Jesus be asking me to put down?