Who do we think we are?

13 Jan 2011

Who do we think we are?

John 8:3 “The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, 4 they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. 5 “Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women ; what then do You say ?” 6 They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. 7 But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court. 10 Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.”]”

This woman had been caught breaking the very law that Jesus had come to finish, to complete, to make perfect. Surely, He would not/could not let her go. He was bound by the Law of Moses to condemn this woman. The religious elite(The scribes and Pharisees) reminded Him of this. They told Him that she must be put to death because she violated the Law of Moses. It seemed like the lady, and Jesus, were caught in the proverbial rock and hard place.

If Jesus had come to fulfill the Law how could He now reverse what the Law said; in Leviticus 20:10 the Law says, “If there is a man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, one who commits adultery with his friend’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.” Surely there was nothing Jesus could do but condemn this woman to death. Then, in typical Jesus fashion He turned the tables on the woman’s accuser’s He said in my words, “Which one of you has not broken the Law at some point in your life. You are just as worthy of death as this woman.” Jesus did not try to defend this woman, He did not try and convince the Pharisees that they were mistaken. Or pull a Johnny Cochran, “If the glove doesn’t fit you must acquit”

What Jesus did do was to make the Pharisees look at their own lives and realize that according to the Law of Moses we are all deserving of death because all of us have broken the Law. James 2:10 reminds us, “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.” I don’t know about you, but for me those are some hard words to swallow. It’s like this, James was saying “If you’ve ever gotten a speeding ticket then you belong on death row because breaking the Law is the same no matter. If you break one Law you’ve broken all the Laws, and therefore you deserve the punishment.

The Pharisees brought the woman to Jesus to try and trick Him, and pit Him in a position where He had no choice but to order this woman’s execution, but Jesus could see the darkness of their hearts; and He used the truth of God to expose that darkness. He did not free the woman of her guilt; He just made the Pharisees recognize that they were as guilty as this woman.

We should always keep that in mind when we look down on others because of what they have done. We have a tendency to watch the news(I’m guilty of this) and see someone that just committed murder, and say that person should get the chair. Then we go to the store to buy some milk and when we get back in our car we realize the cashier gave us a $10 instead of a $5 for our change, and we say this must be my lucky day as we drive off. All the while Jesus is saying to us that stealing is the same as murder. Jesus is saying to you, and me, do not say what anyone else deserves because when you condemn them you are saying that you are the perfect one. In condemning others we are essentially placing ourselves in the position of God. I, for one, do not want place myself in that position because that’s what Satan tried, and I do not want to do anything like Satan; secondly, when we take on the position of God we must look at our own sins and judge them according to His perfection.

______________________________________

Father, I thankYou for being the righteous One who does not judge us according to our deeds, but according to Your love and compassion; the next time I quickly jump to judgement about someone else I ask that You remind me of my own sins that You have cleaned with the blood of Jesus. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen