John 8: 7b “…All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone”.

As a child I enjoyed throwing stones despite hearing in my head my mother’s warning about stones and eyes. One day in my enthusiasm to fit in with some other kids who were throwing stones, I took up a large stone and threw it. Unfortunately it landed in my friend’s face just below the eye. Thankfully it missed the eye but to this day my friend bears the physical mark of my attempt to fit in.

Here in this passage what caught my attention was the accusers who too like me enjoyed throwing stones at others. These accusers came to Jesus with a woman caught in adultery putting her in front of the crowd at the Temple. In front of the crowd, not in the middle, not behind. Why did they do this openly and not secretly, in front of everyone? Was it because they wanted to appear righteous in the eyes of the crowd, as a contrast to the woman who was only covered by shame and embarrassment? Put yourself in the shoes of the woman for a moment. Imagine the worse sin that you committed in private with someone else being broadcasted to the entire community at church! (As a small town girl, I can just imagine). But on top of that, imagine being dragged out of the house alone by these accusers knowing that this was your last day on earth- you were heading for your death. Oh the fear, shame, memories and guilt that would have been tormenting her mind.

Interestingly, on the way to being stoned, the woman gets a temporary reprieve although it doesn’t seem so. We are told that the accusers had a hidden agenda for displaying this woman’s inadequacies and stoning her. Their focus was not really this woman but on trying to trap Jesus into saying something that they could use against him. So these accusers were only using the woman as a pawn to get to Jesus. Is there a lesson here? Sometimes people will use your shortcomings to try to discredit the Kingdom of God. BUT GOD!

Look at Jesus’ initial posture. Jesus chooses to stoop down to write in the dust with his finger. Was Jesus demonstrating that the temporary nature of man? Was he saying her sins are written off? Maybe Jesus had a lot to say to them but chose to write it instead. We don’t know. What we do know is that writing in dust was a temporary measure and that when he spoke directly to his accusers he challenged them to the core about their own sinful condition. In other words, Jesus pointed that there is no one that is sinless. Jesus here points out to the accusers that all of us have sinned and come short of God’s standard. When faced with that standard, notice that the accusers catching a glimpse of their own selves slipped away one by one, beginning from the oldest until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd. Jesus left in the middle meant that only Jesus the sinless Lamb of God could throw the first stone. Can you see that woman trembling, feeling alone in that crowd wondering if Jesus would throw that first one? Thankfully, for this young woman, Jesus was not a stone thrower but a restorer of broken lives and souls. Jesus, unlike the accusers addresses the real problem. He tells her that she is free from condemnation, should go and start a new sinless life choosing the new path of righteousness.

We too are both like the accusers and this woman. We are filled with sin and want to fit in and appear righteous. We however, are helpless to fix our own sin problem. We have to be released from condemnation, sin, shame and guilt by the Lord Jesus Christ. Only he can rewrite the stories of our lives and recreate us so that we are restored and transformed so we are able to take the path of righteousness for his name sake. Let’s hear the words of Jesus “Neither do I [condemn you]. Go and sin no more” (John 8:11)

Father, all have sinned and come short of your glory and we are no exception. Forgive us and release us from condemnation, shame and guilt and lead us into your paths of righteousness for your name sake. In Jesus’ name . Amen