Looking Inward - Part II

Thud! Thud! Thud!  The sound of stones dropping on the ground as the self-righteous accusers, convicted by their own consciences, went out one by one from the presence of Jesus and the accused woman.  That they were convicted is not to be overlooked. After all, they were right in their black-and-white thinking that the adulteress should be dealt with according to the Mosaic law.  There was no middle ground in the law. She was either innocent or guilty and in this instance she was allegedly caught in the act (John 8:3).  However, what the religious crowd failed to realize was that Jesus was not about religion; His passion was people. His mission was not to bring condemnation to those who broke the laws and the commandments (John 3:16-17), but rather to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10).

As the religious crowd demanded an answer from Jesus, what they overlooked was their own sinful state.  It is easy to become blind to our own faults and failures when we are busy looking for and pointing out the faults and failures in others.  Truth be told, being able to point out the sins of others makes some of us feel good about ourselves. At least we are not as bad as they are; we feel we are better than they are.  However, we fail to remember what Paul stated to be true - that "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). All sins - so called big and little ones - belonged in the same bucket.  And just in case we had not given it much thought, that "all have sinned" include you and me. It included the religious folks as much as it included the accused woman.

It is no wonder then that when Jesus affirmed their right under the law to stone her, that He included one condition.  Let the person, religious leaders included, who was free of sin, faults, and failures throw the first stone.  In that instant, their own lives flashed before their eyes. Maybe it played out like a movie in slow motion.  Whichever way, something happened.  As Matthew Henry observes, "They came with design to accuse Him, but they were forced to accuse themselves. Christ owns it was fit the prisoner should be prosecuted, but appeals to their consciences whether they were fit to be the prosecutors." Having been forced to look inward, none among them met the condition.  They were convicted by their own consciences. 

Henry follows up with two very important lessons we should learn and keep in mind: "1) Whenever we find fault with others, we ought to reflect upon ourselves, and to be more severe against sin in ourselves than in others. 2) We ought to be favourable, though not to the sins, yet to the persons, of those that offend, and to restore them with a spirit of meekness, considering ourselves and our own corrupt nature." 

How do you deal with people? Are you overlooking or excusing your own faults and failures while being quick to point out and condemn the faults and failures of others?

Looking Inward - Part I

Some of us know her story.  Caught in the act of adultery, she was brought before Jesus by "the teachers of religious law [the Scribes] and the Pharisees" (John 8:3, NLT) who, intent on trapping Him "into saying something they could use against Him" (v. 6),  asked for His opinion as to what they should do with her.  With self-righteousness oozing from their personalities, they posed the question: "'Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.  Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?'” (vv. 4-5, KJV).  As Matthew Henry points out, "Here they call Him Master whom but the day before they had called a deceiver, in hopes with their flatteries to have ensnared Him."  Clearly, based on the teachings of Jesus up to that point, they expected Him to say something contrary to the law at which time they could make their case against Him.

They did not ask the question and waited patiently for an answer.  As Jesus ignored them, having stooped down to write in the dust with His finger, John tells us "they kept demanding an answer" (v. 7a, NLT) at which point Jesus "lifted up Himself, and said unto them, 'He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.  And again He stooped down, and wrote on the ground'" (vv. 7b-8, KJV).  The reaction of the religious folks must have been a sight to behold.  According to narrative, "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 in the midst" (v. 9).

With His singular statement, Jesus shifted the focus of these men from the woman to themselves.  So full of their own self-righteousness, they had no problem pointing out her sin and stood ready to impose the legal sentence. Matthew Henry observes, "The Pharisees, by their vigorous prosecution of this offender, seemed to have a great zeal against the sin, when it appeared afterwards that they themselves were not free from it; nay, they were within full of all uncleanness, Matt. 23:27, 28. Note, It is common for those that are indulgent to their own sin to be severe against the sins of others."

Read that last sentence again. Slowly.  For some of us, pointing out the sins of others is something we are good at while being totally blind to our own.  We see the faults and failure of others, yet stand haughtily silent in acknowledging our own.  However, as an anonymous writer reminds us, "there is so much good in the worst of us / and so much bad in the best of us / that it hardly behooves any of us / to find fault with the rest of us."  Before we make an issue of the speck in the eye of another, how about we first try removing the plank in ours? (see Matthew 7:1-5).  It is no wonder as Jesus spoke to them that day, the religious but hypocritical zealots were "convicted by their own conscience."

Jesus' statement resonates through the ages to us today: "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." If you were standing in the crowd that day, what would you have done with your stone? 

Conformed to the Image of Christ

I can still hear it in my head, one of the choruses from my childhood: "To be like Jesus, to be like Jesus / All I ask is to be like Him / All through life's journey / From earth to glory / All I ask, is to be like Him." These words came to mind as I reflected on the words of Paul as recorded in perhaps one of the most well-known couple of verses in the Bible, Romans 8:28-29: "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren" (KJV).

Of course, many are the souls that have taken and continue to take encouragement in verse 28; that incredible assurance that allows us to navigate the challenges, disappointments, and tragedies we experience in our lives. In the midst of our confusion and pain, our hearts experience a lift when we remember that Christ came "to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He might be glorified" (Isaiah 61:2b-3). Armed with such promises, some are able to stand tall in the face of adversities. We pick up the pieces, lean on God's grace, and we keep going.

However, if that is all we do we miss out on something that is even more significant in both portions of Scripture. From Paul we learn that God's purpose in using "all things" for good in the lives of those who love Him and who are the called according to His purpose is so that we - our lives, our thoughts, our minds, our attitudes, our ways of being - be conformed to the image of Christ. In other words, so that everything about who we are reflect Christ. From Isaiah we learn that everything Christ does in our lives is not for us to claim spiritual brownie points or to show how spiritual we are, but that we "might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He might be glorified." Taken together systematically, God is at work in our lives, using all things to shape/mould us to the image of Christ and for His glory.

At the heart of the Christian experience is transformation (Romans 12:2). Fruits of the flesh give way to fruits of the spirit in what is effectively a life-long process. Each day, as we surrender to Him, the Holy Spirit is at work in our lives moulding, shaping, recreating and comforting. The more we resist, the more we are broken and refashioned as God works to accomplish His purposes in and for our lives. James remind us "under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way" (James 1:3-4, The Message).  Why? Just so you and I can become just like Jesus.