ON THE CASTING

OF STONES

Jesus treated sinners in such a wonderful way! At times he allowed outlaws to go free without even the most elementary justice. And He seemed to delight in merely forgiving those who confessed their guilt to Him.

On one occasion Jesus faced a group of people, who had committed crimes so monstrous that had they been brought to justice they would have all been put to death. And yet He let them get away without even turning them over to those who enforced the law.

Even though Jesus was not—at this time—giving us a judicial code to follow, His example gives us a beautiful lesson on how to treat those who have gotten into trouble.¹

When Jesus appeared in the temple during the Feast of Tabernacles, He met with a mixed reception. Many were glad to see Him, but the Jewish leaders trembled in anger. They became irritated that the people followed Jesus instead of themselves, and now they wanted to kill Him and regain power over "their" church.

As usual Jesus began at once to teach the people and to heal those who were sick. He made no effort to hide, or to conceal His work, and the Jewish leaders sorted through the rubbish of their conniving minds for a way to entrap Him.

One day, while Jesus taught in the temple court, a group of rabbis interrupted Him. They brought with them a distraught young woman—stooped over with shame and grief and terror—and shoved her in front of Jesus. These haughty men didn't even wait for Jesus to reach a good stopping place in His lesson. They muscled into the crowd and demanded an immediate audience.

What a scene! The temple had been dedicated to the worship of the God of mercy and love. But these self-righteous leaders knew nothing at all of mercy and love.

They commanded their victim to stand before Jesus, and everyone saw that they considered the woman guilty already. Nothing in the appearance of the situation would give the woman any hope that she could find acquittal at this late date. She saw nothing in her future but the brutal pain of jagged rocks crashing against her body . . . and the oblivion of death before the sun could set in the western sky.

"Teacher," the group leader said to Jesus in mock respect. "This woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?"²

Everyone knew that the law demanded the death penalty for adultery,³ and they strained to hear Jesus' answer. Would He uphold the law, or would He give some new spiritual insight? The Jewish leaders waited with baited breath to hear His answer, for "They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing Him."

These evil men were sure they had Jesus now. If He disagreed with the law and said they should not stone the woman, they would incite the people to riot against Him for teaching contrary to the laws of Moses. But if Jesus upheld the laws and said she should be stoned, they would accuse Him as a revolutionary who was taking upon Himself powers that belonged only to Caesar's chosen governors. I can imagine their evil glee as they thought: "Come on Jesus, give us your answer. We've got you now."

But Jesus did not answer them. He remained silent, sizing up the people before Him. His silence lasted only a few moments, but it seemed to them like hours. Jesus observed the woman, bowed down with the grief of her impending doom. He scrutinized the hardened Jewish leaders who had drained their hearts of the last drops of mercy, and aligned themselves with Satan. And around them stood the curious multitudes who would side with whichever group won the argument.

Through the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, Jesus saw the events that had led up to this confrontation. He saw the plans these men had laid, how they had appointed one of their own men to seduce this woman into sin, promising him that no one would ever know of his involvement. They pledged themselves to remain silent, and promised that the woman would be dead before sunset—so that he would go free.

Jesus saw how the conspirators had followed their stooge on his murderous course. He found the woman they had earmarked as their prey, he seduced her, and then laughed when his buddies caught them in the act. Shamelessly he tagged along to see the grizzly sight. He wanted to make certain that the only one who might tell on him would die under the pounding projectiles he and his buddies would hurl at her.

Jesus gazed into the guilty eyes of the men who stood before him. In bringing the woman for judgment they pretended that they were loyal to the laws of Moses. But in fact they acted completely contrary to the spirit and the letter of the laws they wanted others to think they kept.

Yes, Moses commanded that a woman taken in the act of adultery should be stoned. But his law was much more complex than that. The accuser, according to the law, had to be the woman's own husband. And if she was found to be guilty, she was not to bear the guilt alone. The man who had shared her adultery with her was also to be stoned.

For the rabbis to bring the woman alone, with no accusation from her own husband, presented proof enough for Jesus to see that they had trapped her. They intended to murder her in the name of justice. Jesus saw all of this, and his perfect soul must have wretched at the thought of so Satanic a scheme coming from men who had been created in the image of God.

Jesus saw other things in the lives of these men. He saw their hypocrisy and lawlessness. He saw the murderous plots against His own life, and other sins they had done—always under the cover of pretended piety. In short, their lives were full of lies, robbery, adultery and murder—sins of every kind and character. And here they stood, judging this woman—and Jesus Himself.

Jesus' long delay caused the rabbis to become restless, but now He went into action. They, of course, expected Him to make some pronounce-ment, or to try talking His way out of their impossible trap.

But Jesus ignored them, and stooped to play with some sand that had been spilled on the stone pavement. The rabbis became upset that Jesus ignored them, and pressed in closer, shouting their accusations in loud voices, insisting that He answer them.

Jesus refused to be hurried, and continued to play in the sand—like a little boy on the sea shore, ignoring the pounding surf just a few feet away.

Such concentration in the face of the human tide breaking so close to Him must have caused great curiosity—even in the hearts of His enemies. Soon the men began to look at the patterns He made in the sand. Jesus wrote Hebrew letters—spelling words that described various crimes.

Jesus had their full attention. "If any one of you is without sin," He said to them, "let him be the first to throw a stone at her." Jesus quoted from the law of Moses, but His quiet voice brought condemnation to the souls of His hearers, for the rabbis were all involved in the woman's sin.

Then Jesus turned back to the sand and they watched more intently to see what He wrote. The Holy Spirit convicted the guilty hearts of those in the group, seeking to draw them back to God. But they were unwilling to listen. Instead of repenting the rabbis sought to cover their guilt by leaving Jesus' presence. Within minutes they had all disappeared, and Jesus was left alone.

The accused woman still stood before him, her head bowed, her eyes closed. She expected at any moment to feel the blow of the first rock crash against her body.

But she soon opened her eyes because of the silence. I can imagine how startled she must have been to see that her accusers had vanished. She must have looked around, thinking that her enemies were tricking her. But they had disappeared.

Jesus said to the woman: "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"

"No one, sir," she replied.

"Then neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin."

Imagine her relief when the condemned woman realized that this teacher from Galilee had granted her a new life. Never before had she been treated with such courtesy, such compassion, such love. She cast herself at Jesus' feet and thanked Him for saving her life.

As the woman lay at Jesus' feet, the Holy Spirit worked on her heart as well. She realized that her own sinful course had led her into this danger. Had she followed God's leading as she knew it, she would never have gotten into such a predicament.

But now Jesus had saved her. And the love of Jesus changed her heart. She resolved never again to give in to a life of sin. From that day forward she became one of Jesus' most faithful followers.

Christian Stone Casting

As we see how Jesus treated the various people in this story, we can learn how to treat those with whom we come into contact.

Jesus treated everyone with kindness—even the murderous conspirators who wanted to stone the poor woman and destroy Jesus' work. He could have pointed His finger sternly at each of the woman's tormentors and denounced their sins. But could you ever imagine Jesus accusing people in public like this?:

"Isaac, you've been guilty of lying and cheating. Who are you to accuse this woman.

"Enoch, you have been using for yourself the gifts that people brought to the temple. Thieves cannot be reliable witnesses.

"Saul, you have been having an affair with your neighbor's wife for several months now. Shouldn't we consider your case too?

"Ezra, you seduced this woman into adultery. Why are you among the witnesses? We should stone you too!"

We've all heard people accuse others in that manner. And perhaps we've even heard our own voices raised in just such condemnation.

But it doesn't sound like Jesus. He could have spoken to those guilty men in that way. He could have brought rebuke, condemnation, and public justice upon those criminals. But he didn't. He let them all get away.

Why?

Because if He had condemned them publicly he would have only given them one more reason to rebel against God. And Jesus wanted to save them from their sins.

So Jesus treated them kindly. He refused to embarrass them in public for their sins. Yes, he wrote their sins on the ground. But He left it up to the Holy Spirit to convict each man of his own particular sins.

How much better it would be if we followed His example. Even when we have evidence that others have committed terrible sins against God and their fellow men, should we demand public justice and humiliation? No. Not if we want to follow the example of Jesus. How much better for us to treat them kindly, quietly, privately, and let the Holy Spirit convict them of their sin and to bring them to repentance. That's the way Jesus worked.

And Jesus treated the adulterous woman in the same loving way. She was guilty. Even though she had been seduced, she chose to accept the man's advances. Jesus could have publicly condemned her—perhaps withholding the death penalty out of mercy--but telling her that she'd better never do such a sinful act again!

He could have scolded her in front of all that crowd, and demanded that her name be removed from the synagogue until such a time as she showed by her behavior that she had truly repented.

But He didn't do that. Instead, He appealed to her in love. "I don't condemn you," he said. You who are under the condemnation of the law because of your sins; you who are under the scorn of the church leaders; you who are under the guilt of your own offended conscience! Jesus said, "neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin."

And in telling her to leave her life of sin, He required her to forgive her tormentors as well—for holding grudges against those who wrong us is also a sin.

Don't you think Jesus' way is better?

Perhaps we could phrase this lesson into an 8th beatitude: "Blessed are they who treat their neighbors kindly, for in so doing they might lead them to the kingdom of heaven."

Notes

1. This story is based on John 8:1-11, and The Desire of Ages pp. 460 ff

2. All Biblical quotations are taken from the NIV, unless otherwise indicated.

3. Lev. 20:10, Deut. 22:22-24, et. al.