Stones

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.”  John 8:7 (NIV)

This is one of those stories in the bible that gives me goose bumps.  And when I saw it portrayed on screen, it was even more touching.  I can't even remember now what I was watching or where, maybe it was at youth, but there it was.

Jesus is standing in the temple courts at the Mount of Olives and he's teaching to those gathered around him.  A group of teachers of law and Pharisees come up to Jesus with a woman they have caught committing adultery and make her stand at his feet.  They tell Jesus what she has done and that the law of Moses says she should be stoned.  They ask him what he has to say.  This is a trap, they want to have a reason to accuse Jesus of wrongdoing and disobeying the law of Moses.

And this is the really good part, Jesus bends down to draw in the sand, stands up and says, "Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her."  And he bends down and continues to draw in the sand.  (This is when I want to say, Ha, what do you have to say to that, you nasty, mean Pharisees?!)  They turn and leave until only the woman and Jesus are standing there, alone.  Jesus asks her, "Woman, where are they?  Has no one condemned you?"  She responds, "No one, sir."  And he replies, "Then neither do I condemn you.  Go and leave your life of sin."

How awesome is that?  I love it that he totally showed those Pharisees up.  Every one of them walked away.  I am reminded of this story when I start gripping or complaining about something someone else has done.  How I cannot believe they did whatever and I thought they were better than that.  Listen to how they're talking about so and so, I thought they were friends!  Or even with my own children, you know, why on earth would they act that way?  Where did they learn that behavior?  Ouch.

I had a case of casting the first stone this morning, literally, as I was in the middle of writing this.  I was told someone said something about me that wasn't very nice.  Immediately I wanted to call them out on it because how could they say stuff like that about me?  But instead I had to laugh out loud because I was writing about this very same situation in a sense!  Coincidence...I don't think so.  So I have vowed to be kind and say only true and positive things about them, starting fresh and anew.  Hoping that we can work together instead of against one another. 

I suppose I could get one of those backstop thingys that you use for practicing pitching in baseball and softball and starting throwing stones at it...that will come right back on me...because I have no business throwing a stone at anyone else.  If Jesus, who is without sin, can forgive the adulterous woman, then I better just keep those stones to myself.