daily java

Daily Java: At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. (John 8:2-6)

Jesus encounters a woman caught in the act of adultery and those who bring her want to see what Jesus will say. If he says “Kill her” they will say, “Well, what about your message of love? You’re as mean as anybody else.” If he says, “Let her go”, they will say “Aha, you’re a lawbreaker after all.”

He, as he always did, saw a third option – the option of mercy and love. He said, “Let the one who is without sin cast the first stone.” No answer to that, of course. Whoever would be audacious enough to cast the first stone would surely be looked down on by the others for pretending he was perfect.

The religious people hated Jesus when he did stuff like this. They had a clear-cut event here. The woman was caught in adultery and the answer was clear. But Jesus saw something different than they did.

He saw a woman, they saw a political opportunity.

When reporters asked vice-president Dan Quayle about his position of abortion back in the 80’s, he told them, as they knew already, he was absolutely against it, he is a Christian and was for life.

Then one asked him, what if your daughter had an abortion? He said I guess I would have to stand with her. They went ballistic. Wait, they cried, you hate abortion.

Yes, he replied, but I love my daughter.

They couldn’t believe that someone would see the sinner and not the sin. He didn’t like what she did, obviously, but this was his daughter they were talking about.

God does not throw us out if we make a mistake. Neither do we throw our children out when they make a mistake.

They saw the political point: inconsistency. He isn’t doing what he said. He is wishy washy. He saw his daughter that he loved.

I knew a man who withdrew fellowship from his daughter because she got a divorce. His desire to do “what is right” was so strong he turned his back on his daughter.

The people who brought this woman to Jesus didn’t give a flip about her. It was the political score they were looking at. Jesus didn’t give a flip about the political score. It was the woman he was looking at.

They had doctrine (what they said she deserved was true according to the law), Jesus had compassion.

When he looks at me, I want him to think like that and love me for who I am, not judge me for what I have done.