Psalm of Praise: Psalms 36:5-6
Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the skies.
Your righteousness is like the highest mountains,
your justice like the great deep.
You, Lord, preserve both people and animals.
Bible Reading: John 8:3-7
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.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.
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."
A Reflection:
I was amazed to discover that the saying ’People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones’ first appeared in a poem by Chaucer in 1385. It was later used by George Herbert in 1685 and was also quoted by Benjamin Franklin. I think Jesus was saying the same thing centuries before!
The problem with writing about this is that it would be very easy to start throwing stones and thus fall into error of doing exactly what Jesus tells us not to do.
Criticism seems to be a major occupation in society today, and while discovering the truth about something is good, standing in judgement of others is not. After all, as St Paul tells us that, ‘We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We may not have sinned in the same way as someone else, but we have all fallen short of the glory of God in one way or another. And yet, God does not judge us; instead he shows us great grace.
When all the men in our reading had gone away, Jesus said to the woman, ‘Has no one condemned you?" She replied, ‘No one, sir’, and Jesus said, "Then neither do I condemn you, go now and leave your life of sin."
Jesus doesn’t condemn the sinner, but nor does he condone the sin. While he shows her grace regarding the sins of the past, he also calls her to leave here life of sin. Jesus offers us the same deal. He doesn’t condemn us, instead he forgives us our sins but also calls us to live a new life. and that includes not throwing stones!
So, let us keep our stone throwing to skimming pebbles on the sea, and show others the grace that Jesus shows us.
Pray:
Thank you, Lord Jesus, that you do not condemn me, but that you show mw your grace.
Help me to live each day bringing glory to your name.
Amen
This is amazing grace!
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