EW Summer 04: Casting the First Stone

	SPIRITUALITY
	Can you Cast Stones? .....I Can't!!!

by Alan Schwartz, Corporate Controller

One of the most famous stories in the Bible talks of Jesus stepping in front of a woman who is about to be stoned to death because she was caught committing adultery. Recently, our lunch Bible group studied this story (John 8:1-11). As we discussed these verses, we tried to imagine the fear this woman must have had as her accusers (the religious leaders of their day) brought her to Jesus so that they could test His message of love and compassion against the written Word of God as given to Moses which calls for her death as the penalty for her sin. We can envision these leaders looking down their noses at Jesus and this woman with smug looks on their faces, thinking they had trapped Jesus in a conflict of law and grace.

But what did Jesus do? He bent down and began writing in the ground with his finger telling the leaders "let him without sin cast the first stone." He then continued writing on the ground, and one by one the leaders left. Although the Bible does not specify what Jesus was writing, we came to the conclusion that he might have been exposing the sins of those in the crowd. When Jesus was the only one left He looked at the woman and asked "has no one condemned you?" The woman says "No, Lord" and Jesus replied "Neither do I. Go and sin no more."

In our studies we try to discover the lesson to be applied for us living in today’s world. In this story we focused on three areas:

It is very easy to become judgmental and self-righteous.

The leaders of the day thought they were good people and above the law. At first, they thought they were so good that they could accuse this woman of sin and not fear that they would ever be accused of any wrong doing themselves. But Jesus proves them wrong as He writes their sins in the ground. I think many times we are quick to point out and judge others in their weaknesses, while ignoring the fact that we have many short coming ourselves.

May we be slow to judge and quick to love others as we ourselves would like to be loved.

How God (Jesus) views wrong doing (sin).

The Bible is very clear in stating that God hates sin and will punish those who practice sin. Jesus tells the woman to go and leave her life of sin. He did not agree with her lifestyle, but told her to change (repent). Through prayer, studying His word, and worship we can develop a personal relationship with God and He will make us aware of the sin in our lives (i.e. greed, lust, gossip, etc.). The good news is that because God loves us so much, He sent his son, Jesus, who was sinless, to take the punishment of our sin upon Himself. For those who believe in this message, we are saved from punishment and promised eternal life with Christ by the blood on the cross.

May we actively place our faith in Jesus by surrendering our lives to Him.

Our God is a compassionate and forgiving God.

We see that Jesus did not condemn the woman, but instead forgives her of her wrong doing. The Apostle John tells us that if we confess our sins to God: "He who is faithful and just and will forgive our sins, and will cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

What a comfort to know that when we come humbly to God confessing our sin that He will forgive us, just as Jesus forgave the woman in this story.

In His infinite and perfect wisdom, our great God and Creator reveals Himself to us through His word - the Bible. We can learn many things as we observe how Jesus dealt with people just like we saw with the adulterous woman. The Bible is full of stories and lessons like this. Please feel free to join us on Thursdays at noon or check out www.bible.com to learn more about how God speaks to us through this amazing book.

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