Too Far Gone

Friday, March 28, 2008

The sounds of mixed voices must have come ringing out from beyond the temple doors before they ever came busting into the middle of Jesus' lesson. You can see the smug grins drawn on the faces of those who were draped in the garb of a Pharisee. "Dead to rights, we've got him dead to rights," they must have thought to themselves.

The Pharisees and Sadducees knew all about Jesus. They had made it their job to follow, to listen, to write down what he said, who he consorted with, anything that they could use against him. If only they had put that much effort into getting to know him instead of getting to know about him. One thing they had found as they compiled information was that Jesus was full of compassion and grace. He gave to those who did not deserve it and chose to mingle with the untouchables of the world.

What better way to corner Jesus except to hit him in the heart, they went after one of the lost sheep. Fitting that this pack of wolves would attack one so far away from the fold. They had caught this woman in the act of adultery. A random act? I somehow doubt it. Random was not the pharisees style. Random left too many things to chance and out of their control. No I imagine that they didn't just stumble onto this. I imagine in my mind that there was a bit of a set up.

Chances are this lady had been the topic of gossip for a while. The pharisees knew, but then again, how many of them were likely caught up in affairs of their own? Dealing with an unfaithful woman was distasteful and unless her husband caught on and demanded satisfaction they would have been happy to leave it alone. Power had corrupted and corrupted well. Now though, when a trap was needed the Pharisees used this tidbit of information to gather their bait. They waited until Jesus was in the temple, what they considered their home court, and they drug this woman in.

Again I don't imagine that this was a pleasant scene. Had this woman been caught in the act of adultery and she knew the punishment I don't see her dressing and walking quietly down the street to be bludgeoned with stones. No this lady is in a state of disarray, she is being drug through the streets, kicking, screaming, scratching, and clawing as if she were a wild animal forced into a burlap sack. This was no parade, this was an unsightly, unruly mob.

You can imagine the crowd that has gathered. The Pharisees have their hand selected representatives. I'm sure too that the Pharisees had rounded up those they felt they could easily control and persuade. Then there are those who have a morbid curiosity and worse yet those that delight in participating in these acts. Can you picture them, a pack of hounds as ready to tear into Jesus' flesh as that of this woman.

So the scene is set, the trap is ready and the final act is about to play. Someone must have acted as the mouthpiece for this motley crew. I can hear them twisting the words, sarcasm dripping as they address Jesus as Master. "The law of Moses says we must stone her, what do you say?"

There must have been a hush over the blood seeking crowd, breath was held and everyone bent an ear to hear the answer. Instead of words, Jesus bent down and wrote in the dust. Wouldn't you love to know what her wrote. Maybe it was a list of names, those the crowd had committed adultery with. Maybe it was a list of other Mosaic laws calling for stoning that each one had broken. Maybe it was a single word that God used to convict the hearts of everyone there. Then Jesus rose up and said, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."

We don't know what Jesus wrote, but we do know that the crowd lost its zeal for blood. We know that the sound of rocks falling limply to the ground was followed by the sound of sandals marching away down the streets. We know that in the end the only two left standing were the woman and Jesus.

Then Jesus turned to the woman and, I imagine, he smiled and said in a bit of a sarcastic tone , "Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?"

In disbelief and through tears of gratitude the woman shook her head in disbelief and mumbled a barely audible, "No, no one sir."

I can see Jesus gently taking her cheek in his hand and raising her eyes up to meet his, "Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more."

Is this exactly how the gospel is written? No, but I wanted to relate to you the power of the moment, and share what I think of when I read John 8:2-11. You see by the law the Pharisees were right. This woman had broken the law and the punishment for that was death. They wanted Jesus to say no, they wanted Jesus to go against the law, they wanted to find a reason to stone him instead of her. In the end, all that was accomplished was a revelation for you and me. The only perfect person who has ever lived was the man still standing in the temple with the woman, Jesus Christ.

Some of us come from backgrounds where there may have been great sinning and straying from the light. You may have heard some people who pervert the word of God saying such things as God hates you and shouting out about how you are going to hell. The truth is that no one is too far gone to come to Jesus Christ. Jesus wants all of his people to find him so that he can cover their transgressions with his perfect blood. He's not going to look at you and say fall back into your sinful ways, no, he is going to call you to change, but he will never say, "Leave that one alone, she/he's too far gone."