Care to toss a pebble?

A woman was found in the arms of a man that was not her husband. Due to the laws of the people, she was to be put to death, immediately, by stoning. The few that found her called out to those passing by to advertise her shame as they dragged her through the streets. Suddenly the woman was thrown at the feet of Jesus who was teaching a crowd of people. Her shame deliberately exploited by her accusers, and they demanded that Jesus judge her right then and there. But did he?

 Something I’ve never thought about until this morning is that throughout Jesus’ life he faced the negative judgment of others. Usually I would put Jesus in a position of being the “judger” (being able to see the heart of man in its candid ugly state) but my eyes were opened this morning while I read in the book of John.  In chapter 8: 15 Jesus says “You judge me by human standards, but I do not judge anyone.” And bam. That hit me right between the eyes. I’ve liked to think that I don’t judge people, and I would be friends with anyone that would let me, but judgment is so much more deep seeded than that. Jesus just stated right there that HE DOESN’T JUDGE ANYONE, and here I am mentally dissecting people’s lives that I know because “if they would just change a few things, or think this way they would be a lot better off.” Wow, I’m a “judger”. He goes on to say in the next verse “And if I did, my judgment would be correct in every respect because I am not alone. The Father who sent me is with me.” So if it isn’t Jesus’ place to judge (even having the correct judgment due to his omniscience), do we have any right as Christ followers to look cock-eyed at a single person on this planet??? Absolutely NOT! So what did Jesus do instead? He showed absolute love and mercy in the most tender way even when he had every ability to point the hard finger of guilt when her accusers had all the evidence.

Jesus, to address the demands of the woman’s accusers, directed their accusations back at them.  “Let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” After her accusers had all slunk away, Jesus said “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” And you just know that every one of the accusers left that scene muttering to one another about the way he favored ill mannered women. The ones with sin. Casting judgment on Jesus. Our audacity as human beings. I’m still shaking my head.

When any person spends much time at all in a ministry of some sort, they generally encounter situations and people that would entice them to judge. Why? Because ministry involves people, and people with or without Jesus Christ in their lives make mistakes and fail, and as onlookers we always seem to know better than the person that was in the situation. Jonathan and I have been working with a group of friends at a local park. Every Saturday we meet to spend time with the kids in the neighborhood and get to know them, play games with them, share the Bible with them, and when possible get to know their parents. When one of the parents opened up to me and began to share what her life is like, it was so easy to mentally pull her life apart and “know” what she really needed to do to fix things. Wow. And I don’t even know her last name! But what would Jesus have thought while he listened to her share? What did He think about the woman that was thrown at His feet for adultery? Compassion. Being so moved he responded with love, and He spoke up for her This is exactly how I should respond; I should bring this parent to our Heavenly Father who created her and knows how she got the place she is, and let the Holy Spirit move in her life just as He is so faithful to do in mine. If only our hearts and minds would follow the way we know Jesus has asked us to walk. With love for all people in this world. After all, isn’t that what John 3:16 is about? That God so loved THE WORLD that He did something about it.

My prayer and hope is that from now on, we won't just pity someone's sad state in life, but we will respond with Christ's compassion and do something to show His love.