The noted Christian physician A. T. Schofield told a story about sitting with some friends in a hotel lobby that was lined with mirrors. As he glanced around the room he noticed a group of people some distance away seated around another table. Being very nearsighted, he couldn’t tell what they were doing, but he observed one particular man with a very unfriendly expression on his face. It was an expression that Schofield just didn’t like very much. The man was looking in the direction of Schofield and his party and seemed to be listening intently to their discussion. Annoyed by this suspicious character, Schofield suggested to the others in his group, “Let’s not speak so loudly; those folks over there are sure to hear us.” Immediately his friends burst out laughing at Schofield’s expense, for the doctor had really been seeing his own image reflected in one of the large mirrors on the wall.
Isn’t that typical? Most anytime we start pointing fingers at someone else, we find ourselves caught as well.
Imagine the scene at the temple. Jesus is there with the disciples and a crowd gathers and begins to grow restless. Then someone brings in a woman who was caught in adultery. Notice that I didn’t say she was accused of adultery or suspected of adultery. She was caught in adultery. The Pharisees start making their accusations and asking Jesus what should be done.
It is also important that we note that this is not a lesson about an adulterous woman. She was just a tool that the Pharisees were trying to use to get to Jesus. This scene is about one thing and one thing only, discrediting Jesus. They knew what the law said. If someone is caught in adultery they should be stoned to death. They say as much. If Jesus says to stone her, where is all the love and compassion he has been preaching about? On the other hand, if he tries to tell the Pharisees to forgive, he loses credibility because he was allowing the woman to violate the law of Moses, a law that Jesus himself said he didn’t come to replace, but instead to fulfill. It would appear that Jesus is trying to have it both ways. At the very least he is in a trap, a no-win situation.
Then Jesus does something odd. As the scribes and the Pharisees were questioning him, Jesus bent down and began to write in the sand. Then he stood up and said, “Let the one among you who is without sin cast the first stone.” Then he bent down and again began writing in the sand. As he wrote, the folks one by one began to leave until finally it was just Jesus and the woman. With no one left to accuse her, Jesus sent her on her way with the instruction to go and sin no more.
Jesus must have written something pretty powerful in the sand that morning. What could it have been? What could he have written that would have shamed the Pharisees into leaving Jesus there with the woman when they had so eloquently trapped Jesus? The truth is, no one knows for sure. It isn’t included anywhere in the Bible. But this morning I would like to suggest to you a few possibilities.
First, Jesus could have written, “who is this woman?” Did she have a name? Religion of the day forgot people, it forgot who they were and what their lives were like. Anytime religion sets out after sin, without loving the sinner, it becomes judgmental. The woman had sinned. There is no question about that. But the thing is, her accusers didn’t see her as a person. She was nothing more than bait to set in a Jesus trap.
No name is give to her in Scripture. She has gone down in history as simply the woman caught in adultery. But we all have names, and dreams, and desires. We are all children of God. And, as such, we are more than the sum of our sins. We are more than adulterers, or murderers, or thieves, or gossips, or liars, or any other sin that we might be able to think of. We are the pinnacle of God’s creation. He said to her, “Then neither do I condemn you… Go now and leave your life of sin.”
A mission worker who longed to manifest Christ’s love to others was finding it extremely difficult to have genuine affection for the worst outcasts of society. One day she had to face the issue in court. A dirty and unkept woman to whom she had previously shared her faith had just been sentenced to jail. As the Christian saw this wretched woman sobbing bitterly, she was filled with compassion and wanted to help her. Quickly, going to her side, she put her arm around her and kissed her. Never having been shown such love, the distressed woman was deeply moved. It wasn’t long before she became a Christian. Later, being released from prison, she was nursed back to health by the mission worker, who took her into her home until she could return to society. Not only was that needy woman rescued from an evil life, but also the Christian who healed her was brought into a deeper relationship with God.
Second, Jesus could have written, “Don’t you have anything better to do?” Imagine if you will what it must have taken to set up this little drama that was played out at daybreak. The scribes and the Pharisees must have been out mist of the night – they were out looking for sin. Didn’t they have anything better to do?
Is it the business of religion to expose sin? Sure it is. At least in a way. When our nation does things that impact the lives of people in a negative way, it is our responsibility to stand up and say that something is wrong. Anytime we see something that is a sin; we should stand up for what is right. The church, Christians, are called to speak out against such abuses. But we are not called just to be against things. We have to remember that the Gospel is GOOD NEWS. Missing from the story, at least from the scribes and the Pharisees is what seems to be missing from the scribes and the Pharisees most all of the time. There is no grace, no mercy, no hope, no forgiveness, no good news. She sinned, let’s stone her, the end.
But with Jesus that is not then end. He knew that along with the bad news, “We have failed,” comes the good news, “We can be forgiven.” That is the message of the cross. That is the message of Christ. Wherever Jesus is, grace abounds.
The scribes and Pharisees were far more interested in trapping Jesus and in convicting this woman than they were in living the life God had called them to live. They were more interested in pettiness than in letting people know about God. Didn’t they have anything better to do?
Don’t we have anything better to do? It is said that when the British and French were fighting in Canada in the 1750’s that Admiral Phipps, commander of the British fleet was told to anchor outside Quebec. He was given orders to wait for the British land forces to arrive, then to support them when they attacked the city. Phipps’ navy arrived early. As the admiral waited the statues of the saints that adorned the towers of a nearby Catholic cathedral annoyed him. He felt that he had nothing better to do so he commanded his men to shoot at them with the ship’s cannons. No one knows how many rounds were fired or how many statues were knocked out, but when the ground forces arrived and the signal was given to attack, the admiral and his fleet were no help. He had used all his ammunition shooting at the saints. All too often we waste our time chasing after misguided notions, doing things when we think we have nothing better to do, we blow our chances for doing things that really matter and really make a difference.
Third, Jesus might have written a list of sins. One by one those who were gathered to witness the trap left and pondered the question “who is without sin” until Jesus and the adulterous woman stood alone.
In many ways the word sin has lost power among us. Our great problem is that we have learned to talk about sin in general but never be confronted or convicted by our sins. Faith that loses its humility becomes harsh and judgmental. Humility is keeping before me my own failings and my need to depend on God. It reminds me when I preach that I am a sinner saved by the grace of God and strengthened each moment by the power of God. To people who want to throw stones, our Lord, in this story holds up a mirror. And, if we dare to look we see someone who struggles with his or her own sins.
A juvenile court judge once had that experience. When a youngster who had been caught stealing from a farmer’s field was brought before him, the judge said, “Son, what do you have to say for yourself?” The kid looked at the official repentantly and then asked plaintively, “Judge, didn’t you ever steal a watermelon when you were a kid?” Startled by this question the judge blushed. After a long pause, he said, “though the boy has done wrong, I have decided under the circumstances to dismiss the case.” He was embarrassed because he realized that he was as guilty as the defendant. We all are.
There is still another possibility of what Jesus may have written in the sand, although this would only be after he told the crowd that the one who was without sin should cast the first stone. When he bent and began to write again in the sand he may have written a message just for the adulterous woman. This time it may have been a message that said, “Go and claim your future.” It would easily be in character for Jesus to say to her, “the past is over, now it’s time to move on. He forgave her the past when he said, “neither do I condemn you.” For Jesus to write something like this is not only consistent with the text, it is consistent with his entire ministry.
Jesus came to tell of the Father who calls us by grace through faith to a forgiven and fulfilled life. Jesus can free us from the stain and pain of our past and liberate us to a life worth living.
Did the woman in the story accept Jesus’ offer? We don’t know. She might have gone right back to her old way of life. She knew that it was wrong but sometimes we find it easier to stay with what we know regardless of the consequences.
I hope and pray that this woman went home forgiven, fulfilled, and forever changed. But it was her decision, just as it is ours. Each of us makes the decision to say yes or not to the invitation of Christ Jesus.
At a special chapel service in an Ohio penitentiary, the governor was to grant freedom to several convicts. The suspense mounted as it came time for the governor to announce the names of those selected. “Reuben Johnson, come forward and receive your pardon!” No one responded. The chaplain directed his attention toward Johnson and said, “Reuben, it’s you, come on!” But the man looked behind him supposing there must be someone else by that name. Then, pointing directly at him, the chaplain exclaimed, “That’s right, you’re the man!” After a long pause, he slowly approached the governor to receive his pardon. Later when the other prisoners marched to their cells, Johnson fell in line and began to walk with them. The warden called, “Reuben, you don’t belong there anymore. You’re a free man!”
As hard as it may have been for him to believe it, it was time for Reuben Johnson to go and claim his future. He was a free and forgiven man.
God does know who we are. God knows all of us. God knows the one who sins and God knows the one holding the rock in his or her hand, ready to start stoning someone else.
There is a man who keeps on his desk a fairly large stone on which is lettered one word: FIRST. Acting as a constant reminder of Jesus’ words, “He that is without sin… let him cast the first stone,” it helps check within him the automatic desire to be hasty in condemning others. As he daily recalls his own shortcomings, he finds it less difficult to show grace to the weak and erring. The remarkable paperweight also serves a second purpose. When people come into his office in an angry, criticizing mood, he quietly hands them the rock at an appropriate moment. Surprised, they usually examine the stone carefully, and then ask what the word “FIRST” means. As they listen to the explanation, it isn’t long until their attitude toward another person changes. Though some wrongs may still have to be made right, a new spirit of forgiveness and charity results. Situations are frequently settled. Doing that with a stone is defiantly doing something better than throwing it.
All have sinned and God knows who we are and what we have done. But God forgives us and loves us anyway. And we do have something better to do than to stand around and point fingers. We can do what Jesus did. We can forgive and go out and share God’s love and God’s grace.
