The Jewish leaders were
always trying to find reasons to accuse Jesus.
They always came up with questions they thought were so controversial
that His answers would trap Him or back Him into a corner. On one such occasion, they brought a woman to
Him who was supposedly caught in adultery.
Their question was, “In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say” (Jn 8:5)? Jesus’ response was, “Let him who have no sin
cast the first stone” (Jn 8:7). His
response was straight to the point; they did not need any explanation or
interpretation. Although He didn’t, Jesus
could have concluded His response by saying, “But let him who has any sin drop
his stone.” That of course would have been every last one of them. Although He didn’t, they each walked away
without casting a single stone at the woman.
How about you, and how about
me? Are we throwing stones at other
sinners while we are not batting an eye about our own sins? Sin is sin, no matter how we categorize
it. You and I have not been given the
responsibility and or authority to decide which sin should be tolerated, and
which one should be punished. Let us
stop judging and pointing fingers at others.
The wages of sin is death, the Bible says, no matter the category (Rom
3:23).
Our charge concerning others
is to love them as ourselves (Mt 19:19b), and to win them for the kingdom of
God (Mt 28:19-20); our responsibility is not to pass judgment.
In the book of Luke, Jesus
told His disciples, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned
(Lk 6:37); “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and
pay no attention to the plank in your own eye” (Lk 6:41)? If Jesus, the only righteous One, with the
power and authority to judge and condemn shows mercy (Jn 8:10-11), who are we
to be judging and condemning?
Showing mercy does not mean
condoning. We can, and should come along
side each other in love, to rebuke, encourage, and build up. The apostle Paul puts it this way, “Brothers,
if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently” (Gal 6:1a).
So fellow sinners, let’s all drop
each one his or her stone!
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