Breathe Before You Judge

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John 8
"Teacher", they said, "This woman has been caught in the very act of adultery. Now Moses in the Law commanded us that such offenders shall be stoned to death. But what do You say to do with her--what is Your sentence?" This they said to try to test Him, hoping they might find a charge on which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger. However, when they persisted with their question, He raised Himself up and said, "Go ahead! Stone her! But let the person who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her." Then He bent down and went on writing on the ground with His finger. They listened to Him, and then they began slipping out, conscience-stricken, one by one, from the oldest down to the last one of them, till Jesus was left alone, with the woman standing there before Him in the center of the court. When Jesus raised Himself up, He said to her, "Woman, where are your accusers? Has no man condemned you?" She answered, "No one, Lord!" And Jesus said, "I do not condemn you either. Go, pursue the journey on which you had started and do not miss or wander from the path of uprightness and honour again."

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An oldie, but a goodie. I once heard a teacher of Biblical studies with a very interesting take on this story:

What was Jesus writing in the sand? This Bible teacher believes that perhaps Jesus was making lists of all the secret sins of all of the "righteous" people standing around and accusing this woman of adultery. Some were "small sins", misrepresenting neighbors with gossip, anger, unkindness, some were biggies, lying, stealing, cheating, murder, perhaps in the heart, perhaps by the hand. Notice: at first, when Jesus bends down, everyone is still brave in their accusations; perhaps after Jesus mentioned the Spirit of the Law ("let the person who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her") versus the Letter of the Law ("WE have caught her, WE have judged her, WE condemn her") one or two of them bent over what Jesus was writing and saw what the implications of the Letter of the Law held for judgments on their heads.

Think about that the next time you rush to judgment about someone and examine your own conscious. Sometimes the things which most irritate us about others are the very things we are, or have been, guilty of in our lives and are disgusted by ... take that moment of breath, before judgment, to make a mental calculation of all your shortcomings ... ask God for forgiveness and strength for your "wandering from the path of uprightness and honour", your deviation from the path of love and service, and, at the same time, ask God to shower that person you are judging with blessings. You'll find that the blessings will come back to you a hundredfold.

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Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.

Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us all our sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life. Amen.