Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

Matthew 8:10

For Meditation

He knew their hearts – the wicked intentions, seething within. They did not care about the woman they had brought before Jesus; and they knew it.

Get Him trapped in the law He claims to be the author of, if indeed He is the Messiah. How could He direct otherwise, but to give the order to stone that adulterous poor woman?

Oh, but He claims to be a loving and compassionate teacher – one who is better than us and spiritually astute. How then could He authorize the stoning of that poor woman?

“We have Him,” they may have mused, their mouths salivating for His condemnation – a liar exposed! “How can you trust Him, people? He is worse than the devil himself – a deceiver!”

Makes me wonder if they had read Psalm 2. Does anybody learn? Do we read for counseling or to incriminate other people?

He keeps His cool and keeps writing in the sand; His fingers scrolling like the writing of the Sinai Script they revere and boast in, but never understand – the eternal Word now incarnate and standing before them. But who has eyes beyond their selfish interest? So, they persist in their craftiness.

 “Shall we get rid of this filth, teacher of righteousness? Moses is waiting for your response.”

His body shifted. Mercy flowed like a river; and grace trailed with healing in its wake.

These people need a lesson in dichotomy.

“Let any of you who is without sin be the first to throw the stone at her.”

Have you observed the devastation of a bomb blast before? How did it look?

Their plot is shattered; a simple response from the merciful Savior. Remember His query to the arresting mob in Gethsemane? (John 18:4).

Their hands falter; their fingers slacken. What a pile of stones from guilt to build a monument for hypocrisy, guilt, and shame!

The older ones can’t bear the brightness of the spotlight of heaven – their feet as swift as a herd of deer in flight from the menacing lion. One after the other, they vanish into thin air.

There she stands, on the windswept ground of human judgment; feeling sweaty and cold at same time; needing a comforting arm to embrace.

“Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

“No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more” (10-11 KJV).

What a Savior we have in Jesus!

A loving and caring Lord. He does not tolerate sin; yet, He is merciful and compassionate. He forgives and restores the penitent soul. He calls the loaded with sin to for forgiveness and rest in Him (Matt. 11:28-30). He strengthens by the power of the Holy Spirit; that we may continue in His grace.

Are you a stone caster or the accused woman? 

Shalom