John 8:7

New International Version

When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”

Your Encouragement

He knew the inviolable intentions of their hearts. The poor woman they had brought to Jesus to condemn was not their target. Like a tiny fish strapped on a fishing hook for a catch, the teachers of the law and the Pharisees dangled her before Jesus, the big fish. Their goal was to get Him trapped by the law over which he claims authority. They claimed they caught the woman red-handed in the act of adultery (John 8:3-6). How could Jesus say otherwise but give the order to stone her?

Hypocrites! That’s who they were!

Deuteronomy 22:22 was clear on the issue. The man and the woman caught in the act of adultery must die. Where, then, was the man in their plot?

The ultimate Judge He is, Jesus stooped calmly, writing in the sand. The fingers that scripted the Sinai commandments they revered and boasted about listed many sins in the sand to interrogate their consciences and judge their wicked hearts. How could anyone play chess with such a matter against the Eternal Word, now incarnate,  and expect to win?

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

Check mate!

Their hands went limp. Their fingers loosened their grip on the stones in their hands.

What is that pile of stones they left behind? It was high enough to build a monument for their hypocrisy and guilt. The older ones first, then the youth, stole away like a defeated army without a welcoming crowd.

There are millions of accusing fingers these days—too many stones with labels of condemnation targeted at others. Lots of insinuations and fabrications fly around the innocent; too much suspicion to destroy every initiative.

Stop, my friend, for the peace of your soul. Drop the stone in your hand. Look deep into your heart and observe enough undesirables to clean up for days unending, enough to occupy your time and free you from yourself. There is enough there to send you to Calvary’s summit, where the cleansing blood flows freely to cleanse and release you into the mercy and grace of God, that imes of refreshing may come your way in Christ Jesus.

Now, can you cast that first stone?