If Any One of You Is Without Sin (John 8:1-11)

If Any One of You Is Without Sin (John 8:1-11)

     
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When you live in San Francisco, you see more often than not gay or lesbian couples who just married legally. I am worried about this trend may be expanded throughout the whole nation sooner or later.
President George Bush also expresses his concern about this legalization of gay-lesbian homo sexual unnatural marriage.
Although we should not judge or criticize other people's conduct easily, we need to speak out on the matter that is quite against God's will.
Paul in Romans 1:26-27 says, "Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations(=hetero sexual marriage) for unnatural ones(=homo sexual marriage). In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust  for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.

Starting last Wednesday-that is, Ash Wednesday, the movie "The Passion of the Christ" directed by Mel Gibson is on show. Many Jewish groups are against the movie, accusing him of anti-semitism. But, hearing from some people who already saw the movie, Mel Gibson faithfully followed the books of the Gospel. The books of the Gospel simply say that the Jews let Jesus be killed by the lawless persons. There is no hatred or grudging feelings against the Jews.
Sometimes we judge when we should not judge, some other times we do not judge when we should judge.

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The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman who was caught in adultery. They made her stand  before the group and said to Jesus: "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?"
By this time, Jesus became very popular not only in Galilee but also in Jerusalem. Wherever Jesus went, many people gathered around him to listen to his teaching or to be healed or sometimes to be fed.

But the teachers of the law and the Pharisees did not come to Jesus to listen to his teaching about the adultery and to follow his instruction, but to entrap him with such an impossible-to-solve question.
Verse 6 says that "they were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
Bringing the woman alone to Jesus already shows their unfairness and their unwillingness to apply Moses' Law properly to this case.
To be fair according to the Law, they should have brought both the man and the woman in adultery.
Leviticus 20:10 says: "If a man commits adultery, with another man's wife--with the wife of his neighbor--both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.

They wanted to test Jesus with this difficult question. What is the dilemma in this question?
If Jesus tells them to stone the woman, he will viloate his own law of love.
And if Jesus tells them not to stone the woman following his law of love, he will violate the law of Moses which most Jews consider the absolute unchangeable law.

Jesus did not respond immediately. Instead, he bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.
What do you think he was writing on the ground?
Some early manuscripts include the phrase, "as if Jesus did not hear what they said to him".
Some other manuscripts say: "he wrote the lists of their sins."
And Some biblical scholars guess that Jesus was probably writing the word, "love" or "forgiveness" repeatedly.
Any way, Jesus showed his patience and calmness by not responding immediately. He calmed down the people's excitement.

Many people-not only those law teachers and Pharisees who were entrapping him but also those who were listening to his teaching-were probably eager to hear his answer.
After a little while, Jesus straightened up and said to them (v. 7): "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."
What an amazing and wise answer this is!

Up until the moment right before Jesus answered, the situation seemed to be stalemate in chess or no way out. The accusers seemed to be triumphant.

Jesus' saying had them realize that they were indeed all sinners who could not throw a stone at anybody.
David in Psalm 14:1 says that "They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good."
And Paul in Romans 3:10 says: There is no one righteous, not even one."

Then, Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground as if there nothing had happened.
Jesus showed indifference to the accusers.

But, the accusers who felt guilty hearing Jesus' word began to go away one at a time, the older ones first.
The older ones went away first as they sinned more than the younger ones because they had lived longer sinful lives.

At last only Jesus was left there with the woman.
Jesus asked her "Where are they. Has no one condemned you?"
Jesus already forgave her sin. But, forgiveness is one thing, and not sinning is another thing. Jesus told the woman: "Then neither do I condemn you. Go, and do not sin again."
Jesus in John 5:14, when he came across the person whom he healed his thirty-eight-year-old illness, told him: "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you."

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No one among us is saved because our conducts have been so good.
So, we should not condemn others easily without love. We only give our thanksgiving to God. Furthermore, we try not to sin and not to live a sinful life as our God wants us to be holy and pure as He is.