Drop Your Rock
Reading through the stories of the life of Jesus as John remembered them, I paused long enough to ponder a well-known episode.
Jesus has come up to Jerusalem from Galilee in the north country for the Jewish festival of Booths. He has spent time teaching in the Temple area to large crowds as well as to the religious leaders. Apparently, there was real division as to who this rabbi was and if his teaching passed the orthodoxy tests of the leaders.
Read the account below and try to see it as if for the first time.
Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery.
“Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the very act of adultery. The Law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?”
They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.
When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?
“No, Lord,” she said.
And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”
The trap set for Jesus came at the cost of this woman’s dignity, and her very life. The law was clear that she should die for her actions, but it’s interesting that while the regulation calls for both parties to be stoned, only the woman is shamed and condemned. This was a clumsy attempt from the authorities to rid themselves of this troublemaking rabbi, as well as showing themselves to the crowd as protectors of the common morality.
So, in keeping with what the law says, Jesus invites them to the rock-pile, but first to check their hearts before throwing anything. Jesus doesn’t challenge them, he exposes them.
Commentators and preachers have invested buckets of ink wondering what he was scribbling in the dust and plenty of ideas have been floated, but the text is mute on that point. Maybe he was just letting the moment breathe.
When I lean into the story, I hear the yelled accusations replaced by whispers and then a silence, only interrupted by the sounds of rocks dropping to the dirt and the shuffling retreat of feet. Then, an almost surreal quiet. Through it all, Jesus hasn’t looked up.
Imagine the woman’s relief and astonishment as the tension melts away with the crowd. One minute she cringes in fear and anticipating a violent death, and the next she is released and set on a new course for life.
It’s fun to picture what became of this woman. How did Jesus’ mercy transform her?
How has that same mercy transformed you?
A lesson for me in this story circles around this idea, before I pass judgment on another, I must check my own heart and motives and intentions. Even if the person in my sights is caught in the very act of wrongdoing, how can I both hold to scriptural directions and actively pursue compassion and mercy and justice.
What would it take for me to drop my rock?
The love of God for me and then through me is not without standards and a call to live more in line with what God shows as a better way. But those standards flow from God out of his love and mercy.
Back to the story: Try to grasp the feelings rushing through this woman as her past hour sent her on a roller-coaster ride of emotions:
An adrenalin-fueled out-of-bounds tryst
Being dragged out of bed and rushed down the street by an an angry mob
Surrounded by a large, loud, pointing crowd who sees her at her very worst
Kneeling in shame with anticipation of being killed
Then having this rabbi release her with a word of pardon and a challenge toward a new life.
In one sense, that woman is every one of us as we fail and flail our way in life. When exposed, condemnation is never far behind, but God’s mercy, while holding to the highest of moral standards, overwhelms punishment with grace. She walked away freed by Jesus, just like you and me.
This whole scene brings to mind Ephesians 2, where Paul sketches every believer’s trek toward life.
Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world….All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature….
But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)
We all were spiritually dead. By God’s mercy we have been made new and alive. We now have been given a chance to invite others along for the journey to wholeness, now and forever. His mercy gave the woman life, just like us.
We would never, in our progressive post-modern world, pick up actual rocks and chuck them at an adversary. No, we have refined that practice to the rock-pile of social media and the anonymity of the internet where swatting, canceling, condemning, mocking, and judging are every bit as destructive as a stoning, and maybe more common. The outrage culture makes lots of folks targets.
Let’s see…who might be a target for you or me and our digital rocks?
A person on the extreme other end of the political spectrum from me?
How about the one with blue hair and piercings who seems to have no moral compass yet they scream moral outrage?
Or a radical Muslim (or Christian of another flavor than you)?
Maybe the crowd in a racist rally on either side of an issue?
Take what you will from this story from the life of Jesus, but as for me, it’s time for me to drop my rock, again. Care to join?
Music time for Thanksgiving!
2wo bad jokes to chuckle us out
As the crowded airliner is about to push away from the gate, the peace is shattered by a five-year-old boy who picks that moment to throw a wild temper tantrum. No matter what his frustrated, embarrassed mother does to try to calm him down, the boy continues to scream furiously and kick the seats around him.
Suddenly, from the rear of the plane, an elderly man in a Marine uniform is seen slowly walking forward up the aisle. Stopping the flustered mother with an upraised hand, the white-haired, courtly, soft-spoken Marine leans down and, motioning toward his chest, whispers something into the boy's ear.
Instantly, the boy calms down, gently takes his mother's hand, and quietly fastens his seat belt. All the other passengers burst into spontaneous applause.
As the Marine slowly makes his way back to his seat, one of the cabin attendants touches his sleeve. "Excuse me, sir," she asks quietly, "but could I ask you what magic words you used on that little boy?"
The Marine smiles serenely and gently confides, "I showed him my pilot's wings, service stars, and battle ribbons, and explained that they entitle me to throw one passenger out the plane door on any flight I choose."
+++++++++++++++++++
For a computer programming class, I sat directly across from someone, and our computers were facing away from each other. A few minutes into the class, she got up to leave the room. I reached between our computers and switched the inputs for the keyboards. She came back and started typing and immediately got a distressed look on her face.
She called the teacher over and explained that no matter what she typed, nothing would happen. The teacher tried everything. By this time I was hiding behind my monitor quaking and red-faced.
I started to type, "Leave me alone!"
They both jumped back, silenced. "What?!" exclaimed the teacher.
I typed, "I said leave me alone!"
The kid got real upset. "I didn't do anything to it, I swear!"
It was all I could do to keep from laughing out loud. This conversation between them and HAL 2000 went on for an amazing five minutes.
Me: "Don't touch me!"
Her: "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hit your keys that hard."
Me: "Who do you think you are anyway?!" etc. Finally, I couldn't contain myself any longer and fell out of my chair laughing.
After they had realized what I had done, they both turned beet red.
Funny, I never got more than a C- in that class.