The Prodigal's ReturnSample

Stones

Bailey Hartman

[John 8:1-11 NASB] But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. And early in the morning He came again into the temple area, and all the people were coming to Him, and He sat down and began teaching them. Now the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in the act of adultery, and after placing her in the center of the courtyard, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?” Now they were saying this to test Him so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. When they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” And again, He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Now when they heard this, they began leaving, one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman where she was, in the center of the courtyard. And straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” She said, “No one, [a]Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on do not sin any longer.”

The story about casting stones is probably familiar. The Pharisees catch a woman in the act of adultery and bring her to Jesus. They know that He is in the temple and want to catch Him going against the law so they can later accuse Him of something. How often do we do this? We do not drag a person physically into the spotlight, but in our spirits, we too often accuse or judge someone with no compassion whatsoever. It is easy to point out other people’s flaws and ignore our own. None of us like to take self-inventory.

The first action that Jesus takes is He kneels down and writes in the dirt with his finger. Hillsong United has a song called “Splinters and Stones”, here are some of the lyrics:

“Grace

You saw the crushing weight my flesh deserved

You kneeled and wrote forgiveness in the dirt

And one by one the stones fell where they lay

As one by one, my accusers walked away

With nothing left to throw they made a cross

And knowing only love could count the cost

You were there”

I love the image of Jesus bending down in front of the Pharisees and writing the word “Forgiveness” in the dirt with his finger. They continued pestering and questioning Him, seemingly ignoring what he was writing and then, He stood up.

“…He who is without sin among you, let him Be the first to throw a stone at her.”

Then, he kneeled back down to continue writing, and one by one, they all left. I love the image of them dropping their stones to the ground as they walked away. Then, listen to the compassion that Jesus has for her. “I do not condemn you…”. What a Savior!

God, help us to remember that none of us are worthy. Not one of us is righteous without you. Sin is not measured in your eyes. We place our sin on a scale of bad to worse. Help us to see YOU in others. God, remind us that we ALL need your mercy and grace every day. Amen.