Casting
Stones
When
they kept 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.” – John 8:7
We’re all
familiar with the story of the adulteress woman. The teachers of the law and
the Pharisees brought her before Jesus. They had already condemned her and, no
doubt, stood ready to stone her to death. That was the law after all.
We’re good
at following the law, aren’t we? At least when we’re the ones pointing the
accusing finger at someone else. It’s just way easier to look at the sins of
others rather than those that are within us.
How many
times have I heard someone – a self-proclaimed Christian – throwing this
scripture out to condemn someone or to justify their own unforgiveness. Jesus told
her to go and sin no more, they say righteously. And, yes, Jesus did say that.
But it’s important not to gloss over the rest of the story in order to get to
your weapon of words.
Jesus told
the one who was without sin to cast the first stone. Are you without sin? I’m
surely not. In fact, no one who walks this earth is without sin. But that doesn’t
stop us from casting stones, does it?
Our world
has so much darkness in it right now. We blame everyone else without bothering
to look within ourselves to the sins in our own hearts. We are arrogant and
justified in our own eyes, failing to understand that our sins turn others away
from the saving grace that Jesus offers to all of us.
The next
time you’re tempted to condemn someone else, check yourself first.
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