One of my favorite stories in the Bible is probably one of many people’s favorites. It’s found in John chapter 8. Jesus is found in the temple courts and He is teaching a lesson to those gathered around him. All of the sudden, the Pharisees bring in a woman who was caught in adultery and they make her stand before the group of people. The Pharisees tell everyone of the woman’s crime and they ask Jesus what He thinks is the appropriate action. After writing in the sand for a bit, Jesus gets up and says many’s favorite phrase in the Bible: "Let any one of you who is without sin cast the first stone." The first stone, that was probably once tightly gripped in a man's hand, drops. Then a second. And a third. And so on. Eventually, all of the woman's accusers leave and from what we can tell, just Jesus and the woman are left. Jesus then asks her where all of her accusers have gone and she claims that they've all left. And so Jesus replies the best line: "Then neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin."
I love that story. I love that story because it's one of the best examples of grace. During a time and culture where adultery was handled very seriously, Jesus is able to change the rules by just offering a few words. He doesn't go into all of the politics of what the Law says. He doesn't try and be fair and say that the woman deserves the same thing that probably many women before her received as punishment. He doesn't even ask the woman if she's learned anything from all this or if she's had a change of heart. He simply offers grace. And He does it in front of the very group of men that wanted him dead.
I also love this story because my mind wanders to all of the context that we don't know. And there's plenty of it. First, I wish I knew where the man that she slept with was. Was he married? Was he in a garden somewhere with his head in his hands, knowing that this woman was paying the punishment that he deserved as well? Was he in the temple praying for forgiveness? Was he at home trying to explain to his wife why he was unfaithful? Was he in that very crowd with a stone in his hand? If that's the case, was the woman set up? That might explain why it's worded that she was "caught in adultery." Maybe the Pharisees planned the entire thing.
I also want to know what Jesus was teaching in the temple courts right before the Pharisees brought in the woman. My story-telling side wishes that Jesus was talking about how we need to be people of forgiveness. That we need to be people who love our neighbor, offer grace and kindness, and that we should never get hot-headed. My ironic side likes to think that Jesus was just teaching something like, "The Pharisees aren't so bad. They're getting it. I mean, they're just doing their job. I bet they come around eventually." And of course, my comedic side just thinks that Jesus was teaching them how to make shadow puppets or something.
And then there's the question of why Jesus decided to draw in the sand. In terms of making the story a little more dramatic, He nailed it. Create a dramatic pause, wait for the crowd to lean in to hear what He has to say, and then deliver the line that people will repeat to their families and friends. And while there are a lot of theories out there, they're all just merely theories. So I'll offer mine (Forgive me if I'm copying someone else's.). I think that the Pharisees made Jesus extremely frustrated. As in, to the point of almost irate. So I think He decides to pause, collect his thoughts and not let His actions get the best of Him. It would be akin to the athlete that makes the mental error that instead of smashing his racket or spiking the ball on the court or breaking the bat over his knee, he pauses and doesn't let his actions get the best of him. He knows that the Pharisees want him dead. And He knows that this question puts Him in between a rock and a hard place. If He claims that stoning is the appropriate action, He’d be adhering to the Law of Moses but denying what He knows is right. If He claims that forgiveness is the appropriate route, He’s going against the law and giving more ammo to the Pharisees for his inevitable death. And to top it all off, He knows that He has very few days left on this earth. With all of this combined, I believe Jesus is fuming on the inside. But instead of losing it, Jesus instead creates the very first Zen Garden, takes a few breaths, collects His thoughts, and gives Himself enough time to answer the Pharisees' leading question- and turn it into a (potentially) whole new lesson for the group of people He was speaking with.
There are a lot of things we don't know about this story. But what's great about it is that we don't need to know everything. Because regardless of knowing the little details, the moral comes out loud and clear. Don't condemn others. Don't be the guy that is finding specks in people's eyes when you have a whole 2x4 in yours. Don't offer judgment on someone else's sin- especially when there's an amazing opportunity to offer grace.
But there's a second moral. After Jesus tells the woman that she is forgiven, that He doesn't condemn her, He tells her to "go and leave your life of sin." I take that as Jesus essentially saying, "I forgive you. I love you. You're fine... Now leave that part of your life and don’t ever go back." I feel like we so often glaze over that part. And yes, if I had to put this story in a category, it would be under the “God’s Grace” section. But there’s a part of me that wonders how much we only emphasize God’s grace because that’s more comfortable than everything Jesus is really offering here. I believe He’s offering grace not only to give a second chance, but because He hopes, desires, and expects the woman to do better in her second chance.
What’s fascinating to me though is that Jesus didn’t offer His forgiveness conditionally. The woman didn’t have to do anything, not then or later, to receive His grace. He just simply told her that He did not condemn her and that she should leave her life of sin. But what may be bigger here is not what Jesus did for this woman, but what He calls us to do.
I’m really good at taking stories like this one and talking about what Jesus did for those around Him. What I’m not so good at is taking what Jesus did and applying the same practices to my life. The fact that God is full of infinite grace is beyond overwhelming. And the fact that God will unconditionally offer grace with merely the hope, desire and expectation of us leaving our lives of sin is incredibly important. But I think the biggest lesson being taught here is that Jesus calls us to be people of infinite grace regardless of our expectation for change.
My most recent boss was a great example of this. He offered his employees a lot of freedom and was clear about each employee’s “big-picture goals.” He wasn’t the type to give you a check list to complete by the end of the week. He didn’t have a lot of demands at all, really. His approach to leadership was a reciprocal one. He treated you well, respected you, and supported you. His expectations for his employees were the same- that they would repay his trust with an honorable and productive work ethic. Many people would assume that this style of leadership would put my boss in a position where he might get walked over from time to time. And those people would be right. My boss did have those who took advantage of his kindness, his trust, and his leadership. But even when he knew that people were taking advantage of him, he didn’t let that change his leadership style. He still invested in you, the employee, and would constantly offer you grace with the hope, the desire, and the expectation that you would do better with your second chance.
In the two short years that I worked under this boss, the number one reason for people in my department working where they did was because of their leader. And the number one regret of those who left was that they’d be giving up a boss that they truly looked up to. For there are very few people in this world that can receive grace and immediately change; but there are even fewer people who can offer grace regardless of change occurring.
However, I won’t pretend like this is easy. I know for me personally, the battle of grace and what I do with it is a difficult one. It’s very rarely as simple as “continue to offer grace regardless of the circumstances.” Proverbs 26:11 compares a fool repeating his folly as a dog returning to his vomit. And yet Jesus also claims that we need to be people that forgive seventy times seven times. What I’m realizing though is that these two aren’t contradicting each other- they’re complements. Offering grace doesn’t mean acting like nothing ever happened. Offering grace means giving that person the opportunity for redemption. Whether or not they take it is up to them.
So when Jesus responds to if the woman should be stoned, He’s not only offering the woman freedom from her sins. He’s offering the crowd freedom as well. For giving grace leads to our own freedom. It offers us the opportunity to let go of what’s frustrating, teeth grinding, and heart wrenching and instead allows us to receive peace and shalom. It allows us to let go of circumstances that are not in our control. And it frees us the responsibility to justly discipline those who wronged us. Condemnation only gives us more to carry. For Jesus doesn’t tell us to be Him. He tells us to be like Him. Our job is to offer grace. And we’re to offer it to everyone- to those who let us down, disappoint us, fall back in the same old traps, lie to us about their progress, show no sign of hope, hurt us in ways we thought they couldn’t, took advantage of us, or for any other reason- we are to continually offer grace. Because that’s what Jesus offers us.
