90. Quietly and Gently to the Slaughter

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 14:02:42 GMT

Quietly and Gently to the Slaughter

(John 8:1-11)

1But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them.

Chapter 7 ended by saying that they all went to their homes... and here we see that Jesus went to the mount of Olives. He had no where to lay his head, he was not at home in this world, he was at home when he entered into prayer. What a picture for us... what a glimpse into what it is to follow his example... no matter where we find ourselves physically in this world... we are always home spiritually because home is being where he is... and as long as he is with us, we are always with him.

God with us...

I just never get tired of saying that. I never get tired of thinking about it for hours day and night. I never see it as anything less than a miracle and the greatest gift that could be created or thought up, given or received... all things are contained in that one Truth... every good work, every blessing, every concept of true peace and joy and contentment exists in that one thing that he came to fulfill

Emmanuel, God with us.

"18I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. (John 14)"

"18Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matt 18)"

3The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?"

What a contrast we see... the way the Pharisee handled this woman with blatant disrespect, standing her in their midst with the smell of her sin still on her disheveled clothing.. shaming her, no mercy, no kindness, no move toward restoring her, forgiving her, and helping her to become a force to help others living in similar sin... what a deadness, how far an image from even the God of the Old Testament. They used her as a pawn, a puppet, to parade around for their own intent and purposes, to feed their own self-righteousness and arrogance. They use the law for their own selfish ambition, their own greedy gut. And they devour people in the process, they rob them of their hope, of who they could be if they would turn from their sin. How cruel...

That was never the intent of the law given thru Moses, that was never the heart of God, it was not him who tried to crush the very spirit of a fragile soul sick with sin. It was the corruption of a leadership entrusted with much. It was the sin of evil men that overshadowed that of a tainted woman. Even the law, was about reasoning together, about looking forward to that day of forgiveness, about turning from sin and crying out to a God of mercy, trusting his judgments. Moses begged the mercy of God on behalf of a people in sin... the Pharisees didn't even reflect the character of Moses (let alone God or Christ)... the very name they hailed as being the righteous law giver. They lacked his heart for God, to lead people to Him rather than themselves, to serve his kingdom and not their own, to work for his glory and not to horde glory for themselves.

6They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

Their motives were not Truth or the will of God. Their motives were rooted in self and in personal agendas and arrogance. Their question of "what do you say?" was about to be answered as we see the stark contrast between religion and Christianity, between darkness and the light...

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." 8Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

In his silence, he spoke. Their own conscience ate them up as the Spirit of God spoke to their thoughts... shining light upon the darkness that had consumed them... revealing their own sin and hypocrisy... not to shame them, but to convict them... to offer them the same opportunity to turn from their error and sin that Christ was offering to this woman whose spirit they were devouring. In that light, Truth cannot be denied.

Perhaps he wrote the sins of those men in the sand, perhaps he wrote the laws that each of them had broken. Laws that only they had known they had broken, laws that they thought no one else knew that they had broken. Perhaps the rocks were dropped in shock and shame, as they were forced to see their own filth and made aware that it was not as well hidden as they thought. Not a one could cast a stone, because in that moment, I believe the Christ and the Spirit of God swirled around these men so that their own guilt and sin was illuminated and undeniable.

9At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"
11"No one, sir," she said.
"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."

I love the sternness and yet the great compassion of Christ. I love that he does not enable her sin, but instead handles it as something undesirable and dangerous to everyone. He insists that it be gone and that she turn away completely from it. And yet, there is such a love and genuine kindness that cannot be denied. He is the only one among them that could have cast a stone at all, and yet he refused to take it in his hand or even consider such an action. Rather, he felt the sting of that stone in his heart, he knew it would be him that would suffer the blow of those stones in a very short time -- it would be him on a cross that would suffer the consequence of this woman's sin and that of her accusers.

But without hesitation, he releases her from her guilt and the debt of her sin and takes it upon himself (without anyone knowing the depth of what he just did, no one else but Father and Spirt). Just as he releases the Pharisee at the cross as he asks the Father to forgive them because they didn't know the depth of what they were doing. Just like he forgives me and you and all who will call upon his name. There was no question that he understood that every sin he forgave, every person he released from the bondage of the law, every soul that he gave the right to live to... was a person that he would have to take the place of... he died on that cross and became that arrogant, selfish Pharisee... he became that woman caught in adultery... that one who had an abortion... that one who pulled the trigger and took the life of another...

It was no small thing each time he said, "neither do I condemn you." Even though it was a very different dynamic when he said it. Because each time he said it, he willingly took on the sin, the punishment, the debt, of every person involved. He was the cleaner, the scapegoat, the door to freedom for each of us. This scene ends so quietly, so seemingly easy and without violence...

but it is only one example of the Lamb led to the slaughter.
Of the depth of what our Lord did for each of us, of the far-reaching violence of his sacrifice as he released this woman and each of us... only to turn and walk up that hill and lay down on a cross to die in our place. It was our sin. It was us. We did it. We clasped the hand of sin and made a deal with death. And Jesus freed us from it. We savored the sweetness of that sin... and he died from the poison of it. There is no one like him. There is no God like him.

I love you Jesus.
I LOVE YOU LORD!!!
<3

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90. Quietly and Gently to the Slaughter