We are Her.

And We are Her Accusers.

I mentioned yesterday that Jesus touched dirt twice in scripture. One thing I didn’t mention, when was that second time? It’s my favorite Jesus story in the Bible*.

John 8:1-11* …The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him,

“Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” 

This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” 

And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 

Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

Who do you identify with in this story? I think a lot of people tend to lean heavily one direction or another. For me, it is context dependent. Sometimes I relate to the woman and other times I’m positive that I was picking up stones off the ground.

We see that first, Jesus protected the woman without condition. He was then very direct with her that she must stop her sin because she’s on a crash course with hell.. She was burdened by her sin, and then suddenly moments away from literally being crushed by her sin. Jesus grabbed hold of her first, restored her, and then set her down a better path. Her conviction moment comes after Jesus established trust. Jesus was good at doing that quickly. Oftentimes it takes years to establish trust. 

I think we have lost the art of this balance, especially when we allow our identity to blend with the political sphere we identify with. The left and the right are both hellbent on doing this. 

Trying try to correct someone you haven’t first established trusting relationship with is like planting seeds in infertile soil and yelling them into growing. You’ve got no foundation. You’ve not earned their ear. Who are you? Roots have not been laid, friend. 

People are craving protection from a cruel world. People are craving Jesus.

They aren’t craving the stones.

You’ll be getting dirty in this life. Picking stones up off the dirt, involved in dirty affairs, or kneeling in the dirt to lift others up. We must start each day with the reminder ourself that we are sinners. We must walk with humility. We must earn trust in order to earn someone’s ear. 

At some point we will be brought before Jesus. The most unfortunate person in the story is one who was never mentioned. The man who also committed adultery. He never felt the weight of his sin, the crushing guilt, or ultimately to experience life-changing restoration. 

He was either buddies with the other men, or hiding. That man never changed. Don’t hide from the dirt.

From the dust we came and to the dust we will return, in the middle of the dust we will get dirty. Don’t pretend as if you won't. Root yourselves in Christ. Our life is but a mist, our time is brief. Our destiny is determined by the dirt we choose.

Don’t waste your life, it's time to get down and dirty. But in a good way.

Abide. 

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*Theological nerd footnote: this section of scripture may have never been written by John or originally part of His gospel. Many think this event did actually happen, but that it was added to John’s text centuries after John wrote his gospel because they didn’t know where to put it and thought it would fit there.