Stones and Mercy

Last week as I was planning Holy Yoga I really had some stuff hanging heavy on my heart.  God kept telling me to talk about gossip and slander and how powerful our words can be.  I brought this up to my Holy Yoga class and we all started to share.  I was not the only one feeling heavily burdened by the sinful nature of gossip.

This was our verse from John 8:1-11

But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group  and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery.  In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on 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.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

 At 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.  Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

“No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

I LOVE THIS PASSAGE.

There is one line that stood out to me this time.  It screamed at me today, “look here! see me!”  It’s near the end and it says, “until only Jesus was left“.

If you feel led, go ahead and read it again and pay special attention to that line.

Because here’s the thing.  All of those people condemning us will go away.  All those people judging will move on to judge another or maybe they will see their ways and stop or maybe they will continue to judge.  Maybe they will face their own sin and be judged by others.  It doesn’t matter. In the end, only Jesus will be left.

Jesus…full of grace and mercy.

©2014 Sue Bidstrup, Great Big YES™ All Rights Reserved