John 7 & 8 -- That Sound ......

I found so much I wanted to write about, but once again my eyes and ears were drawn to one thing here – the sound of stones dropping.

Jesus was teaching in a public place in Jerusalem when the religious leaders burst onto the scene, forcing an obviously embarrassed woman into His presence.  “We caught her having sex with a man who isn’t her husband!  According to the law, we are to stone her.  You agree, don’t you?”  (They obviously knew He was compassionate and planned to call Him out as a lawbreaker if He tried to save her.)  They’d also come armed – with stones – and they were worked up and ready to do the deed.

We have no clue as to what the woman expected Him to say, but it surely wasn’t this:  “Anyone here who has never sinned can throw the first stone at her.”

I’m sure there was utter silence for a moment or two, punctuated by the woman’s sobbing.  Then came the sound – one rock hitting the ground.  Then another … and another.  Those men who seconds earlier had arrived with the zeal of their self-ascribed holiness had, in just those few words, watched as their own souls had been laid bare by the skillful words of the Great Physician.  Looking within, they’d discovered the ugliness of their own sin that couldn’t be denied.  They were infected just as much as she was.  They were dying, too.

The sound of stones hitting the pavement surely sounded like a hailstorm – of grace.  Remorsefully, they turned and walked away.  Soon the silence was deafening and the woman dared to look up.  Only one man was still looking at her, and He said, “Where are they?  Didn’t any of them judge you guilty?”  “No one, sire,” she sheepishly answered.  That’s when she heard the unexpected:  “I also don’t judge you guilty.  You may go now …”

She most likely couldn’t believe her ears!  She would live???  I think He caught her eyes as she stood to go, and she heard Him finish by saying, “But don’t sin anymore…”  You see, He loved her too much to not say that.  Max Lucado described those eyes in his book, Six Hours One Friday:  “Eyes that saw her not as she was, but as she was intended to be.”

Just a few days ago, I heard Glenn Beck echo that.  He said, “Live like the person you were created to be, not like the person you’ve allowed yourself to become.”

Father, I feel right now what those men surely felt – a terrible sadness that I too have over my lifetime allowed myself to stray so far from who You created me to be.  I’ve fought to become that person, and I need Your help every day to continue the process.  Thank You for the sound of those rocks hitting the ground, Father.  Thank You for Your grace.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford