The Lynch Mob

Wednesday, March 8, 2023

Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple.  A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them.  As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery.  They put her in front of the crowd.  “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery.  The law of Moses says to stone her.  What do you say?”  They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger.  They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!”  Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.  When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman.  Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers?  Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”  “No, Lord,” she said.  And Jesus said, “Neither do I.  Go and sin no more.”  John 8:1-11

The Pharisees, judgmental, aristocratic, and obnoxious, a blight on any religious professional’s public image, are always portrayed as the bad guys.  They are the loathsome and outraged townsfolk of any Grade-B Western movie, ready to hang the innocent.  The focus on this account is usually the lack of compassion the mob had for the woman, coupled with the forgiveness of Jesus.  Rightly so!  Less in focus is the complexity of the Pharisees’ committee work…looking for a way to trap Jesus into taking sides.  He didn’t, you know. 

And, depending on which side you might favor:

       A.     She was a sinner, and she was about to get what she deserved

       B.    Jesus always forgives…don’t be a hater

       C.    What’s the big deal?  Nobody’s perfect.

Well, there you go, taking sides.

There’s plenty of thought (from a bystander’s perspective) to go around.  One I hadn’t considered before is the makeup of a lynch mob.  The mob may appear to be an evil and colossal meteor hurtling towards crowd justice, rolling over whatever has the misfortune to be in its’ pathway.  But groups of people, no matter how large, or in charge, are not monolithic in purpose or thought.  The Pharisees were no exception.  Among them dwelt as many different motives driving their actions, as there were individuals. 

Certainly (because Scripture says it plainly) there were those self-righteous leaders, hell-bent on destroying Jesus’ work, or the woman they despised, acting from an evil motive of preserving their power.  Some of them had little power, and were hoping to accrue some access to the big show…gaining a stake in the power structure, by going along with the majority.  Undoubtedly there were some who had their doubts…curious, but not necessarily committed to a lynching.  And there were those who were secretly rooting for the underdog; Nicodemus may have been among that lot.  And there were some, I’m certain, who were just like some of us…confused, pushed by the crowd, just trying to not be different.

For You Today 

If you found yourself in any of that description of the mob, consider the alternative, swimming upstream, resisting, forgiving, being different.  It won’t ever be easy…but there’s never a wrong time to do right!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,500 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper explore some of these:  Go, and Sin No More  or  Catch and Release  or  The Woman Who Sinned    

Title Image: via Pixabay.com    Images without citation are in public domain.

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

 

The Woman Who Sinned

Wednesday, March 11, 2020

Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple.  A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them.  As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery.  They put her in front of the crowd.  “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery.  The law of Moses says to stone her.  What do you say?”  They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger.  They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!”  Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.  When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman.  Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers?  Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”  “No, Lord,” she said.  And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”                        John 8:1-11

Stoning was not frequently practiced in Jesus’ day.  Even though the law of Moses said it was a just punishment, it was hard to enforce because adultery was common.  It’s like church discipline in our day.  Lifestyles which would have caused weeping and gnashing of teeth just a decade or two ago are now openly practiced by leaders in public life…and even some church people.  All with little or no consequences, or even a show of accountability.

The crowd anticipated a real circus.  Jesus had been saying some pretty radical things, and now the Pharisees were jumping on his case.  This was like two NFL teams trash-talking their way through Super Bowl week.  When the day for the big game (the stoning in this case) arrives before the crowd, the highly anticipated and exciting spectacle of stoning, hangs in the balance.  Hold onto your seats, grab your popcorn and hot dogs, folks – we are in for a great show today!

Imagine now the disappointment of the crowd, as the quarterback of the Pharisee Legal Eagles simply lets the game ball drop to the ground, turns away from the field, and forfeits the game.  He slinks away, head down, and red-faced.  It’s like seeing the Heavyweight boxing champion cower in fear when Granny Clampett enters the ring; what a disappointment.  The crowd wanted blood; they got nothing!

However, the real disappointment had to be Yahweh’s, the Father in Heaven.  God above sees the blood lust of His people, His chosen people, and can only shake His head in sadness.  This is why judging is not in our hands; we do not have sufficient wisdom to understand what judgment is supposed to accomplish.  So, when you are part of the crowd, and judgment is being passed around, think twice about whether you want to participate.  The Pharisees had a perfectly legal case; they just didn’t have the moral resume’ to be the prosecutors.

For You Today

In our polarized culture it is a wise person who will refuse to quickly jump on either side of highly emotional issues.  Rather, attempt to get high up on the balcony to get a better view of the big picture.  That’s where your Heavenly Father sees things.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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Title Image:  Wikimedia Commons  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

For other posts on John 8:1-11 see Catch and Release and Go, and Sin No More

Go, and Sin No More

thursday, December 11, 2014

Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple.  A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them.  As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery.  They put her in front of the crowd.  “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery.  The law of Moses says to stone her.  What do you say?”  They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger.  They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!”  Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.  When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman.  Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers?  Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”  “No, Lord,” she said.  And Jesus said, “Neither do I.  Go and sin no more.”    John 8:1-11 (NLT)

The woman brought to Jesus by the Pharisees was in a tough spot.  The powerful leaders were using her as a pawn in a chess game against Jesus, trying to discredit him with trick questions.  That was bad enough; but the woman’s life was on the line.

Jesus didn’t answer the Pharisees’ question directly, but simply wrote in the sand.  Some say he wrote a list of the religious leader’s sins.  His non-answer turned the whole focus off this woman’s trespasses, and shined a disturbing light on sinful religious leaders who only wanted to maintain their power – even at the cost of a woman’s life.

If Jesus had said, “OK…you know the law, stone her,” they could have blunted Jesus’ teaching on mercy with her blood.  If He had said, “No…let her go,” they would have convicted Jesus of disrespecting the Law of God.  They really weren’t interested in the woman, only embarrassing Jesus!

But either way, the woman’s life was at an end.

As an exposed adulteress, any respectability was gone, even if they didn’t kill her body.   There are worse things than dying! 

At least two questions always leap to the forefront when I read this account:

1.      Where was the man?  It does take two to commit adultery.

--- but even more…

2.      When forgiven, did the woman REALLY sin no more?

Well, I suspect she didn’t!

No, I’m not running her down like a Pharisee – it’s just that I know me; and knowing human failure when it comes to sin prevents me from assuming that woman was anything like “perfect” after she left Jesus’ presence.  But, then again, she wasn’t perfect before.

So what difference did meeting Jesus make?  You would have to ask her that question.

The whole point of the story seems to be that we all must be careful about pointing out the sins of other people’s lives – unless, of course, we can honestly say we’re free of any sin.  THEN we could pick up the first stone.

For you, today

If you thought about asking that woman what difference meeting Jesus made in her life, here’s another question that might bear fruit:

What difference has meeting Him made in your life?

pars pro toto

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

“You have heard the commandment that says, ‘You must not commit adultery.’  But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  So if your eye—even your good eye—causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away.  It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.  And if your hand—even your stronger hand—causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away.  It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.     

Matthew 5:27-30 (NLT)

The Latin saying "pars pro toto" (the part stands for the whole) applies here.  It simply means that even the smallest part of a larger entity represents the whole entity. 

We elect representatives to Congress.  They are supposed to represent (as a part of us) the whole district. 

The mind is one part of the total body....but it represents the whole body, connected by nerves, blood, flesh and bone. 

In just the same way, Jesus says that the lust of the mind (pars) is as real as the acts of the entire body (toto).  You cannot separate the two. 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was executed by the Nazis because of his testimony.  He said, "When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die."  To die to self means we should view sin so seriously, as to prefer to lose an eye or hand, rather than disappoint the Master. 

When it comes to adultery (in Greek, literally "marriage-breaking"), we are to be one in mind and body - rejecting the way of the world, and being obedient in self-denial.  We are called to responsible living in the area of our sexuality and fidelity, whether married or single.

For You, Today…

Even the smallest thought that differs from the mind of Christ can tear the pars from the toto in the body of Christ.

Be careful to walk in toto today…strengthen the body; be a strong part!