Throwing Rocks

A group of men dragged a woman to the front of temple steps, to where Jesus was speaking. They proudly proclaimed her guilt: "this woman was caught in the act of adultery and the law say's to stone her, what do you say, Rabbi?" 

The accusers were lawyers just itching to catch Jesus in a legal trap. Their question smacked of self righteousness dripping with an insincere moral superiority. Would Jesus support the law or would he dismiss it and be regarded as a zealot? This was the biblical version of the political "gotcha" question.
 
The litigants picked up rocks to execute the sinner and showcase their "righteousness." But Jesus remained silent-he knew their intent. "How do you rule, teacher?" they demanded. Jesus knelt down beside the women and scribbled something in the dirt. "What will it be?" they pushed for His verdict.
 
Then Jesus stood up, faced the men and said "All right, stone her, but let those who have never sinned throw the first stone." Jesus words hung in the air for what seemed like eternity. And for a moment He rendered the "rock throwers" impotent. He flipped it on them. He ruled on the accused-then went inward to the heart of the accusers.
 
The rock throwers judgment was made in bad faith-an insincere, self righteous condemnation. They appointed themselves judge, jury and executioner-a position only reserved for the one true Judge-God-who is the "maker of heaven and earth who will one day judge the living and the dead."
 
Jesus knelt back down and finished writing in the dirt and one by one, beginning with the oldest; they dropped their rocks and walked away. Only Jesus and the woman were alone. He looked in her eyes and said "where are your accusers-did even one of them condemn you?"
"No" she said quietly.
Jesus replied "Then neither do I, go and sin no more."
 
Jesus made two judgments-one for the woman and the other for the "rock throwers." His judgment of the woman was animated by the law of love. This is operational law for those who live in the kingdom of God-followers of Christ.
 
Love governs my every action. Love first-then proceed with correcting, discerning and making a judgment-the New Testament word for making this "judging" is "krinos."
 
Jesus' condemnation of the rock throwers was not in the outward act of making a judgment, but the inward condition of the heart in which the judgment is made.
 
As the rock throwers lifted themselves up on the "bema" seat reserved only for the one true judge-God, they picked up their rocks. And in doing so they walked right into their own condemnation.