Praying the Gospels by Elmer L. Towns

Author:Elmer L. Towns
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Bible, The Gospels & Acts, Religion, Christian Life, General, Biblical Meditations, Prayer, Biblical Studies, Jesus
ISBN: 9780768424393
Publisher: Destiny Image Publishers
Published: 2007-03-31T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

The Absolute Love of Jesus

The Story of the Woman Taken in Adultery

On the Monday after the Feast of Tabernacles, the fields around Jerusalem were littered with branches and leaves from the discarded booths where people had slept. Before the sun came up, Jesus was in the temple to worship, but even at daybreak the people were drawn to Him. A few hundred gathered around Him as He sat to teach. The Pharisees and priests remained at a distance, with a conspiratorial air.

Then a woman’s cry was heard outside the gates.

“No! No!” The protests and shouts grew louder until two Pharisees appeared, dragging a disheveled woman. A pack of scribes and Sadducees followed, barking, “Guilty! Guilty!” The woman’s eyes were wide with panic. She was thrown onto the pavement in front of Jesus.

One of the Pharisees announced smugly to Jesus, “This woman was caught in adultery. The Law of Moses commands that we stone her.” He looked about him with a sneer. “But what do you say?”

The authorities were well aware of this woman’s affair and had been waiting for just the right moment to serve her up to the healer from Nazareth. With a crowd of witnesses present, her sin would pose a prickly dilemma for Jesus.

“Everyone knows the Law,” an elder Pharisee had reasoned. “If a man and woman lie together in adultery, they are to be stoned. If this Jesus is from God, He cannot deny God’s Law.” “But Rome has taken away our authority to stone sinners,” said another, “Only a Roman court can condemn a person to death.”

“Precisely!” said another. “If Jesus says, ‘Stone her,’ He will be arrested for murder and inciting a riot. Then He will be Rome’s problem. And if He says, ‘Stone her,’ where then is His Gospel of forgiveness?”

The woman wondered...the Pharisees wondered...the people wondered: What will Jesus say?

But Jesus said nothing. Instead, He bent to scribble in the dust with His finger.

The Pharisees began to grow uncomfortable. They demanded of Jesus, “Moses commanded that we stone adulterers. What is Your verdict?”

Jesus looked into the faces of the Pharisees. His quiet pronouncement was heard by all: “Let he among you who has never committed this type of sin, throw the first stone.”

The silent crowd refused to move. Jesus stooped to continue writing.

After a few moments of embarrassment, the oldest Pharisee turned to leave. One by one, the Pharisees slipped away. Jesus stood to look around. Seeing none of the religious leaders, He said to the woman, “Where are the people who accuse you? Has no one condemned you?”

“No one, sir,” she said. “They’ve all gone.”

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus said. “Go and sin no more.”

_My Time To Pray_

• Lord, keep me from being hypocritical like the religious leaders who only want to criticize.

• Lord, help me to show compassion to sinning people as You did to the woman.

• Lord, forgive any hidden sin.

The Woman Taken in Adultery

John 8:1-11

Jesus went early on the following morning And sat down in the middle Of the multitude to teach in the temple.

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