A Lesson on Forgiving the Stone Throwers and the Easily Condemned

Let’s cut to the point— In John 8, a woman was caught in the act of adultery, and her accusers put her in the streets to punish her: death by stoning. The crowd got rowdy and fully expected Jesus to side with them, but instead, something amazing and inhuman happened. Pause. I say inhuman because all these years later, no, we’re not stoning people, but we’re still vile to one another and call for bloodshed when we see fit. Un-pause. Instead of waiving His anointed hand to “proceed” with MURDER, Jesus drew a line in the sand between the woman and the crowd.

Jesus said, “You without sin, cast the first stone.” Biblical pause for mic drop. And one by one, each person walked away. Here’s the best part: being a good example.

“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.’” -John 8:10-11

Jesus did a thing… inspired the people to do a thing… then He basically said: Okay, who’s left to throw stones at you? No one. They were all ashamed for wanting to condemn a person when their own lives were filled with just as many wrong-doings. (Self-reflection/realization.) Imagine if we practiced not being judgmental hypocrites sometimes, and displayed empathy and forgiveness… what would our world look like? Life is on fire with debate right now due to the 2020 election, covid-19 developments, and a hundred other issues we are dealing with. Yes, we all have our social media platform of choice to stand on and preach our opinions, but Jesus takes the cake in the area of “illustrating a point” more than anyone… and what an amazing point to make.

I chose this Bible story because here’s where I’m going with it… as a culture, we need to re-evaluate how we see and treat those who are easy to condemn. Adultery is a terrible sin, but it’s just one of many. The crowd wanted to murder this woman; that’s also a sin the last time I checked. As a society, we have very little tolerance for other groups of people that seem to get thrown away far too easily as well, such as those with addiction and mental illness. There is no shame, failure, or weakness in being this person, or loving this person. I have been in both positions in my life. Jesus loved everyone; it’s that simple. Jesus saw into the hearts of mankind and forced them to face themselves… aka personal development at its most pure. Who in your life have you unfairly judged? Was there a time that you remember being the person who picked up the first stone and rallied for punishment? Perhaps you were the one facing the crowd in complete fear, and had no one to draw a line for you…

It’s hard to find the courage and strength to keep loving the easily condemned… and yes, sometimes it’s healthy for us to walk away and love people from a distance; there’s nothing wrong with that either. But I’d like to let the Word of God extend through me today, and use my own words to draw a line in the sand between the condemned and all the love that Jesus freely offers us…

You’re difficult, but not too difficult to love.

I love you even if you don’t know how to love me back.

I care about you even when you don’t have the energy to show me the same care in return.

I am here for you even though you couldn’t be there for me when I needed you.

I forgive you even if you can’t find the courage to explain why you said or did something hurtful.

I will never leave you even though you leave me at times in order to hide yourself.

I still love you because love has no conditions.

I’m not trying to change you or fix you— I already think you’re beautiful as you are.

I’m not asking you for anything— except to let me sit with you.

Even if we’re on different sides of the wall, just let me sit outside, ok?

It’s my choice to stay.

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I will never stop trying my hardest to love others as Jesus loved us. I will always choose to put down the stone and offer tolerance and understanding instead. Today, let’s all put down the stones, pick up this lesson, and go forward in love.

“If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.” – Ecclesiastes 4:10

Written by: Michelle TK

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(Here’s a “pocket-sized” version for you to reference. <3)