Getting Stoned (not the contemporary kind)

The back story (round 1) John 7:37

37On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38Whoever believes in me, as[c] the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." 39By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. 40On hearing his words, some of the people said, "Surely this man is the Prophet." 41Others said, "He is the Christ." Still others asked, "How can the Christ come from Galilee? 42Does not the Scripture say that the Christ will come from David's family[d] and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?" 43Thus the people were divided because of Jesus. 44Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him. Unbelief of the Jewish Leaders 45Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, "Why didn't you bring him in?"

46"No one ever spoke the way this man does," the guards declared.
47"You mean he has deceived you also?" the Pharisees retorted. 48"Has any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? 49No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law—there is a curse on them."
50Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, 51"Does our law condemn anyone without first hearing him to find out what he is doing?"
52They replied, "Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet[e] does not come out of Galilee."




So in round one:

Jesus is in Jerusalem, celebrating the feast of booths, and the Pharisees are like who does this Rabbi think he is?

He is changeling them on their own turf...
He can't talk like that!
We have to stop him!
So they round up their thugs and send them out to arrest Jesus so that they can privately quiet him.

Perhaps they thought a few days in jail would cool him off a little.
The leaders in the south thought the same thing about Martin Luther King Jr. too. But that's where King wrote some of his most famous material (such as his letter from Birmingham Jail).

But the Thugs show up and are struck by what Jesus is teaching, even they are transformed by what hew has to say...

So the Pharisees next devise a plan to confront Jesus publicly...
They set a trap, to embrace him into submission or get him killed.

Getting stoned (round 2)

John 8
1But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" 6They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." 8Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"
11"No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."


If they could humiliate Jesus in public by posing a question about the scriptures that Jesus could not answer (without destroying what he was teaching) then his popularity would fade.

So that night they arrested a woman "caught in the act of adultery." And held her until the morning when Jesus came back.

Jesus could have avoided the temple, he must have seen the thugs who had come to arrest him the day before. But he must have also known that there would be considerable confusion among the people he had taught the day before. He chose to walk back into the temple despite the fact that the religious elite would be gunning for him.

According to Jewish law the day after any major feast has to be observed as a Sabbath. So no work was allowed.

Jesus shows up and sits down (as any good Rabbi should ) before he begins teaching.

Only then did the Pharisees make their move. They could have tested him at the gate, but they waited until they had LOTS of witnesses.

so they bring out the woman "caught in the act of adultery"
which raises some questions:
First
"how/where do a group of religious leaders find/catch a woman in the act of adultery?"

Second
Adultery is rather hard to do by ones self...
"Where is the man?"

The Law dictated that both should be stoned Lev 20:10

In round 1 the leaders had invoked a curse on the crowds for not knowing what the law said... Now they are acting as if they only know part of the law...

It is the same today as it was then...
People tend to highlight the parts of the bible that they like and ignore the parts that they don't...
Can you think of an example?


Back to our story...

The religious elite are clearly only concerned with beating Jesus and preserving their own status and power.
The woman is just a prop in their plan...
Just as humans tend to do, they have forgotten her humanity...

But there is something else going on here as well. If they can't get their local thugs to arrest Jesus then they will have to get some one else to do it.

Around three sides of the second story of the temple was a Long covered walkway. Connected to and overlooking this walk way was a military fort built by Herod the Great. He knew that civil unrest often began in the temple area.
The Jews were not allowed to sentence anyone to death (that's why the religious leaders drag Jesus in font of the Romans, but we're getting ahead of ourselves in our story).
Roman soldiers would have had a clear view of what was going on in the temple area that day.


4and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?"

They are quoting Moses directly and then asking Jesus to agree or disagree...

So if Jesus follows the letter of the law and sentences the woman to death by stoning then :
1she dies
2the incident would cause an outcry from the people Jesus was teaching
3the soldiers will see the incident (the stoning and the outcry) as an uprising and the religious leaders would point to Jesus as the one who started it.

But

If Jesus breaks with the Law and tradition and says that the woman should be forgiven:
1 the religious leaders can discredit Jesus as a heretic for ignoring the law, they would have called him a coward, and said things like "are you unwilling to pay the price for our freedom?" ;-)
2

SO it seems that their trap has left Jesus with no where to turn.
Moses or Rome?
Dammed if you do and dammed if you don't

The people were listening, the Romans were watching!

The religious elite are so sure of their victory that they planed this confrontation in public on their own turf!

The question is about Justice...
The religious leaders see justice as a strict (public) application of the law.
Jesus sees justice by looking at the woman as a human in need of grace...

6They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.

Remember this is a Sabbath?
The primmer requirement of the Sabbath was to refrain from doing work.
Jesus is a rabbi...

The Pharisees had determined that writing could be considered as work for a Rabbi.
But this required that they define what writing was.
They had settled on writhing as making some kind of permanent mark like putting ink on paper.

So what does Jesus do?
This is so brilliant...
He bends down and begins writing in the dust!
This is not a permanet mark... Its gone as soon as the wind blows.

He is making it clear to them that he is familiar not only with the written law but also with their interpretation and man made rules surrounding it!


Remember in round 1
They said "Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet[e] does not come out of Galilee."

Jesus is saying look I'm no country bumpkin.

So what does he write?

We don't have a definitive answer on this...
But his following words presuppose that he probably wrote something that would give the men pause, since they didn't start throwing stones straight away, and still gave a strict observance of the Law. perhaps he wroteLeviticus 20:10 :

'If a man commits adultery with another man's wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death."
Where is the man?

Then Jesus announced the method of execution...

7When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."

Jesus calls them out!
"Which of you is willing to step out and claim that they have never sinned?"

And remember the Romans are still watching...
If one of the leaders steps up and throws the first stone they will be the ones arrested!

Jesus pulls the ultimate Jujitsu move and traps the Pharisees in their own trap.
Now they must admit that they are ether sinners or are heretics for ignoring the law, and/or are unwilling to "pay the price for their freedom."

8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.

Interestingly Jesus is not interested in gloating or bringing further shame on them. He does not want revenge! He doesn't stare them down or watch as they withdraw. He refuses to "twist the knife."
He bends down and continues writing in the sand, giving them the chance to change their mind (and perhaps their hearts).

10Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"

Imagine being this woman...
She has been arrested in the middle of the night and kept in jail until the morning. She knew what the penalty was for her crime. She had spent the whole night knowing she had committed a capital offense and would be stoned... She was dragged in-front of a mob of people and the religious folks condemned her with scripture on their lips...
Brutal violence could only be next, and she had had all night to think about it!


But then this crazy Rabbi shows up and transfers the anger of the religious folks from her to himself. Her terror must have slipped away as she saw the humiliated men one by one dropping their rocks and quietly slipping away.

What a cost this man has paid, shifting the anger of such powerful men from her to himself. And he doesn't even know her name. What will he want in return? How will he treat her?
11"No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."

Jesus is the one without sin! If anyone could condemn her it is Him!
Jesus nether condemn her no overlooks her self destructive lifestyle.
The woman's past in no way diminishes his willingness to save her.
He sets her free
The woman is able to walk away, from the incident but also from her former life.

Do you you see a pattern emerging?
Jesus is taking the pain and anger of the world upon himself.
And
He is setting captives free
And
He is giving the powerful a chance to change their path as well...

Do you play the part of Jesus in this story, offering grace to the wonam and the judgemental religous folks?
or
Do you play the prt of the woman needing grace and repentance?
or
The Religous leaders being scandelized by the people Jesus lets into the kingdom, and yet being offred a chance to change your ways?

Have you checked your feet lately?

12After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing? 13You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. 14And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. 15I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. 16I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. 17Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them. John 13:12-17 ( NLT )( Jhn 13:12 )

Anybody who has ever been in a men’s locker room or raised teenage boys knows what “sticky feet” is all about. There is really no description for the aroma that assaults ones olfactory senses from the sneakers and socks of an athlete. Well I’ll go you one better.

In Jesus’ day, sandals or bare feet were the rule, not the summer time exception. Closed toe footwear or socks were unheard of. We all have sandals or Tevas, so that is no big deal. However, the sandal covered feet of Jesus’ day were walking on dirty, dusty, possibly stone paths or muddy trails. These were the same “roadways” that the animals took. Horses, donkeys, camels, goats, cattle, and sheep, to best of my knowledge, were not house broken during that time or even now for that matter. So dust and dirt of the road was the least of travelers’ problems. The Department of Public Works didn’t keep the streets too clean; that was left to a good rain storm. EEEEeewwwwweee.

It was a standard hospitality practice in Palestine to offer a visitor a basin of water to wash their feet when they came to your home. That’s a big no kidding; who would want someone walking through the house with those dirty feet; certainly not my mother. In wealthy homes, the lowliest of the servants was given the task of washing the visitor’s feet.

Jesus said, “Now that I your teacher and Lord have washed your feet, you are to do that for one another.” Do we even have a clue? Our garage-door-opener-fenced-in-back-yard-stick-to-our- computer-monitor lives can’t begin to image that kind of personal, almost intimate, contact with someone. Is Jesus asking us to be space invaders with each other? I’m pretty sure He is. How can we really disciple someone unless we are willing and able to wash their feet? Will we wade into the mud and muck of what they have walked through in their lives?

I have seen God do some powerful stuff when people have literally washed one another’s feet. As I have been blessed to see and participate in this awesome practice I have often wondered who is this more humbling for, the washer or the washee? In either case, the heart must be vulnerable, open, even exposed.

The one that extends the foot and the one who receives the foot, each must be willing to expose themselves to each other. Please notice; Jesus began by stripped down to undergarments. Jesus became vulnerable first. We must lead the same way in washing one another’s feet. We can convey safety and vulnerability by stripping away all pretense, and masks and stuff that gets in the way of us being in real relationship with one another. It will be much easier for someone to expose their filthy feet to someone who is kneeling before them in their skivvies.

I think that you and I would agree, in principle if not in practice, that it is easier to give than to receive; especially in foot washing. Is it possible for someone to wash your feet? Will you expose the mud and the dung you have walked through in your travels?

One of the things that the Catholic Church has gotten right is the confessional. We Protestants tend to run from anything Catholic just in principle without really examining what we are running from. Confession is cathartic. It is meant to be way. Yes, we confess our sins to God and He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us (1Jo 1:9 ). But, what about James 5:16 (Jam 5:16) ? “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” How many times have we not felt forgiven, not felt cleansed, after we have confessed our sins to God. Confession, to one another, is healing.

When we extend our foot to the one who washes them, we are saying, these are my sins; these are my burdens. There is an important transaction between us and God, and the foot washer and the one whose foot is being washed. It is sacramental, because grace is conveyed between us and God, between each other. Boy, do we ever need that kind of grace.

So you want to be disciple makers (Mat 28:19) ? Carry a basin and a towel. You’ll need it.