So another thing to unpack in my journey through The Gospel of Mark...-
Mar 3:29 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin."
First lets look at the setting...
Jesus said this in response to the Pharisees, the religious elite, who were calling the Jesus and the spirit he was infused with a demon or unclean spirit (see Mar 3:22). We can also see that this is one of the popular responses to what He was doing and saying because his family had come down "to take charge of him, for they said, "He is out of his mind." (see Mar 3:21)
Often what happens is this verse is taken out of context and used to mean "if you have said somthing bad about The holy spirit, Jesus, God, the Church, The Pope, (or what ever other ax the person speaking has to grind) then God will turn his back on you and you get the punishment you deserve...
But we can see from the preceding verse that Jesus is not talking about this.
Mar 3:28 I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them.
Which harmonizes well with the other things Jesus said:
Jhn 6:37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.
Jhn 6:38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.
Jhn 6:39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.
Jhn 6:40 For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."
When Jesus said this to the religious elite he did so knowing they had an excellent knowledge of scriptures (most of them had them memorized). So when he uses the term Blasphemies he is drawing on a very specific understanding of what it means to blaspheme..
Which brings to a more important point...
What does it mean to use the Lord’s name in vain or blaspheme?
This is a question that might seem self-evident to most people in western society. Whether you are religious or not, you would probably not even hesitate with your answer...
I often struggled with how to reconcile my faith in God with my occasional under my breath damming of something or other. So I've done some researched on the original words used, naqa (vain), I read several commentaries, researched on-line, and prayed. These are the best explanations I have found.
Some people believe the reason why this is a violation of the third commandment is because people are using God’s name in a “vain,” “worthless,” or “empty” way. In this case, to say “God damn it is not the same as seriously calling upon God to damn something or someone. For these people, if you say it seriously, fine, but if you say it casually, then you have used His name in an empty way and thereby broken the third commandment.
If the principle that we are going by is that we are not to use God’s name and not really mean it, then I believe that we are very inconsistent in what we take offense to as a culture.
Why don’t people get offended when others say “God bless you?”
Do you think that every time someone says this that they really mean it?
Do you think that in their mind they are talking to God, beseeching on your behalf for a blessing?
Just about every email I get ends with the phrase, “God bless.” I seriously doubt that that person actually said a prayer for me before he or she hit send. If this is the case, then why is saying ”God bless you” not just as much a violation of the third commandment as saying “God damn you?”
Is it more biblical to ask for God’s kindness or judgment?
I don’t think anyone who is honest with themselves can say that they are consistent in this regard. Saying “God damn it” and not meaning it should be just as bad as saying “God bless you” and not meaning it.
This is the most important reflection so I have saved it for last. In fact, if what I am about to say is true, then other arguments really don't make any difference.
The question is this: What does it mean to use God’s name in an empty or vain way?
OR
What does the third commandment really mean?
Or
What would the orginal hearers have understood it to mean?
It is hard to tell from a simple word study on the Hebrew term naqa (vain). Also our understanding of a “name” and what it signifies is much different than what it meant in the context in which this commandment was given. What we have to do is to try to understand what it meant then, so that we can understand what it means now.
It does us no good to anachronistically impose our understanding upon an ancient text. This is exegesis (reading into the text what we presuppose), not exegesis (letting the text speak on its own terms).
This is what my studies have shown.
The nations to which the Israelites were going had many gods. They were highly superstitious. Their prophets would often use the name of their god in pronouncements. The usage could be in a curse, hex, or even a blessing. They would use the name of their god to give their statements, whatever they may be, authority.
To pronounce something in their own name would not have given their words much weight, but to pronounce something in the name of a god meant that people would listen and fear. They may have said;
“In the name of Baal, there will be no rain for 40 days.”
Or
“In the name of Marduk, I say that you will win this battle.”
This gave the prophet much power and authority. But, as we know, there is no Baal or Marduk. Since this is the case, they did not really make such pronouncement and therefore the words of the prophet had no authority and should neither have been praised or feared.
God was attempting to prevent the Israelites from doing the same thing. God was saying for them not to use His name like the nations used the names of their gods.
He did not want them to use His name to invoke false authority behind pronouncements. In essence, God did not want the Israelites to say that He said something that He had not said.
This makes sense. God has a reputation to protect. He does not want anyone saying “Thus sayeth the Lord” if the Lord had not spoken. All of you have experienced this. You have had people say you said something you did not say. This can be very damaging to your character.
It is very destructive to your name. Why? Because it makes you out to be something that you are not. How much more important is it for God to protect His character? It is fitting that God would have put this as one of the ten most important commandments as the nation of Israel moved towards Canaan.
What does this mean for us?
Well, for starters we understand that the third commandment is certainly not focused on something so trivial as saying “God damn it!”
The funny thing is that while some people may never think of using that phrase, people all over the Christian religious landscape are breaking the third commandment every day, damaging the Lord’s reputation. “Thus sayeth the Lord . . .” “God told me to tell you . . .” “God says that if you send in money to build our minstry you will be blessed.” I could go on and on, but you get the point.
Using the name of the Lord in vain means that you do damage to His reputation and character through false and unsure claims. This is what Blaspheme is all about.
They were trying to speak for God and comdeming the spirit that was in/working through Jesus.
And Jesus lets them know that what they are doing is highly offensive to the trinity...
It has nothing to do with you having said somthing bad about The holy spirit, Jesus, God, the Church, The Pope, (or what ever other else people try to use this passage to mean)
http://being-the-body.blogspot.com/
Showing posts with label forgiveness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label forgiveness. Show all posts
Monday, July 06, 2009
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
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?
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?
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