Hearts of Stone

They went each to his own house, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more” (John 7:53-8:11).

 After seeing the impact of His words on the officers who were sent to arrest Him, everyone went home for the evening. Everyone except Jesus, who had no home of His own here on earth… “Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head’” (Matthew 8:20). Jesus went to the most comfortable place He had here on earth. He went to meet with His father. After an evening on “the Mount of Olives”, Jesus came again to the Temple. The elders brought “a woman who had been caught in adultery” to Jesus and asked Him what He had to say about that. The Spirit inspired John to record their motive. They hoped to find a reason to bring a charge against Him. But once again Jesus did not respond as they expected. The Living Word confronted the hearts of those plotters with truth that could have transformed them from accusing followers into adoring disciples. Jesus wrote in the sand and invited anyone who never sinned to “be the first to throw a stone at her”. With their sinful hearts exposed they all went away from both the Savior and the sinner. If they had only confessed the truth to Him, that they were just as guilty before God as this woman was, they could have received the same forgiveness and victory that she did. Instead, the accusers dropped their stones and walked away from the Savior unchanged because of their hearts of stone.

In every crowd of followers there are plotters, schemers, and accusers. They are intent on tripping Him up, making Him fall, or proving Him wrong. Jesus sees into the hearts of this unique group of His followers… “But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people  and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man” (John 2:24-25). He loves them no less than the rest. He knows about the hurt from past abuse or the pain of broken trust that grips their hearts and compels them to accuse Him… “That they might have some charge to bring against him”. Some of these accusers really want to believe, but their frozen, broken hearts keep them from receiving His truth and surrendering to the Christ… “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). In today’s text, Jesus responded to the accusers who were following Him with a loving confrontation of gospel truth.

“The Word became flesh” not to judge the world but to save the world. Jesus resisted the temptation to judge this adulteress and He invited the elders to judge her themselves… “If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world” (John 12:47). This divine invitation forced the elders to judge themselves before they could judge another… “For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things” (Romans 2:1). Jesus showed both the woman and her accusers that God’s law leads to forgiveness and freedom… “If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness” (Psalm 130:3-4). The repentant woman received forgiveness while her stony hearted accusers went away from this confrontation with mercy unchanged.

As we grow up into Christ we are slow to judge and quick to forgive since His mercy has melted our…

Hearts of Stone.