He who is without sin

So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first." – John 8.7

Here we have one of those events in the Bible that ‘everyone’ knows about and one of the verses that virtually everyone can quote. So often when someone has done something wrong and other people are critical someone will pop up and say ‘let him who is without sin cast the first stone.’

However that kind of usage makes light of what Jesus is saying. Jesus never says to excuse sin or let it go lightly (see tomorrow). What He is saying is that we need to be careful to watch our own spirits and attitudes toward others.

Here is what happened. A woman was caught in the act of adultery. There was no need for trial because she was caught in the act. The penalty for adultery was death by stoning. Obviously the story would have gotten out and everyone came to see this ‘wicked woman’ stoned to death. This kind of thing has always stirred man’s baser passions.

The scribes and Pharisees wanted to catch Jesus out so they brought her to where He was. The reminded Him of the penalty for adultery and asked Him what they should do. They knew of His reputation for love and compassion for ‘those kind of people’ so they figured they had Him for sure. Either He would violate the Law by showing compassion, or He would go against what He had been teaching.

So what did He do? He stopped down and wrote something in the dirt. We don’t have a clue what He wrote and any guesses are just that – guesses.

Whatever He wrote had an impact. He then stood and said those classic lines ‘let him who is without sin cast the first stone.’

With that kind of remark who was going to through that first stone? How could they? They knew they were not sinless and knew that their friends also knew they were not sinless.

Sin must be dealt with. God makes that clear all though the New Testament. Those who are in sin need to be confronted. Jesus also talks about making sure that we deal with the beam in our own eyes before worrying about the speck in someone else’s eye.

Let’s be sure that we are fully aware of our own sin. My mom used to tell me to be careful pointing my finger at someone else, because when I do there are three pointing back at me.

She may not even have known it, but that is pretty good Bible advice.