It's not the end...

          I love the fact that God doesn’t handpick perfect people or things but rather imperfect to show how good and how faithful He is. Last week’s topic on “broken crayons” highlighted this perfectly.
         This week’s story focuses on a bible character - the woman caught in the act of adultery. As I mentioned last week, the Bible is replete with broken characters, without whom, Jesus’ love, mercy, goodness, healing would not have manifested. 
         As the story goes, early in the morning Jesus went into the temple. There, the people came to Him and He taught them. During His teaching, the scribes and Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery and they set her in the midst of everyone. They reminded Jesus of Moses’ law which states that she should be stoned for her sin and then asked His opinion. He, in turn, ignored them even as they persistently questioned Him (John 8:1-7).
         A few things come to my mind. One, she was broken because of the sin she chose to commit. Sin not only separates us from God but it destroys our lives. Here, we can all relate, because we have all sinned and come short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). So, we too have been broken because of sin. Two, her sin was broadcast in front of everyone. She was facing shame and disgrace for her sin while her accusers were  looking for an opportunity to accuse Jesus. Like this woman, the devil always looks for opportunities to accuse us (Revelation 12:10), to bring up our past and even present sins. It’s as if he needs to constantly remind us of how broken and defeated we are. Three, Jesus simply ignored them. I believe Jesus saw through their tactics. I believe He also saw an opportunity to bring salvation to a broken soul. 
         I love the fact that Jesus looks beyond our faults and sees our need. I am sure many other adulteresses were stoned to death, and rightly so because that was the law. But, why God chose this woman to spare her, well ... only God can answer that. And, if we are honest with ourselves, many of us know that we deserve death, that we deserve whatever punishment for our sin. Just like the thief on the cross next to Jesus. He acknowledged that he and the other thief  were deserving of their fate, yet Jesus in His glorious mercy chose to give Him the gift of salvation when he asked for it (Luke 23:39-43).
         God is in the business of saving and healing broken souls – people broken by sin, by sickness and disease, because of broken relationships, because of financial challenges... Just give a name to your brokenness, God is able to fix it. 
         The story doesn’t end there. Jesus finally breaks His silence and makes the all-crushing statement: “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her” (v.7) Jesus knew she had sinned, He knew full well she was guilty but for Him there was a weightier issue – mercy triumphing over judgement. Of course, no one could cast a stone because all had sinned. They may not have been guilty of the same sin as she was, but in God’s eyes sin is sin no matter the description. They all finally left without fulfilling the law because a Greater than the law was there among them. What is interesting to me is that no one could throw a stone at her. They had every right to do so because she was guilty. Jesus’ presence, it would seem, prevented them because He didn’t come to condemn sinners but to save; He didn’t come to crush the broken but to offer hope, deliverance and life.
         Think about it. That woman was probably waiting expectantly for the stones to start coming in her direction, she was waiting for her end to come. How many are waiting expectantly for the stones to start coming in the midst of that seemingly impossible situation? How many are feeling so hopeless that you are just waiting for the end to come? Yet, think about it: Jesus was the One who prevented the stones from being hurled at her. He is the same One who is preventing the stones from being hurled at you. It doesn’t matter how broken you may feel, how hopeless, how sure you are that the end is near, Jesus is even nearer and when you put your trust in Him no stone is coming your way unless He allows it. If you put your confidence in Him, He has the final say in your situation.
         If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so now. We all need a Saviour, Someone who can offer hope and bring deliverance in the midst of challenging even impossible situations. We all need Someone to cover us, even block and deflect any stone that may come our way.

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