Stones…part 5
Adultery. The Bible is pretty clear that this isn’t something that is acceptable. In fact, it was one of the first commandments given to Moses on Mount Sinai. Yet, somehow unsurprisingly, there are several such instances of infidelity located in the Bible. After all, it is filled with stories of people just like you and me. Of all the instances of marital unfaithfulness, perhaps the best-known example is David.
It was springtime in Jerusalem…the flowers were just starting to bloom, lawns were turning green, birds were singing, bears were coming out of hibernation. And men were packing their gear up to go to war. All men, except David. For some reason, the guy who had once slain a giant when everyone else cowered in fear, felt that he was not needed on the battlefield with his army. Don’t miss that, because it marks the beginning of a chapter in his life where it spirals out of control. On one particular night, David is strolling the rooftop of his palace, looking down on his city, probably channeling his inner Batman. Then he sees her. Through a window. Bathing. In that one moment, David faces a crisis. The king, who should be with his army, instead is entertaining actions, that when acted upon, will send ripples through his reality. He sends for her, seduces her, impregnates her. That is bad enough, because you might remember it was mentioned several sentences above that adultery is an evil in the eyes of God.
Now, if this were a poker game, we would describe David’s next action as going all in. He calls for Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband to return from the battlefield and spend some time with his bride, secretly hoping that they would be intimate so that it would look like he, Uriah, would be the father. But alas, plans don’t go David’s way, for Uriah refuses to sleep with his wife while his men were off fighting a war. In this moment, David could learn a thing or two from him. Instead, he has Joab, the commander of the army, put Uriah at the front lines, and then abandon him so that he was killed. God is displeased with David. How do I know? Because the Bible literally says, “The thing that David had done (sleeping with Bathsheba and the killing of Uriah) displeased the Lord.” The actual translation is meant to read that it was evil in the eyes of the Lord. Because of David’s actions of that one night, a whirlwind of disaster tears through his life. The son that was conceived, dies; another of David’s sons rapes his half-sister; one son kills another, David’s wives are captured and sexually assaulted; a son attempts to dethrone the king. It reads like a bad nightmare. And it was. Life was good for David until he chose fleshly desires over kingly responsibilities.
It’s springtime in Jerusalem. Again. But now, we have Jesus coming to the temple to teach. We don’t know what he taught on this particular day, but wouldn’t it be ironic if it was the selection where David encounters Bathsheba. I don’t know, but it would have made for a compelling centerpiece for what was about to transpire. For, suddenly the Pharisees were on scene with a woman caught in, of all things, adultery. Knowing how these religious leaders operated, they probably had her trapped in a holding pattern, waiting for just the right moment to challenge and embarrass Jesus. There are some suspicious facts surrounding this case that any detective worth his or her weight would easily discover. First, they tell Jesus that they caught this woman in “the very act” of adultery. Like, are you hiding in the closet, or under the bed? Perhaps, it was a sting operation, where one of the Pharisees put on a disguise and acted like an interested “client”. Perhaps it wasn’t a sting operation, and one of the Pharisees was the one with her…willingly. Second, they tell Jesus that the law of Moses required such a person to be stoned to death. Jesus knew what the law stated. And they knew that Jesus knew what the law stated. Third, these religious “experts” were ready to pass judgement without any kind of trial. If this sounds pretty sketchy, it’s because it was. So, this religious grandstanding was completely unnecessary.
Here is a curious sidenote…I don’t know what it is about this account, but I think every time I hear it preached or taught, a picture is painted of this group of men circling Jesus and the woman, with stones at the ready, to pummel the victim. But you know what is missing from the actual scene? Stones. No Pharisee is balancing one on his shoulder like a shot-put thrower. No one has a stone raised above their head with a crazed look in their eyes. However, one thing you need to understand about the Pharisees though. They were a compelling bunch, and you better believe they were ready had Jesus said the word. The deadly arsenal was probably stacked outside the entrance to the temple. These guys did not care one iota about this woman…they just wanted Jesus out of the picture at any cost.
It was a no-win situation for Jesus. If he instructed the Pharisees to go ahead and stone her in accordance with the law, it made his message of mercy and forgiveness seem fake. If he told the Pharisees not to stone her, then they could say he was disregarding the Jewish law. They finally got him. The Son of God was going down with the ship. I can picture the Pharisees all looking at each other, winking, nodding, chuckling, pointing…then Jesus kneels to the ground…and does the most curious thing. He takes his finger and begins to write something in the dirt. Oh, how I wish we knew what he wrote. There has been a lot of speculation. Perhaps it was the sins of these Pharisees gathered around the woman. Perhaps it was a few words from the Law and Prophets. My favorite theory is that he began writing the names of women these Pharisees had adulterous relations with. I am certainly not saying that they were unfaithful, but they were hypocritical on so many other issues, so it would not surprise me if it was the same in this instance. Most of them were not what we would call upstanding citizens. In fact, Jesus would call some of these same men white-washed tombs…not a flattering expression. In any case, Jesus stands back up, looks at each of them, and says, “Whoever is without sin, throw the first stone.” And just so there was no mistaking the seriousness of the situation, he kneels back down and continues his message in the dirt. Maybe more names, maybe more sins. In any case, the Pharisees were guilt-ridden by their conscience, and one by one, walked away.
When Jesus stands back up, the wanna-be stone hurlers are gone. It is just him and the woman. “Where did everyone go? No one has condemned you?” Jesus asks. She replies, “No, my Lord.” I think it is curious that she calls Jesus, “Lord”. The Greek word is κύριος, or kurios, and it translates to God or master. This adulterous woman, a low life in the eyes of her accusers, recognizes what the self-righteous Pharisees failed to see. With no one left but the two of them, Jesus says, “I don’t condemn you either. Go and sin no more.”
And with that, Jesus goes back to teaching those gathered in the temple. Again, I have no idea what text Jesus was reading from that day, but one thing I do know…the greatest lesson was not taught from that scroll, it was from the actions of a perfect, sinless Son of God to an imperfect, sinful woman. That was the lesson. Grace. Mercy. And stone-free forgiveness.
Faith, Leadership, and History 