DAY 7

“Where Are the Accusers?”

Read John 8:7-11

Pastor ATP, Esq.

 

One of the questions mentioned in Day 6 for consideration for those who seek to judge is: “Am I worthy to sit in judgment and issue punishment?”  The scribes and Pharisees, according to St. John 8:6, wanted to use this woman’s situation to trap Jesus as they sought to bring accusations against Jesus. Will Jesus follow the law, join in with the accusers, and throw stones? Or, will Jesus ignore the law and encourage the law to be disobeyed? Either decision would have given the scribes and Pharisees ample ammunition in their quest to find accusations against Jesus. Following the law would have made Jesus appear to be heartless and lacking compassion. Disobeying the law would have made Jesus appear to be rebellious.

 

What Jesus proposed caught the accusers off guard. This should be no surprise as the Word of God cannot be trapped or tricked. Jesus did not focus on the details of the law or the resulting punishment, He focused on the worthiness to sit on the judgment seat. Jesus did not argue that the law did not apply to the woman’s situation. Jesus did not argue that she was innocent. Jesus also did not argue that the law should not be obeyed. Jesus just asked for clean hands to issue the punishment.

 

What Jesus, the righteous Judge did, was to encourage the accusers to examine their own lives and wrongdoing before throwing the first stone. Upon examining their own lives and the fact that they were not without sin, they removed themselves from the list of eligible judgers worthy to throw stones.  Jesus during this time was writing on the ground, and when He lifted Himself up no one was left but the woman.

 

Here, Jesus teaches us all a lesson about judging. Read very carefully, Jesus does not say we cannot recognize sin or call sin into question. There will be times when we will be able to catch people walking outside the will of God. Jesus did not ignore the sin, Jesus simply reserved judgement for Himself by allowing the accusers to dismiss themselves.

 

During this consecration it must be our goal to draw close to God so that we will not live a sinful lifestyle. Repeated mistakes become a lifestyle. The Holy Spirit is present to prevent us from repeating those same mistakes. The fact that we are not perfect should be enough motivation to dismiss ourselves from sitting in the judgement of others. This does not mean we ignore sin, but what it does mean is that we leave condemning others for their sins to the hands of Christ.

 

Before we seek to condemn others, we must re-examine our own sins and realize that we need to dismiss ourselves from the judgment seat and pray for those we believe are committing sin.

 

This must be our prayer: “Lord, never let me forget that I am sinner saved by Grace as I see the imperfections of others. Help me to remember that judgment should be left to Your Hands.”