The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in the woman who had been caught committing adultery.They made her stand in front of the group. And said to Jesus, " Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery ..
When they kept on questioning Him, He straightened up and said to them," If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her "JOHN 8 : 3 - 4; 7 ARE YOU REALLY, REALLY, REALLY COMMITTED TO DOING " WHAT JESUS WOULD DO " ? .. We have got the " What Would Jesus Do " bracelets and necklaces .. We have got the T-Shirts and the caps .. We have even got the bumper stickers on our cars .. We have got the " What Would Jesus Do " question so well memorized and we make sure that we quote it as often as we can .. Now there is absolutely nothing wrong with wearing the bracelets and making the statement .. but we need to take it a little further than that .. Once we have asked the " What Would Jesus Do " question and we get the answer .. Are we totally willing and one-hundred percent committed to following in the Lord's footsteps and actually getting our hands dirty to " Do What Jesus Did " ? .. In the above Scripture we are told the story of an unfaithful woman, an adulteress .. the lady in the Scripture had been caught by the teachers of the law and the self-righteous, hypocritical Pharisees. After catching the woman, they dragged her up to the Temple where Jesus was, and because Jesus was there a large crowd had gathered to listen to Him. Once the scribes and the Pharisees arrived at the Temple with the woman, they made her stand up in front of everyone that was there .. and they turned to Jesus .. whom they did not like very much .. testing Him by saying " In his teachings, Moses ordered us to stone woman like this to death. What do you say ? " .. John 8 : 5 They wanted to put Jesus to the test so that they might have a reason to bring charges against Him .. So " What Did Jesus Do " ? .. He gently stood up and said to the scribes and the Pharisees .. If it is your goal to stone this woman to death, just make sure that the person who throws the first stone at her, is a person that has never before committed a sin of any kind. By the response that Jesus gave to the scribes and the Pharisees, we can clearly see that Jesus was able to see all the unwise, foolish, religious pride in their hearts. Now Jesus was in no way excusing or overlooking the woman's sin of adultery .. but what makes this story very special is that we are shown how Jesus simply understood the need to meet people where they are and to care for and minister to their needs. Jesus was able to see the pride in the hearts of the Pharisees and He ministered correction to their pride. Jesus was able to see the hurt, wounded woman and He ministered forgiveness to her sins. Justice demanded that the woman should be stoned to death .. BUT .. Mercy threw her case out of court. JESUS KNOWS THE POWER OF A SECOND CHANCE !! If you take a close look at the people that cross your path on a daily basis .. it will not take you too long before you will begin to notice that you are surrounded by many, many people who are exactly like the woman you have read about in the above Scriptures. People that have been stoned and ridiculed .. People that are lost and alone .. People that are desperate and frightened .. People that are hurting and broken .. People that are suffering physically .. People that are wounded within .. People that you know, love and cherish and People that you have never met before !! When these lost, hurting people cross your path .. Are you prepared to sit with them .. listen to them .. talk to them .. hold their hands .. share a hug .. care for them .. minister to their needs ? .. Are you really prepared to step out of your comfort zones and get your hands dirty ? .. Are you ready to put your own wants aside for a little while, so that you can meet others in their deepest, darkest hour of need, where you can begin to minister life, love, hope and healing to them in the precious name of Jesus Christ ?.. NOW IS THE TIME TO STOP ASKING .. " WHAT WOULD JESUS DO " NOW IS THE TIME TO START DOING .. " WHAT JESUS DID " Comments are closed.
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Ana & Andre Schoonbee God uses us to motivate and encourage the body. Authors
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