Seeing Your Own Heart First
The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say. This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.
John 8:3-6
The scene turns from peaceful to painful as the Pharisees drag a woman into the middle of the crowd. She is not a person to them. She is a tool. A pawn for their agenda. They quote the Law but ignore the man involved. They defend righteousness while violating righteousness. They speak of holiness while hiding corruption. They call out her sin while refusing to see their own. This is the blindness of self righteousness. A person can be so consumed with someone else’s failure that they stop noticing the condition of their own heart.
Jesus refuses to join their frenzy. He slows the moment. He bends down. He writes in the dust. We are not told what He wrote, and maybe that is the point. He does not escalate. He does not mirror their anger. He allows time for reflection. He invites conscience to speak. While they are looking at her, Jesus is inviting them to look inward. That is the heart of self awareness. It is the ability to see your own need for mercy before pointing out the need in someone else. It is choosing confession over condemnation. It is choosing humility over pride.
How often do we sin in the very act of calling out sin. How often do we drag someone else’s mistakes into the light while keeping our own tucked safely in the dark. Jesus slows us just like He slowed them. He reminds us that our greatest spiritual danger is not someone else’s fault, but our own unexamined heart. Before we pick up stones of accusation, Jesus invites us to bend down with Him, to see what He might write in the dust of our own soul, to ask honestly where repentance needs to begin.
Do you notice the ease with which you see another person’s failure. Do you notice the reluctance with which you see your own. Let Jesus bend you downward before you ever stand in judgment. The only one in this story who was without sin refused to throw a stone. That should tell us everything.
John 8:3-6
The scene turns from peaceful to painful as the Pharisees drag a woman into the middle of the crowd. She is not a person to them. She is a tool. A pawn for their agenda. They quote the Law but ignore the man involved. They defend righteousness while violating righteousness. They speak of holiness while hiding corruption. They call out her sin while refusing to see their own. This is the blindness of self righteousness. A person can be so consumed with someone else’s failure that they stop noticing the condition of their own heart.
Jesus refuses to join their frenzy. He slows the moment. He bends down. He writes in the dust. We are not told what He wrote, and maybe that is the point. He does not escalate. He does not mirror their anger. He allows time for reflection. He invites conscience to speak. While they are looking at her, Jesus is inviting them to look inward. That is the heart of self awareness. It is the ability to see your own need for mercy before pointing out the need in someone else. It is choosing confession over condemnation. It is choosing humility over pride.
How often do we sin in the very act of calling out sin. How often do we drag someone else’s mistakes into the light while keeping our own tucked safely in the dark. Jesus slows us just like He slowed them. He reminds us that our greatest spiritual danger is not someone else’s fault, but our own unexamined heart. Before we pick up stones of accusation, Jesus invites us to bend down with Him, to see what He might write in the dust of our own soul, to ask honestly where repentance needs to begin.
Do you notice the ease with which you see another person’s failure. Do you notice the reluctance with which you see your own. Let Jesus bend you downward before you ever stand in judgment. The only one in this story who was without sin refused to throw a stone. That should tell us everything.
Posted in The Word Made Flesh
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