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Those who know the story in the Bible of Jesus saying to the scribes and Pharisees that the one who hasn’t sinned should cast the first stone at an adulteress they put before him, might think it worth starting with John 8:3-11 which describes the whole incident. Instead, what harm is there to present the moral first, given to us in an indirect manner, via James 1:5-8. There it says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”
So, what can one say of the scribes and Pharisees, who, hoping the answer Jesus gives would be enough to discredit him, ask him what should be done about the adulteress, asserting that “in the Law,” or Deuteronomy 22:22-24 to be exact, Moses said that an adulteress is to be stoned? Have they not doubted Jesus as far back as when he first arrives in their city? Are they not double-minded, upholding their interests while pretending to seek an understanding with Jesus? Have they not proven to be unstable, looking to recruit others in their instability?
And what was Jesus response? Instead of rationalizing what Moses said, the way he explained that Moses tolerated divorce during the Hebrews’ journey to the Promised Land in order to avoid chaos for instance, he says, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” Jesus knew his audience when he made that statement; after all, did not the scribes and Pharisees sin by violating the Sabbath when they allowed gambling and commerce in the Temple on that day? And Lord knows the other sins they may have committed! And so, they all left, leaving the woman in peace.
Many of Jesus’ teachings are centered around hypocrisy and reciprocating. To put it simply, the saying that people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, or, for the matter before us, people who sinned shouldn’t throw stones at sinners, applies! But as the Bible tells us that those who tempt us or draw us away from sound teachings should be dealt with, one wonders who would be left standing to deal out the punishment that is warranted. For that matter, Lord Jesus did not tell us that we shouldn’t judge others; he merely says in Matthew 7:1 to judge not in a manner that you wouldn’t want to be judged. If you are a judge who sentences someone who committed a crime to 20 years in prison, regardless of the crime, you should do so with the understanding that you should be sentenced to 20 years too if you committed the same crime.
How does this tie in with the scribes and Pharisees whom one may surmise was not tempted by an adulteress, who were told by Jesus that only the ones that haven’t sinned can throw the first stone? That would sort of be like telling our judge that he has no right to sentence anyone if he committed ANY crime in his life, including, perhaps, something like shoplifting when he was very young, or engaging in some white-collar crime when he was young and foolish, maybe. We don’t know the answer, since presumably the scribes and Pharisees didn’t belabor the point with Jesus. Apparently they didn’t say that Moses didn’t say that only those who haven’t sinned can stone an adulteress, for instance. If they did, that would directly pit Moses against Jesus, wouldn’t it? Leads one to wonder how Jesus would respond at that point in time.
In connection with what Jesus says about judging others in Matthew 7:1, he says something interesting in Matthew 7:6---“Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.” Commentators related this Passage to Proverbs 9:7 which says, “Whoever corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse, and he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury.” In the context of John 8:3-11, Jesus effectively rebukes the scribes and Pharisees who sought to discredit him when asking him about the adulteress. Such people, who allowed gambling and commerce to take place in the temple on the Sabbath, would never admit they were wrong, nor would they submit to theologically sound teaching, but instead would attack the messenger, or, to put it more earthly, would, like dogs, bite the hand that feeds them. This is what they do to Jesus later on, in a figurative sense. In short, if we’re going to advise someone of anything, we should first know the person whom we want to advise, enough to determine if our advice to them would be worthwhile and would not induce the person to harm us.
So, what can one say of the scribes and Pharisees, who, hoping the answer Jesus gives would be enough to discredit him, ask him what should be done about the adulteress, asserting that “in the Law,” or Deuteronomy 22:22-24 to be exact, Moses said that an adulteress is to be stoned? Have they not doubted Jesus as far back as when he first arrives in their city? Are they not double-minded, upholding their interests while pretending to seek an understanding with Jesus? Have they not proven to be unstable, looking to recruit others in their instability?
And what was Jesus response? Instead of rationalizing what Moses said, the way he explained that Moses tolerated divorce during the Hebrews’ journey to the Promised Land in order to avoid chaos for instance, he says, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” Jesus knew his audience when he made that statement; after all, did not the scribes and Pharisees sin by violating the Sabbath when they allowed gambling and commerce in the Temple on that day? And Lord knows the other sins they may have committed! And so, they all left, leaving the woman in peace.
Many of Jesus’ teachings are centered around hypocrisy and reciprocating. To put it simply, the saying that people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, or, for the matter before us, people who sinned shouldn’t throw stones at sinners, applies! But as the Bible tells us that those who tempt us or draw us away from sound teachings should be dealt with, one wonders who would be left standing to deal out the punishment that is warranted. For that matter, Lord Jesus did not tell us that we shouldn’t judge others; he merely says in Matthew 7:1 to judge not in a manner that you wouldn’t want to be judged. If you are a judge who sentences someone who committed a crime to 20 years in prison, regardless of the crime, you should do so with the understanding that you should be sentenced to 20 years too if you committed the same crime.
How does this tie in with the scribes and Pharisees whom one may surmise was not tempted by an adulteress, who were told by Jesus that only the ones that haven’t sinned can throw the first stone? That would sort of be like telling our judge that he has no right to sentence anyone if he committed ANY crime in his life, including, perhaps, something like shoplifting when he was very young, or engaging in some white-collar crime when he was young and foolish, maybe. We don’t know the answer, since presumably the scribes and Pharisees didn’t belabor the point with Jesus. Apparently they didn’t say that Moses didn’t say that only those who haven’t sinned can stone an adulteress, for instance. If they did, that would directly pit Moses against Jesus, wouldn’t it? Leads one to wonder how Jesus would respond at that point in time.
In connection with what Jesus says about judging others in Matthew 7:1, he says something interesting in Matthew 7:6---“Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.” Commentators related this Passage to Proverbs 9:7 which says, “Whoever corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse, and he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury.” In the context of John 8:3-11, Jesus effectively rebukes the scribes and Pharisees who sought to discredit him when asking him about the adulteress. Such people, who allowed gambling and commerce to take place in the temple on the Sabbath, would never admit they were wrong, nor would they submit to theologically sound teaching, but instead would attack the messenger, or, to put it more earthly, would, like dogs, bite the hand that feeds them. This is what they do to Jesus later on, in a figurative sense. In short, if we’re going to advise someone of anything, we should first know the person whom we want to advise, enough to determine if our advice to them would be worthwhile and would not induce the person to harm us.
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