This Girl is on Trial

This Girl is on Trial John 8:1-11 James 2:1-12 There's an old story that perhaps you've heard before: A farmer was nailing a sign to post at the end of his driveway advertising "puppies for sale". While he was doing this he heard to voice of a little boy behind him, "I'd love to buy one of your puppies". "'Well, said the farmer, as he wiped the sweat off the back of his neck, "these puppies come from fine parents and cost a good deal of money." "The boy dropped his head for a moment. Then reaching deep into his pocket, he pulled out a handful of change and held it up to the farmer. "I've got thirty-nine cents. Is that enough to take a look?" "Sure", said the farmer. And with that he let out a whistle. 'Here, Dolly!' he called. Out from the doghouse ran Dolly followed by four little balls of fur. The little boy pressed his face against the chain-link fence. His eyes danced with delight. As the dogs made their way to the fence, the little boy noticed something else stirring in the doghouse. Slowly another little ball appeared; this one noticeably smaller. In a somewhat awkward manner the little puppy began hobbling toward the others, doing its best to catch up. This was clearly the runt of the litter. "I want that one", said the boy pointing to the runt. The farmer knelt down at the boy's side and said, 'Son, you don't want that puppy. He will never be able to run and play with you like these other dogs would. With that the little boy stepped back from the fence, reached down, and began rolling up the leg of his trousers. In doing so, he revealed a steel brace running down both sides of his leg and attaching itself to a specially made shoe. Looking back up at the farmer, he said, "You see, sir, I don't run too well myself, and he will need someone who understands." You and I need that same sort of understanding. We sure aren't perfect are we? In today's reading, John tells of the trial of an adulterous woman. He gives us this picture of Jesus as one filled with compassion. He reaches out to her (and us) as the one who loves sinners, reaching out to us in grace, forgiveness and love. There seems to be no doubt that this woman was caught in the act of adultery. It takes two to tango as they say, so there was an adulterous man involved as well. They were guilty before God and the world. Adultery is mentioned some 50 times in the Bible...from Genesis 20:3 to 2 Peter 2:14. And yet I remind you, although it is a vile sin, it is now worse than any other. We are all guilty of sin, even if we find it difficult to admit. The religious leaders of the day, were using this particular trial to force Jesus into an impossible verdict, or so they thought. If Jesus simply let the woman go, then He would be seen as being easy on sin and could have been arrested for being in violation of the Law. If, however, He gave permission for the woman to be killed, He could then be accused before Rome as an upstart and a seditionist, and He would have destroyed His reputation as being the "friend of publicans and sinners". They felt that no matter what Jesus said, He had no wiggle room. Their plan might have succeeded with an ordinary man, but they were dealing with Jesus Christ, and He simply refused to play by their rules! When they tried to stump Jesus, They discovered that they had met their match. When Jesus did speak, He said, "He that is without sin among, let him first cast a stone at her." Jesus wasn't requiring that any judge be sinless. If that were the case then no human would ever be able to render judgment in any matter, even in a court of law. I think that Jesus was saying to these hypocrites, "He that is free from this particular sin, let him first cast a stone at her." You see, adultery can be committed with the head and the heart just as surely as it may be committed with the body! At this point, all the shouting came to a stop and all that could be heard was the dropping of their rocks and the shuffle of their sandles as they stole quietly away. You see, these men has been exposed before their fellow man, the accused lady and most importantly before the Lord. N.T. Wright reminds us, "We live in a world full of people struggling to be, or at least to appear strong, in order not to be weak; and we follow a gospel which says that when I am weak, then I am strong. And this gospel is the only thing that brings healing." Maybe. Like this woman, your life has been wrecked and ruined by sin. Maybe you have been hurt by religious people. Maybe you are looking for a compassionate Savior, One who will make everything right. I want to invite you to come to Jesus. He cares about you just like you are. He loves you and wants to save you. He wants to deliver you from your bondage. He wants to set you free. Therefore, He invites you to come to Him today.