Let him cast the first stone

Let him cast the first stone: Pastor Micky Kua

This Sunday at CDC, we had the privilege of our own Pastor Micky give the message on a very interesting passage from John Chapter 8 titled “Let him cast the first stone.”

As the popularity of the Lord Jesus grew, the jealousy and anger of the Scribes and Pharisees began to grow, and they sought to think out means and ways to discredit Him and destroy Him. On this occasion, they prepared a brilliant and devious scheme to ensnare Him. Seizing a woman caught in adultery, they brought her before Jesus in front of the whole crowd and challenged Him to decide whether she should be stoned according to the Law of Moses.

If Jesus said “Yes”, it would be going against all His teaching which focused on mercy and forgiveness. Furthermore, He would get in trouble with the Roman rulers for it was against Roman law for to sentence anyone to death without the approval of the Roman authorities. If Jesus said “No”, it would look as if He were condoning sinful living and also show that He did not respect the Law of Moses.

Amazingly, Jesus did not answer but calmly stooped down and began writing on the ground. When continually pressed, Jesus straightened and said calmly those immortal words “Let him who has no sin throw the first stone”. And amazingly, the people began to leave, starting with the older ones.

Commentators have often pondered what was it Jesus actually wrote on the ground. Some said He wrote the ten commandments or the names of the women many of them had committed adultery with. However, based on the Greek meaning which means “Writing against”, it is quite likely, that Jesus was writing down specific sins committed by the people present, and certainly, even in their hypocrisy, their shame caused them to go away.

Once everyone had gone, Jesus spoke to the woman kindly, saying that she would not be condemned but instructing her to leave her life of sin.

Pastor Micky drew our attention to three important lessons that we can learn from this passage.

Firstly, we all need forgiveness. Both the adulterous woman and the Pharisees needed forgiveness. Some may sin more or sin less but all fall short of the glory of God and need His mercy and forgiveness.

Secondly, we need to examine our motives. The Pharisees were not concern about the woman or even justice in upholding of the law. They were just using the woman to trap Jesus. Do we do things because of a selfish agenda, or do we genuinely do things out of love and righteousness? Do we actually love people or are we just using them?

Finally, we need to show the love, compassion and care of Jesus. The woman was nothing in everybody’s sight, but to Jesus, she was a precious child of God, made in God’s image, and He took the trouble to speak kindly to her and also teach her to repent and live a righteous life from then on. Indeed, we would do well to understand the Words : I desire mercy, not sacrifice.

May the Lord help us be humble and aware of our need for forgiveness, examine our motives carefully, and learn to show the love of compassion of Jesus to others, even to the least likely of people.

God bless,

Jason