[Forgive me, another religious-based post here in response to a friend’s question. I am keen to get to more secular issues as soon as possible. Nonetheless, this speaks to a general desire by all people to point the finger of judgement at others – a very human condition!]
There is a passage in the Bible (John 8 v1-11, full passage below) which shows a woman being dragged by religious leaders before Jesus to be stoned to death. She has been caught "in the act of adultery" and the Law says stoning was the punishment. The sexism here is staggeringly apparent from the start, since being caught "in the act" of adultery (defined then as sex outside of marriage, or an affair) seems to mean someone else must have been there too! That person, unquestionably male, seems to have gotten off "scott free," - this was clearly not a homosexual relationship or both women would have been brought for stoning I am sure!
The religious leaders seeking to trap Jesus, demand that he answer: “The Law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?” Famously Jesus stoops down, says nothing and writes in the dust with his finger. Eventually, as they will not give up, he says (without contradicting the law of the Day, which was their intention), “Alright, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone.”
To me there are clearly three types of people present on this occasion that we can reflect on:
Type A - A ‘Sinner who knows they are a sinner’ - she waits in silence for she knows she has broken the law at that time.
Type B - 'Sinners who had forgotten they were Sinners' - the crowd of stone-holding religious leaders. Thankfully, it seems in a moment of genuine conviction, from eldest to youngest they drop their stones and silently slip away.
Type C - The ‘Sinless Son (and therefore representative) of God’ - Jesus was still stooping down writing in the dust. He rises and asks the woman where her accusers have gone - it is still a fearful moment for her, for Jesus IS ‘without sin,’ and can (and technically should?) throw the stones to fulfil the Law. Is it not His duty to? Then she hears the words, “Neither do I (condemn you). Go and sin no more.”
A truly beautiful moment!
I feel there are two reflections here for our modern times:
FIRSTLY, we see that Jesus, has not said that ‘sin’ does not exist, for he says “Go and sin no more.” There is no certainty that Jesus is referring to the ‘adultery' - He could just be speaking generally, but it is a reasonable assumption. In our modern times, how do we distinguish what is sin? - since in scriptures, anything from adultery, to eating certain foods, or killing a burglar during the day (it's okay at night apparently), is considered sinful, yet seemingly slave-owning, acts of genocide and other such things are often okay. The Times and Context seem so different.
For me, I have laid out across previous posts that the only unchanging Absolute Truth, is that LOVE (COMPASSION) IS RIGHT, and therefore HATRED (AND WILLFUL INFLICTION OF SUFFERING) IS WRONG. This alone is timeless, and for those who believe that God is Love, fully in line with what Jesus summarised as “Love your God …. and love your neighbour as yourself” [Mark 12].
I think even today we would accept that an extra-marital affair, will always cause suffering for someone - the person themselves or in the breaking of a promise to a partner. It is in this context only that I see ‘sin’ - in the causing of suffering to ourselves or to others. It is in this context that Jesus warns us all, to go and ‘sin no more’ - to protect us, and others from the inevitable consequences of our own actions – it is Love that tells us not to sin, not judgement.
SECONDLY, it is Jesus (God) alone who has the Right to say “Sin no more”. This passage is so often quoted by Christian groups and the free use of, “but it says sin no more” is so very prevalent. But it is NOT for us to say. I would encourage myself and any Christian leaders to be extremely cautious on this - we are not Type C! We are NOT sinless! To say those words, we are in danger of becoming Type B people, ‘Sinners who have forgotten we are Sinners.’ Let us put down our stones.
Is there therefore no disciplining left then? No pointing out of sin? Does anything go now? No, we should as fellow travelers help each other as we struggle with our weaknesses, and where we see Suffering, we should seek to help and guide others away from actions that cause us and others suffering - but we should tread very carefully into areas where there is no Hatred or causation of Suffering. There is still much to do, so much overt hatred and suffering to be challenged, but always, always from a place of Compassion and Love.
Well that is just how I see it anyway.
Bear with me, Jonathan x
Apologies
1. To any non-religious readers; if you have read this far, I will be amazed. This is not intended as an issue of persuasion for you, I am sure you have already reached the same conclusion that Love (Compassion) is an Absolute Truth, this was meant to help the 86% of us who are religious to see from within our scriptures, this Truth.
2. To followers of other faiths - I apologise for the excessively Christian focus here. These are the only Scriptures I know. Can you reach the same conclusion from within yours? Let me know.
3. To my fellow Christians. I am not pretending to be a Bible scholar (you can tell), I have no leadership role in any church, and these views are just my own! I have just found it necessary to find a place where it all makes sense to me (for my inner personal peace alone) otherwise I cannot rest. I share them only in case others may find them helpful in their journey - or reject them and move on, that is okay too.
Happy New Year!
Passages quoted:
John Chapter 8 v 1-11 (NIV)
1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
11 “No one, sir,” she said.
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
Mark Chapter 12 v 28-34
28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[e] 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’[f] 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[g] There is no commandment greater than these.”
32 “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
34 When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.
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