Today's reading is from John 8
The adulterous woman taken before Jesus. And one of my favorite passages (yes, there are many!) But verse 12 Jesus spoke to the
people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow
me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light
that leads to life.”
So many distractions in our world, things that so quickly lead us (or maybe just me) into darkness. It's so important to recognize that Jesus is the only true light and following Him is the only way to stay out of trouble.
There are so many things in this chapter, what jumps out at you?
That is a great part, Holly! I also like what Jesus highlights at the end--that they may want him not to claim He's from the Father, but He CAN'T. Because that would be a lie, and He can have no part of it. So though He obviously knew these folks wouldn't receive Him well yet, and though most of us would dodge the truth in such a situation, that's not His style.
ReplyDeleteAnd by speaking the truth even then, many believed. Love it.
John 8:7 “The person who is sinless should be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Then he bent down again and continued writing on the ground. 12 Jesus spoke to the Pharisees again. [They had been with Him!] 23 Jesus said to them, “You’re from below. I’m from above. You’re from this world. I’m not from this world. 24 For this reason I told you that you’ll die because of your sins. If you don’t believe that I am the one, you’ll die because of your sins.”
ReplyDelete25 “Who did you say you are?”
Oh, to see Him as He Is! He spoke with them and they did not feel or hear the fervour in His voice, hear the Truth in His words. We were once steeped in tradition and what we had taken in as our supposed truth. Before Real came. We must continue to check supposed truth with His Words.
I wonder what happened to the woman after that day? Did she truly do what Jesus say "go and sin no more" It will be neat to hear about the people that encountered Jesus when he was on earth and what a difference he made in their life.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about Holly's question about what happened to the woman. I can imagine her relief. I'm sure we've all felt relief that we were forgiven for something we really felt badly about. Over the years, I've said things like, "If only I get out of this mess, I'll never do (whatever the sin) again." How profound does an experience of being forgiven have to be for me to wake up and really NOT do it anymore? I think it varies. We all slip up and sin again - maybe, not the same sin - but, we all do sin.
ReplyDeleteSo, do I really believe Jesus died for ME? That is the ultimate experience of forgiveness. It is more profound than any forgiveness any person can offer me. Why do I minimize that? Why do I sometimes ignore that? When I let that ultimate love and grace in and feel it fully, I want to spread it to others and I want to work on never sinning again.
My hope for the woman in this story is that she remembered this day for the rest of her life. My hope is that it changed her life. Sometimes, we have to hit bottom and be lifted up to change our destructive behavior.