It was the Sabbath and I went up the southern steps onto the Temple grounds.
I walked past a teacher presenting a lesson to his disciples just outside the courtyard gate when I first heard it.
It was the sound of a woman yelling and screaming. She was surrounded by a group of men pushing and pulling and at times even dragging her. It appeared they were heading straight for the teacher. That’s when I realized that he wasn't just any teacher but he was the Teacher. He was the one who claimed to be the Son of God and was giving the Pharisees and their corrupt religious system fits.
These men interrupted the Teacher by bursting into His group of disciples and flinging this woman down at His feet causing a cloud of dust to encircle the woman. When the dust settled I realized she was naked. I also realized that most of the men who put her there were Pharisees.
That in itself was strange but then things got even stranger. The Pharisees, with hatred in their voices, questioned Him.
“ Teacher, according to the law of Moses, this woman, who was caught in the very act of adultery, says she is to be stoned. What say you? “
That’s strange I thought. That was a half-truth. According to Moses both parties committing adultery were to be stoned. But these Pharisees would know this. Hmmmmm…...something strange is going on here. This is starting to look like a set-up. Then it got even stranger. The Teacher didn’t respond to them but instead bent down and began writing in the dirt.
This infuriated the Pharisees because He was ignoring them. They began picking up large rocks. I couldn’t believe it. They were going to stone this woman. The Pharisees were trying to get rid of the Teacher so they could get back to their comfortable lifestyle of corruption.
The Teacher told the Pharisees to go ahead and stone her, but the only guys that could do it would be the ones who had not committed this same sin.
Wow! There was some murmuring in that crowd and then you started to hear the rocks hit the ground as the Pharisees began dropping them. Then the Teacher asked the woman where her accusers were. There were none, they had all left. The Teacher told the woman to go and sin no more.
I went on to the Temple to worship and when I came back the rocks were still there. I picked one up to take home as a reminder, not just a reminder of what I saw happen that day. It would also be a reminder to me not to hold someone to a higher standard than I hold myself to.
Oh, were you wanting to know what the Teacher was writing on the ground? No one knows for sure but some say It was the names of all the Pharisees that had had a sinful relationship with this woman.
I walked past a teacher presenting a lesson to his disciples just outside the courtyard gate when I first heard it.
It was the sound of a woman yelling and screaming. She was surrounded by a group of men pushing and pulling and at times even dragging her. It appeared they were heading straight for the teacher. That’s when I realized that he wasn't just any teacher but he was the Teacher. He was the one who claimed to be the Son of God and was giving the Pharisees and their corrupt religious system fits.
These men interrupted the Teacher by bursting into His group of disciples and flinging this woman down at His feet causing a cloud of dust to encircle the woman. When the dust settled I realized she was naked. I also realized that most of the men who put her there were Pharisees.
That in itself was strange but then things got even stranger. The Pharisees, with hatred in their voices, questioned Him.
“ Teacher, according to the law of Moses, this woman, who was caught in the very act of adultery, says she is to be stoned. What say you? “
That’s strange I thought. That was a half-truth. According to Moses both parties committing adultery were to be stoned. But these Pharisees would know this. Hmmmmm…...something strange is going on here. This is starting to look like a set-up. Then it got even stranger. The Teacher didn’t respond to them but instead bent down and began writing in the dirt.
This infuriated the Pharisees because He was ignoring them. They began picking up large rocks. I couldn’t believe it. They were going to stone this woman. The Pharisees were trying to get rid of the Teacher so they could get back to their comfortable lifestyle of corruption.
The Teacher told the Pharisees to go ahead and stone her, but the only guys that could do it would be the ones who had not committed this same sin.
Wow! There was some murmuring in that crowd and then you started to hear the rocks hit the ground as the Pharisees began dropping them. Then the Teacher asked the woman where her accusers were. There were none, they had all left. The Teacher told the woman to go and sin no more.
I went on to the Temple to worship and when I came back the rocks were still there. I picked one up to take home as a reminder, not just a reminder of what I saw happen that day. It would also be a reminder to me not to hold someone to a higher standard than I hold myself to.
Oh, were you wanting to know what the Teacher was writing on the ground? No one knows for sure but some say It was the names of all the Pharisees that had had a sinful relationship with this woman.
