be-musings

Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. 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.
There are many theories on why the people left. What sin was Jesus talking about? The woman was caught in adultery, so did that mean the men had experienced the same either physically or in thought? Had some of them been with her before? Was Jesus writing their sins in the sand in order to emphasize his point?
Sometimes we make stories to be more grand than they are. We dramatize and imagine all kinds of things. I wonder if it could have been simple. Jesus challenged the people and their laws of prejudice. It was not okay to cheat instead of commit adultery. It was not okay to lie instead of commit murder. It was not okay to yield the blade of words instead of the blade of the sword. None of it was fine. All of it was offense.
The fairy tale ending part of me thinks that Jesus intimidated the people into realizing this. Maybe into seeing that the way they were about to judge the woman was really the way all of them - all of us - should be judged. Apart from Jesus' forgiveness that is.
He has a way of making things right. Not always in what we consider the right timing. Not even in the heart or mind of the people you and I feel that he needs to do it in. It's confusing at times. One thing though, is clear. We are all sinners. We are all forgiven. What you have done does not disqualify you from deserving love and forgiveness. Nothing you could do will ever disqualify you.