Beauty of Grace!

8 1-2 Jesus went across to Mount Olives, but he was soon back in the Temple again. Swarms of people came to him. He sat down and taught them.

3-6 The religion scholars and Pharisees led in a woman who had been caught in an act of adultery. They stood her in plain sight of everyone and said, “Teacher, this woman was caught red-handed in the act of adultery. Moses, in the Law, gives orders to stone such persons. What do you say?” They were trying to trap him into saying something incriminating so they could bring charges against him.

6-8 Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger in the dirt. They kept at him, badgering him. He straightened up and said, “The sinless one among you, go first: Throw the stone.” Bending down again, he wrote some more in the dirt.

9-10 Hearing that, they walked away, one after another, beginning with the oldest. The woman was left alone. Jesus stood up and spoke to her. “Woman, where are they? Does no one condemn you?”

11 “No one, Master.”

“Neither do I,” said Jesus. “Go on your way. From now on, don’t sin.”

-John 8:1-11 (The Message Version)

They whisper to one another. They call you names. Sometimes in your face but often behind your back. Self righteous, Hypocrites, A brood of vipers, is what Jesus calls them(Matt 23:33). They lurk behind the corners, waiting to see you fall. Waiting to see you make mistakes. They are quick to judge. Unhesitating to condemn.They look at a speck in your eyes but are blinded to the plank in their own.

                    In this incident, the woman is a prostitute. Was she forced into it? No one knows. Why did she take it up? There are no answers. Did she do it for pleasure or was it for survival? They seldom cared. All they did was shame her in public. Cause her disgrace. They waited for this moment. They’ve rehearsed the lines. They hid near her house and waited till she let into her house, a man who was not her husband. The moment had finally arrived. She opened her house. She was caught in the act. Red-handed. They felt proud. A bunch of religious fanatics.

                    From young to old. They dragged her to Jesus. They knew the law. She must be stoned. To death. Each was waiting with a stone, ready to throw at her. Ready to heap accusations. The man she was with, walked free. Was he was one of them too? Was he was the bait? Did he lead them to her? Maybe. These men must have had a rush of adrenaline. They wanted to see what Jesus would say to all of this.How would He react? Will he obey the law of Moses? Will he let them have the pleasure to throw the stones at her? Will he let her bleed to death? Will he let them have a reward for their extremist behavior, for the sake of their religion?

            They questioned Him. They could wait no longer. But Jesus, was silent. He bent down and was writing in the dirt. They wouldn’t stop. They kept at it. Heaping accusation upon accusation. Condemnation upon condemnation. They kept on questioning Him. He went about doing good(Acts 10:38), what would He do now? In Him there is no sin(Gal 5:21), will He put up with this woman? Shouldn’t He rain down fire and consume her for what she has done. Shouldn’t He kill her right away? Why wait? They kept retelling her offence. The woman went through excruciating pain. She was sure she would die. She trembled with fear. She couldn’t take her eyes off the stones. She cried. Her hands covered her face. Between her fingers, her eyes  moved between the stones and Jesus. Fear gripped her. Everyone, from young to old, kept saying, “Stone her!!”.

                  But,Jesus! He finally broke His silence. He looked up. “The one who is without sin, go ahead. Throw the first stone at her”, He said. The woman was thunderstruck! Those who passed judgement on her, dropped the stones, the moment they heard these words from Jesus. First the elders, then, the young. Until no one was left. Except Jesus and the woman herself. Among all of them, the only one who had all the authority, the all holy, the one in whom no sin or blame or guilt is found was Jesus. But Jesus,with his finger in the dirt, continued to write. I could imagine him writing this word: GRACE. He looked at her and said, “Neither do I condemn you, from now on do not sin.” She was forgiven.

                Sure, she deserved death. All of us do. You and me. We all have sinned. We all, have fallen short of God’s glory. There is no one who does good. No. Not even one(Romans 3:10-12). But Jesus, does not condemn. He does not accuse. He does not remind you of your mistakes.

               Romans 8:1,2 says,”Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.” 

Jesus does not condemn you and me. When we are in Jesus, sin has no control over us. We are set free. It is no longer by law that we are saved. Not by our righteous acts. But by His grace. That is beauty of grace! Jesus can set you free from your secret sins. Jesus can take them all away. Lay your baggage of sins at His feet. The mistakes of your past will not haunt you anymore. Jesus won’t condemn. He won’t criticize. Jesus loves you!

I John 1:9,10 says, “9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.”

Proverbs 28:13 says, “Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

The absence of our condemnation doesn’t mean the approval of our sins. Let us confess our sins and find grace from God. He bore the punishment for our sins. He took our place. We are set free in Christ! Let us leave our sins at His feet. He is faithful and just to forgive them and lead us in a life free from sin and death. An eternal life awaits you in Jesus Christ today! The Beauty of Grace!

Not forgotten!

The God who made the heavens and the earth, the one who knew you when you were in your mother's womb, the one who gave you the breath of life, promises to never forget you. You are always on His mind. He loves you and even before the creation of this world He chose you. Jeremiah 1:5 says, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,Before you were born I set you apart.."

 A mother constantly thinks about her child. Are you a mother? Do you recall those sleepless nights? Or the nights when you fell asleep with the baby still in your lap? Sometimes you tried so hard to stay awake but you just couldn't. It's human. We're burdened by the worries of the world and caught up in our busy life that we tend to forget the ones we call our own. 

 The ones whom we love in this world, have no time for us. Sometimes because they don't care anymore. But Jesus, even for a moment promises never to take his eyes of you. You're all He could think about. He who made the heavens and the earth, who set the stars and the planets in its place, who made a boundary for the seas, who created every living creature, the macroscopic and the microscopic, the seen and the unseen, from the gravitational force that holds the planets together to the nuclear forces that keeps atoms intact, from the biggest galaxies to smallest known quarks, is thinking about you this very second.From the time you were formed in your mother's womb till eternity.

He has engraved you on the palms of His hands. When the soldiers took the hammer to drive the nail through His palms, blood gushed out of His hands. Unbearable pain overtook Him. He cried and writhed in agony. He was human after all. He couldn't take it anymore. But then in a split second of moment He saw something. That moment when He with His own hands took the clay from the earth and made something beautiful. When He put sinews on you, made flesh grow on you and cover your body with skin and put the breath of life in you. That moment when you came alive! (Ezekiel 37:6) It was you that kept Him on the cross! It was His love for you. That you may not perish but spend eternity with Him. That is the reason He took your place on the cross. That you may not die but live with Him eternally. For infinity and forevermore!