TensionsSample

Day 4: A Woman Caught In Adultery

Prayer: Heavenly Father, Help me to pause in situations where my first instinct is to distance myself or to critique others. Instead help me to lean in and see people the way you do. Amen.

Reading: John 8:3–11

A woman was caught in adultery, and the law of Moses had specific consequences for her sin. So in the minds of some religious leaders, this was a very cut-and-dry scenario. Jesus, on the other hand, had a different mindset: It’s not that simple.

Truth be told, the religious leaders’ first priority wasn’t to make sure this woman received what the law stated. Instead, they were using her situation to set an ethical trap for Jesus. Would he be on the side of the law, or would he let this woman off the hook for her moral failure? While they were caught up in trying to trap Jesus, they overlooked the human being in front of them.

We have a tendency to do this as well. When we get entrenched in cultural debates, it’s easy to stop seeing people as people but instead as something to use as evidence of our views. Whether it's a biting critique on social media or encouraging the people around us to not associate with someone, we are following the example of the religious leaders.

Jesus didn’t lose sight of the person in front of him. As a rabbi, he would have had every right to carry out the judgment described in the law of Moses and distance himself from the situation. Or, being God, he could have critiqued the woman not just for the act of adultery she was caught in but also for any other sin she had committed.

Instead, Jesus provided an example that he invites us to follow. He chose not to take the easy way out. He engaged. Not only did he engage with the woman by offering complete forgiveness while challenging her to sin no more, he also engaged with the religious leaders by reminding them that although they may not have been caught in their sin, they were all guilty as well.

Reflection:

What if we decided to respond like Jesus? In a divisive culture, what would it look like for you to choose ahead of time how you will respond? Take some time to think through a situation where you distanced yourself or critiqued. How could the situation have changed if you had engaged?