John 8:2-11 - The Adulteress Woman

The last day before December - the start of advent. The kids are counting down in anticipation (Mostly because their grandma bought them lego advent calendars and they are biting at the bit to open them.) But I welcome it because with the promise of mini gifts is the avenue to talking about the Greatest Gift.

We decorated over thanksgiving break. It was special to have both girls join me in the decorating. Seems like they love it as I do and is something the three of us can do together. *cue tears

This year BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) is going through the book of John. Every year I learn so much regardless of which book we are studying. So much about God can only be seen in the nuances of the stories. They aren't the ones talked about in church. It's too much and not enough for a sound bite. The very best of the character of Jesus gets overlooked. But who He is is found in the details!

John 8:1-11 

Jesus' response to the religious leaders who are trying to trap him so they can arrest him. They bring him an adulteress woman and use the laws of Moses to ask what he would do with her. And his famous line, "The one without sin among you should be the first to throw a stone at her." 

But it's his tone that I was taken with. Here are mean and hateful people, in his face, trying to trick him. I would have been hot with righteous anger putting everyone in their place. I would have made them cower in their indignation and humiliated them. But Jesus, with incredible restraint, uses truth to teach, not condemn them or poor out his wrath. I'm struck by the way he left room for them to return to Him. 

When my dad was pastor of our church I can remember going to a funeral and seeing him approach a table of people from our church who didn't like him very much. He knelt down and spoke with each one - extending his hand. That set a fire in me! Later I asked him why he would do that when he knew they didn't like him. I'll never forget what he said. "We always have to leave room for them to return."

When I read this passage in John this story is what I was reminded of. Being in leadership at church now, I too must remind myself to always leave the door open for people to return - to us, to church, to family. A reminder for myself today. 

Criticism v Who We Are in Christ

Being out front invites praise and also criticism.

Some of that criticism is constructive and important for me to receive and to use to be a better steward of this place the Lord has brought me to. But some criticism is just about my personality. 

“too loud”

“too open” 

“too intense” 

“too much” 

These are hurtful. 

For a long time I have felt bound by the constraints of trying to not be “too much” or “too intense”. When I was in graduate school my boss at the time was the first to speak a different narrative to me. He believed my personality, including the intensity and zeal, was a gift and he began the process of honing it. 

The more I’ve learned about the character of God these last few years, the more I’ve been freed from the burden of having to make myself smaller. Galations 1:10 “Am I trying to win the approval of man, or God? Am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people I would not be a servant of Christ.” 

Oh, the attack on my personality still hurts but I have to weigh that against what God speaks over me.

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works! 

My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written every one of them, the days that were formed for me. Psalm 139: 13-16

I have been created for His glory. Isaiah 43:7 

I’m free from the need to please others because I’m just trying to please God. 

Phylicia Masonheimer said it this way: 

“The comments spoken out of insecurity, well intended or not, are daggers of an enemy seeking to destroy our souls. When we let the words of people dictate who we are (or aren't), reacting to and against them, we're simply servants of men.

Like wheat and tares, my God-given personality grew alongside the lies, intermingled and intertwined. It was hard to tell what part of me developed because of the lie and what part was really true to God's design. But as I grew deeper in my walk with Christ, the division became more clear. I began to discern why “You intimidate me” cut so deep, hurt so much. It reaffirmed the lie: You'll never be accepted. You're the problem. Your personality is unlikeable, unwelcome, unwanted.

Our insecurities blind us to the goodness in others; we put ourselves and our own fears at the forefront. Too often we don't see people as they are. We see them as affronts to who we want to be. We view people through the lens of our own lack rather than seeing them as image-bearers of God.”

Jesus changed Simon’s name to Peter in anticipation of the transforming work that Jesus was to do in his life. He changed Saul’s name to Paul. Peter and Paul! 

We also have to put on a new name - given to us through Jesus’s transforming work in our lives. 

Created by God and perfectly formed for our good and His glory.