"The Adulterer and the Adulteress Shall Surely Be Put to Death" (Lev. 20:10)
(Leviticus 20:10)
If there is a man who commits
adultery with another man's wife, one who commits adultery with his friend's
wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
Deuteronomy 22:22-24
22 If a man be
found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them
die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put
away evil from Israel. 23 If a damsel that is a virgin be
betrothed unto an husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her;24 Then
ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone
them with stones that they die; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the
city; and the man, because he hath humbled his neighbour's wife: so thou shalt
put away evil from among you.
Today
I arrived to work early, and Jesus was already there teaching the crowds. I am
amazed at how people find this man wherever he goes, and how far they come just
to see him. I used to think they were
crowding him simply for selfish reasons, to get healed, to become what they
want to be, some want money, some want their children cured. But lately, I have changed my mind; I see
many coming because they are truly inspired, they genuinely want to know God
and Jesus is teaching them to love him. Jesus isn’t any ordinary teacher; but
he walks an exceptionally fine line between the law and teachings. Today for
instance, he really fired everyone up when he let an adulterer go free. Some say he executed the law better than they
have ever seen; others say he completely ignored the law. I was one of the people who agree with the
former.
The law clearly
states that an adulterer is to be
stoned to death and so the Pharisees
were correct in bringing Myrna here. They were justified, but they were testing
Jesus as well, it is clear to me that they are out to get him, and they used Myrna
to do it. I think it is born of jealousy
as there are never more people in this temple than when Jesus is here, and we
all know it is Jesus bringing them in.
When
Myrna was here, getting what she truly deserved, Jesus bent down and started to
write in the dust. I saw what he wrote,
he wrote the law, he wrote Leviticus as clear as day; then he wrote the names
of the accusers and their sins. I think
Jesus was defending Myrna because the law says the man and the woman are
to be put to death. And we all knew why
this woman was here alone. It just
wasn’t fair, while Jesus was justified in citing the injustice, the Pharisees
would have just cause to kill her. Jesus is making me think about the unjust
way we sometimes carry out the law. He
is forcing us to look at where the law fits into Life with God.
There
is a lot of chatter about Jesus being too liberal in forgiving sins. But he didn’t actually forgive Myrna, he told
her to change her life, to go and not to do it again. I agree the law must have a place in our
hearts. This seems to be a recurring theme of Jesus, to carry out the law with
a heart, and to put God back into the law.
This makes sense, what good does it do to keep the laws of God if we
have no love for him or for each other? Should love not demand we apply the law
with mercy?
I
think Jesus did the right thing today, he reminded us of God’s law, and he
carried it out with mercy. Funny how simply
writing it, along with their names and their sins, diffused the situation,
causing them to flee. We are so human; we
just hate it when others see our sins.
I
am glad for Myrna; Jesus did the right thing.
……………………………………………
Jesus, may I know what is right and good and may I live with
lawful mercy. Amen.
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