Saturday, December 21, 2013

Jesus isn't really a fan of condemnation

   I'm not going to be long on this subject: Jesus isn't a very condemning person.  How do I know this?  Because He says so. Jesus was brought a woman caught in the act of [sin] adultery, (see: Exodus 20:14 = “You shall not commit adultery." That's one of the top 10, mind you.) and he says, ultimately, "I don't condemn you."
   See that? Fairly simple analysis. I'm not going out of context, making wild statements, or anything.
   HOWEVER, if you notice, he is still going ahead and calling it sin: "From now on sin no more," Jesus says.
   And that's the thing: sin is still sin. Sin is a problem for us. Sin & sins will keep us from God. But Jesus isn't going to condemn us. I'll go out on a limb and say sin(ning) condems ourselves.
   Still, there seems to be one last clear point: "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her." Only if you have NO SIN do you get to condemn/throw stones.  And Jesus said this to the religious superstars of the time. What happened? THEY WALKED AWAY. They left.
   Why did they leave? BECAUSE THEY MUST HAVE REMEMBERED THAT THEY HAVE SOME SIN IN THEIR LIVES, TOO.
   And Jesus didn't condemn them for it, but he sure seemed to remind them.

In conclusion:
1) Jesus doesn't condemn us, we do it to ourselves.
2) It's not our right or place to condemn or judge others, because we're not perfect, either.
3) Sin is still not good. It's important not to ignore it. And it's really important to stop doing it once we know about it.

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John 8: 3-11
The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”


http://www.fotosearch.com/ILW001/barned0152r/

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