SEPTEMBER 23
MATTHEW 7:5_first cast out the beam out of thine own eye…
There were some missing parts of John 8 in our September 19 devotional. Let’s read them now: “6 … But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.”
I can’t help but see some humor in this. Knowing their hearts and the hypocrisy of the entire incident, Jesus ignored them. Perhaps He hoped that if He ignored them they would go away. No such luck. Since they wouldn’t go away, Jesus addressed them, “7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, ‘He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.’”
Talk about hitting the nail squarely on the head! Jesus sent conviction directly to their hard hearts.
Wouldn’t you love to know what He was writing – I would! Perhaps He was writing the man’s name. Maybe the man was even … a Pharisee! One thing is for certain, the Scribes and Pharisees cared nothing about the woman and intended for this to end in her death. She was only a pawn in their game to ensnare Jesus.
Regardless of what He wrote, it had enough convicting power to cause them to drop their stones and walk away.
The religious leaders blew their whole scheme. They were the ones humiliated before the crowd in the temple, not Jesus.
One last teaching about this lesson – tomorrow!
PRAYER
True Shepherd, Lead me to the place of freedom! In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.
Christ is the True Shepherd—He defends me against evil!
The Works of Her Hands 