READ IT AGAIN
By Professor E M Blaiklock MA Dr Litt
XXXII.
CHRIST AND THE WOMAN.
John 8.
Does the story in John 8 condone wrong-doing? No. Picture it. A tumult at the Temple gate. They drag the woman in. "Here she is, Rabbi. Caught in the act. Now, the Law of Moses says that such must be stoned. Pray what say you?" The venom in their irony! He writes on the ground. They wait. He looks up. "The one that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone." Bending down again, He again makes marks upon the sand. What did He write? Did some see the moving finger write a woman's name?
"What? Does he know that?" The stone drops from nerveless fingers, and one slips away. Another sees Him write a date, another the name of a town.
One by one they feel the cold finger of accusation turn the pages of their past. The courtyard empties. What does no one accuse you, woman." "No on Lord." "Go,
" He says sternly, "and be a sinner
no longer." So should the present imperative translated.
• Could any scene more truly deal with sin. All have sinned. None can boast. God alone can forgive. Christ was God. Christ forgave