Cross Perspectives

The Cross through the Perspective of Pilate, Simon of Cyrene, and The Father

By Pastor Vinnie 

Click the player if you’d rather listen to Pastor Vinnie narrate this article for you.

Pilate’s Perspective

I’d seen many men brought before me—rebels, insurrectionists, thieves—but this one was different. They called Him Jesus of Nazareth. Accused of being a king, a threat to Rome, but as He stood before me, I saw no threat in Him. There was something unsettling about His calm, something disconcerting about His silence.

“Are you the king of the Jews?” I asked, hoping He would deny it, make this easier for both of us (Luke 23:3). He looked at me—not with fear, but with a quiet dignity. “You have said so,” He replied, as if that settled it. I felt an unexpected flicker of respect for Him, but I pushed it aside. I had a job to do.

The priests and leaders outside were relentless, shouting accusations, demanding His death. I sent Him to Herod, hoping to avoid condemning an innocent man. But Herod sent Him back, and soon the crowd was pressing in on me, more furious than before. “I find no basis for a charge against this man,” I announced to them, but my words only seemed to enrage them (Luke 23:14).

I offered a compromise: I would punish Him and release Him. But the mob wanted more than punishment—they wanted blood. “Crucify Him!” they cried, again and again. I offered them Barabbas, a known rebel, thinking they would choose to spare Jesus. They didn’t. The fury in their eyes was unlike anything I’d seen before. How could this man, who seemed so peaceful, be hated so much?

I appealed to them once more, almost pleading. “Why? What crime has this man committed?” But they only shouted louder. In that moment, I realized I had no real choice. I was the governor, but I was powerless against the tide of their hatred. If I released Him, there would be a riot, and that would be on my hands.

Finally, I gave the order. I released Barabbas and sentenced Jesus to crucifixion, hoping that washing my hands would somehow absolve me of this decision. But as I watched Him being led away, a heavy feeling settled in my chest. What if I just condemned an innocent man? Or worse—what if He really was who they said He was? I didn’t know. And that question would haunt me long after that day.

Simon of Cyrene’s Perspective

I had only come to Jerusalem for the Passover. I didn’t know much about what was happening in the city that morning, but I quickly realized something big was taking place. A crowd had gathered along the streets, and in the center of it all, I saw a man carrying a cross. He looked beaten, exhausted, barely able to stand. Blood trickled down His face from a crown of thorns pressed onto His head.

Before I could think, a Roman soldier grabbed me, forcing me forward. “You! Carry His cross!” he barked. I wanted to protest, to tell him this wasn’t my business, but the soldier’s grip was firm. There was no escape. I stepped forward, feeling the rough weight of the wood pressing down on my shoulders.

I turned to look at the man beside me, the one they called Jesus. His face was bruised, swollen, but His eyes—they were steady, almost calm. He looked at me, and in that glance, I felt something shift inside me. He didn’t say anything, but somehow, it was as if He was thanking me, as if He understood my reluctance and my fear.

As we walked, I could hear the crowd mocking Him, calling Him names. “If you’re the Son of God, save yourself!” they sneered. But He said nothing in return, just kept moving forward, step by agonizing step. I felt anger rising in me—anger at the cruelty of it all, anger that they could treat a man like this. Who was He to them? What had He done to deserve this?

When we reached the hill, I laid down the cross, exhausted but strangely connected to this man. I’d come to Jerusalem a stranger, but in those brief moments, I felt like I’d shared in His burden. And then, as they nailed Him to the cross, He looked up toward heaven and spoke words I’ll never forget: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34).

Forgive them? Forgive these people who mocked Him, who tortured Him, who were now nailing Him to a cross? My mind reeled. Who had that kind of love, that kind of mercy? I couldn’t comprehend it. Here was a man who had every right to curse those who wronged Him, yet He was asking for their forgiveness.

The Father’s Perspective

From the beginning of creation, I knew this day would come. I saw humanity turn away, again and again, choosing darkness over light, choosing themselves over Me. I knew there was no other way to heal this brokenness, no way to bring my children home unless there was a sacrifice.

Watching my Son carry that cross was a grief deeper than the depths of the earth. He was innocent, yet He bore the sins of everyone—the betrayer and the betrayed, the denier and the devoted, the mocker and the meek. I heard every insult, felt every lash, and saw every wound, but my Son bore them willingly. Love compelled Him, and love compelled Me.

As He hung on the cross, barely clinging to life, He looked up and whispered, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34). And with those words, He sealed the promise. He carried their shame, their guilt, their blindness. Even as they rejected Him, He loved them with an everlasting love.

This moment was why He had come—to forgive, to restore, to bring hope even to those who could not see. And I accepted His plea. I forgave them, and through Him, I forgave everyone who would ever turn back to Me.

Epilogue:

For Pilate, those words would echo long after that day. He had condemned an innocent man, yet that man’s final plea was forgiveness. Could it extend even to him? Could forgiveness reach the hands that had signed His death sentence?

For Simon, Jesus’ words became a turning point. He had come to Jerusalem as a stranger, yet he left with a purpose he could not ignore. The man he had helped carry was no ordinary man. Could anyone love so deeply, forgive so freely?

And for the Father, these words marked the fulfillment of His greatest promise. The moment that forgiveness entered the world as a gift, not earned, but given. Through the cross, the world was offered a new beginning—a chance to be known, loved, and redeemed.

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” These words reach beyond Golgotha, speaking into every heart, offering a forgiveness that we cannot fully understand but are invited to receive. Can we accept it? And, in turn, can we learn to forgive as He forgave?

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Criticism: Cuts Like A Knife

By Pastor Vinnie MacIsaac[i]

This blog is dedicated to all who have been hurt by criticism and felt it’s cut yet did not understand how it could actually be a good thing. Let’s rethink criticism together.

So Forth

Yada, Yada, Yada

You have heard the expression, ”and so forth and so forth,” It is a fill-in or shorthand for something we mean to say without wanting to spell it all out. It is like the Yiddish saying, “Yada yada yada,” that Jerry Seinfeld made so in big again in the 90’s.

“I can’t wait to get to the beach and go swimming, have a picnic and so and so forth…”

Recently, someone sent an indirect message to me suggesting that if I did not do, “so forth and so forth,” I’d, in essence, be lost. The “so forth and so forth” in this case was a long list of flaws and weakness the person saw in me that they felt had to be corrected asap. The list is not really important except to say that much of what was on it was is deed real flaws I have and real areas of work that need to be overcome. I say this because often when people are critical of us the things they say about us are groundless. In this case, it was not. It was real to some degree or another.

Flakey Flaws

Criticism damages self-worth.

Do real flaws keep anyone out of heaven? Is that really the Gospel? Are people won or lost to salvation based on human performance of any kind? And if it is based on human performance then how much do we need to achieve in order to be saved? I mean, after all, nothing short of perfection will be accepted by God. After all Jesus himself, spelled it out on the Sermon on the mount, “You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48 ESV)

If you are a Christian, people will criticize you, they will attack you, and they will seek to persecute you, they will cling to real imperfections in you and turn your molehills in public mountains.  And if that is never happening to you then something is wrong! No one likes to be criticized, put down, or called a phony. But I am here to tell you being put down for being a work in progress is no reason to “Flake out on faith.”

Cuts Like a Knife

Bryan Adam’s hit album cover. Cuts Like A Knife.

Growing up in Canada you become a Bryan Adams fan. Along with Corey Hart, RUSH, The Guess Who, Neil Young, and The Tragically Hip, they are all part of the national soundtrack. One of Bryan Adam’s biggest hits was a song called, Cuts Like A Knife, in which Adam’s claims,”

Now it cuts like a knife

But it feels so right

Yeah, it cuts like a knife

Oh, but it feels so right”[ii]

Well, as much as I love that song as a national treasure and pop anthem, I can’t say I agree with Adam’s on this issue. Being “cut” by people you love does not feel good, it hurts.

I was not angry, but I will admit, I was very sad, and let down, and even disturbed to have had this person judge me with such harsh criticism. For this sort of criticism only proved that the brother who lodged it simply did not understand the Gospel and to me, that is heartbreaking. To me it cut like a knife to my heart, not for my sake, but because it showed my brothers disconnect from God’s character.

So let’s be clear, how is it that we are made perfect, and how is it that we get into the Kingdom? How is that that God sees me as perfect, even as perfect as he is? I think Jesus made the standard pretty clear in Matt 5:48 right? — The standard is the perfection of the Father. Anything short of that will not stand, and will not gain us entrance into the Kingdom of God. So then, how do I reach such a standard? —hmmm, let say today, I Vince MacIsaac, gave my whole life and heart more deeply to God than ever before, and let’s assume the result is that I never ever sinned again.  Would I then be as perfect as my Father in Heaven? Nope! Not even close, I have a 48-year track record of past sin, yet he has no past record of sin. How then can I a sinner get his track record? By what means? Or am I hopelessly doomed?

Look here;

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

(2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV)

It is called the Substitutionary Atonement. Jesus took our place that we might take his. What does that mean? It means exactly what it says, he became SIN (my place) that I may become THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD (His place).

My works did not cut like a knife, they cut like nails, pounded through His flesh that I might be found Righteous by His actions.

The Good News

The Good News is found in JESUS!

The Word Gospel in Greek simply means “Good News.” The good news of criticisms is it comes to us and reminds us we are not perfect. When it cuts like a knife to our hearts it reminds us our sin cut like nails through his flesh.

The truth about criticism is this, and criticism about you that actually sticks and hurts has a little bit of truth in it. The good news is that when criticism cuts you, he drives you back to Jesus to be healed and in that process, He has the chance to heal you from more than the cut. He gets to heal you of the pinch of truth that caused the infection in the first place.

Don’t resist attacks. Take them. Take them to Jesus. Those who attack you will be baffled as to why you don’t respond from the flesh. The reason is simple your imperfections are healed by the holes in His hands.

Related Articles

The LIE Christians Tell About The Gospel

The Reserve Of Courage

The Joy Of Despair

Footnotes.

[i] This blog first appeared as a guest entry titled “The Gospel of Criticism” on https://heinspiredme.com  This version of the article is slightly different and longer than the version that first appeared at https://heinspiredme.com/guest-post-the-gospel-of-criticism/ on November 28, 2018.

[ii] Songwriters: Bryan Adams / James Douglas Vallance. Cuts Like a Knife lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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The LIE Christians Tell

About The Gospel 

By Pastor Vinnie MacIsaac

Taxes, who likes them? Nobody.

The only thing worse than taxes is the “Tax Man.” The Feds. The IRS. Am I right?

Well, it was even worse in Jesus’ day. It is not hyperbole to say that in that day tax collectors were treasonous traitors who were a simple stone’s throw away from terrorists. They were despicable. Israel was under the political dictatorship of a foreign, heathen, superpower called Rome. Rome dominated God’s people; politically oppressing them by the force of Rome’s mighty military power.

Tax Collectors were Jews, who worked for Rome, betraying their own nation, people, and God, to extract cruelly oppressive tax rates that went directly into the Roman coffers to keep the cycle of oppression going. So why did these Jews do it? The fact was, the Romans did not even pay them! They were simply permitted to extract whatever unfair rate they wanted for themselves on top of the official tax rate. If their fellow Jews would not pay up, the Tax Collector sent in the Roman Centurion to take it. So show up on Tax Day at the tax booth with the exhortation money in hand … or else.

Recently, I was doing a group Bible study on the second chapter of Mark. It includes, among other things, the story of Jesus calling Matthew Levi[1] to follow Him and be His Disciple. It was shocking to me, that in my group study with about 10 other people, they were just not able to handle the fact that Jesus calls Matthew while Matthew is actively engaged in open sin against his nation, people, and God as an extortionist. It is not that Matthew was once a Tax Collector; he is actively tax collecting. In the story, Jesus walks up to him and basically says, “Hey, you, Tax Collector, come follow me, join my team, and be my disciple.”[2]

My group offered all kinds of weird excuses that are not, at all, hinted at in the text.

“Well, Jesus knew his heart.” Offered one lady. To which I countered, “Yeah, Jesus did, Jesus knew that in the heart of Matthew was only extortion.”

“Pastor how can you say that,” said another, “he is one of the Twelve!”

Another added, “I am sure Jesus looked deep into his soul and saw the kind of man Matthew really wanted to be,” offered another person in our group. To which I counter with the question, “To be rich?”

And another continued, “There had to be something we don’t know. Jesus couldn’t have a sinner on his team. People who follow Jesus have to be worthy of that call. We all know this, so it has to be true.”

The text of Mark, chapter two is clear, at the point when Jesus calls Matthew to follow Him, Mathew was an active Tax Collector, which is to say, he was a treasonous sinner of the worst kind, engaging in the ungodly oppression of his own people. But what is even worse, Jesus and the other disciples leave with Matthew and go have a dinner party with Matthew and “many” other tax collectors. So I asked my group why is Jesus going to have a party with such sinners? Certainly, he could not have read all their hearts and seen “deep down inside they all felt bad about their lives”. I pointed out Jesus was having a dinner party with the worst sinners of all!

The group was awkwardly quiet. They did not know what to say. But soon the same old justifications came flooding back. “Jesus, knows things we don’t,” and “There had been some level of repentance in Mathew” and “Jesus couldn’t help that the other tax collectors came.” And lastly, the crux of what I call the “lie,” someone said, “Pastor, Jesus would never let someone follow Him unless they were truly repentant.”

I wanted to shout, “Lie!” But I did not have to. A quiet, yet well -studied lady finally spoke up, dispelling the lie with the truth.

“Wow, I get it! I get it! No one can repent before they meet Jesus. If we expect people to be penitent, to have cleaned themselves up, to become worthy, without having spent time with Jesus, we expect the impossible and put impossible conditions upon receiving the power of the Gospel into their lives! The Truth is, Jesus, invites you to the party, not because you’re worthy of his time, or to be his disciple because no one is. He invites you to the party because the party is the only way the unworthy is changed! We are offered the opportunity to be changed by being invited to the table with Jesus.”

The idea that we must do something to be worthy of the attention of Jesus is a powerful lie many Christians peddle, without having thought it out! It is the old, slippery Satanic slope of needing to have cleaned yourself up before you can come to Jesus, the church, or faith. If we could have cleaned ourselves up, then why would we have needed Jesus, anyway? The Gospel is not that Jesus called Matthew because he was worthy. How is that even good news? That is, at best, reasonable news. The Gospel is that Jesus called Matthew because Matthew was not worthy, and would never be worthy without Jesus coming to him. We can’t even repent, without Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, and the witness of his followers bringing the party of Good News to us. Therein lies the real problem: Church members, too often, want sinners to clean themselves up, in order to be worthy of the church’s attention, love, or help. The reason, really, is that church members don’t want to know or spend time with, much less have a party with prostitutes, drug dealers, thugs, and “undesirables.” But if we can put the conditions of having already been changed to our responsibility to love, care for, or try to redeem them; if we can make “repentance” a condition of our attention, time, and face to face interaction, then preaching the gospel not only just got easier, it got a whole lot more palatable, tolerable, and comfy.

The Pharisees say, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”[3] But we do the same, when we see an elder, deacon, pastor, or member, routinely interacting with “suspect characters” we begin to whisper among the elite holy, “Why do they go to that place with sinners? What is their real association? What are they constantly doing over there with those people, they are up to something.”

And understand, the reason we throw such lies and accusations around, most often, has nothing at all to do with any real suspicion. That is it not what it is about. The reason Pharisees make such accusations, is so they can be excused from going and loving sinners, like those they accuse, and still appear Holy.

If Matthew was righteous when Jesus found him, then there would have been no reason to say, “Come follow Me”, for Matthew would not have been collecting taxes at his tax booth, he would have already been following behind Jesus. The assumption that in order to follow Jesus, in order to start attending a church, in order to be loved by the community of God, you have to have cleaned yourself up is a hellish lie that traps people in despair, disadvantage, and destruction. The Gospel is, you are not too far gone, too debased, too deformed, to be loved by God, redeemed by God, and called by God. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, . . . John 6:44 (Emphasis mine)

For those “righteous” who refuse to accept there is nothing they have, or can do, or can prove, that can earn them the merit of the attention of Jesus — Jesus can’t help them. They have all the “righteousness” they will ever get because they refuse the Doctor’s orders.

On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”[4]

Footnotes:

[1] Matthew is also known as Levi, in the same way, Peter is often known as Simon.

[2] I am paraphrasing for emphasis.

[3] Mark 2:16

[4] Mark2:17

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From Harlot to Holy

Faith Like A Prostitute 

 by Vinnie MacIsaac

Related PODCAST Below

Everyone in ministry rightfully wonders at times, am I qualified? Do I really have what it takes? Would God really accept someone like me to work for Someone like Him? Being a prayer warrior, a local church deacon or elder, or children’s coordinator, worship leader, or even a Pastor is not only hard work, but it is a sure fire way to discover your defective nature and brokenness. If you are unaware of your imperfections, people will surely educate you the second you step up into ministry

I have often wondered how Rahab knew those spies visiting her den of iniquity were really “good” Jewish boys, but answering that would be a blog of another kind for another time. The truth, regardless, is Rahab was a pagan prostitute who likely practiced prostitution solely to support herself and her family economically. According to Jewish tradition found in the rabbinic writings of the Midrash, she was so beautiful that she was considered to be among the four most beautiful women ever^[1]. Her sensuality was so intense according to the rabbis that to even say her name created lust that needed repentance^[2]. As an Amorite, she would and been polytheistic but the “Ra” of her name likely points to her being originally a worshiper of the Egyptian Sun God Ra^[3]. Which is very interesting as her story in Joshua points to her having followed the news of the God of Israel having defeated the gods of her own namesake.

In some cases, prostitution in the ancient world was not only a noble profession but within certain cultures a holy profession. It was an expression of ritual pagan beliefs, and its acts were a fulfilling of those licentious sexual rites. The temple prostitute was seen as a living sacrifice to the local goddesses of fertility ensuring the cycle of life to the community by her ritual service, but such was not likely the case with Rahab. The Hebrew word used to describe her probably rules that out. The זָנָה Zonah means common every day prostitute as opposed to the word קדשה qedesha meaning consecrated or set apart prostitute^[4]. I say this to simply make sure we understand Rahab was the bottom of the Cannonite social barrel. Her actions, even in her own culture, were low and without societal sanction. She was an outcast, a sinner, and the dregs of even pagan morality.

Unfortunately, sometimes in all religions, even Christianity, we tend to write off what we consider to be the dregs of society. We tend to label people reprobate or past redemption. Perhaps we assume they are not interested or would not want to hear what we have to say about God’s love and mercy; but not so for Rahab! Those good Jewish boys had other things on their mind than testifying for God, but that did not stop Rehab from telling them all she had heard about their God!

“For we had heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.” (Joshua 2:10-11)

This lowly, pagan, outcast and sinner in the arts of sensuality, was paying attention to the newsfeed of what God was doing among the nations! Even more impressive was her heart was melted by what she heard of how the God of the Hebrews had made waste of the gods of her own namesake. She was already starting to believe in power the God of Israel. How often do we judge the down and out? How often do we pass a homeless person, a troubled youth, a common city streetwalker and turn our head in shame of who we think they are? I wonder, could they not be someone who has heard rumors of our God? Might they get up, put away their sins and follow, if only there is a witness to be found, and the slightest hint of an invitation?

Please remember, these good Jewish boys would have left her to die in that city, but it was Rahab and not them, who took the first steps towards her own salvation when she hid the spies when they were being sought out by city officials to be captured and killed. It is Rahab who knowing God was both powerful enough to take her city down and merciful enough to care about her who pleaded to her Jewish guests. “Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that, as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father’s house.” Look at the faith on this girl! She pleads not just for herself, but for her father and mother, my brothers and sisters and even her whole extended family. She is a woman who is not self-focused and just looking out for herself. She is, in fact, a harlot who has hope in the Holiness of God.

It was because of the faithfulness of a common harlot that her whole family was saved.

“Behold, when we come into the land, you shall tie this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and you shall gather into your house your father and mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household.” (Joshua 2:18)

And good to their word those good Jewish spies ensured Rahab and her whole family were saved when the walls of Jericho came down. The scarlet cord, a mere symbol of faith in the scarlet blood that would flow one day on the cross over Calvary, was the symbol of her redemption. Her faith not only saved herself and her whole family but it actually landed her a mention in the Hall of Fame of Faith in Hebrews 11; “By faith Rahab, the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.” (Hebrews 11:31)

Moreover, it is likely her faith had a hand in saving even you. Matthew, it seems, records her as being in King David’s genealogy and thus in the lineage of Jesus himself. “Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David.” (Matthew 1:5-6)^[5].

Stop and think of it! If God would use a harlot like Rahab and even embed her into the genealogical claim of Jesus being the rightful ruler of the throne of David, from whom would come the very Messiah, then why can’t He use you? You may be imperfect. You may be flawed. You may be broken. You may just be exactly what God needs to show many others in the masses His grace extends even to them!

Rahab was a woman, sadly used by many men. She was often used for a burning moment of passion and then forgotten for life. But she was also a woman used once by God, with an everlasting passion that will never be forgotten. When we let people use us, they degrade and destroy us, for that is the will of fallen humanity but when we let God use us He acts in love rather than lust, and he uplifts us, cherishes us, and restores us past our ever imagined true worth! There can be no romance greater than one with Jesus. The is no greater love story than a God who knows your past but can only see your future with Him.

 Do you at least have the faith or sun worshiping prostitute? If so, Jesus can wash you. Jesus can renew you. And best of all, Jesus can use you to bring the Messiah not only into the world but into the lives of all the people around you.

Related Podcast Episode

Related Articles:

The Reserve Of Courage

Seeking Sinking Simon

The Pastor And You

Footnotes

^[1] Along with Sarah, Abigail, and Esther

^[2] Megillah 15a

^[3] https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/all-women-bible/Rahab

^[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_prostitution

^[5] Because of the abhorrence of her sin as a Harlot many of Jewish and Christian apologists have tried to discredit her as being the same Rahab however there is no real evidence past that of embarrassment for such claims.

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Love Letters In The Sand

Go And Sin No More

By Vinnie MacIsaac

There was a crash. The door broke in. Light shone into the broken doorway, flooding the darkness of the room. Men poured in the room… They were yelling, screaming, shouting, “Get her,” “Drag her out,” Don’t let her get away.”

Awakened from her sleep and blinded by the shining light in the room, she cried out to her lover looking for help, security, and protection.  He leaped from the bed, pushed her away from himself and said, “Get her; just don’t take me.”

Half- naked, she was dragged from her room, from her darkness, into the light; cast at the feet of Jesus. Broken, shamed, dirty, guilty, without dignity nor humility she appeared, caught in her sins…before the very Son of God.

The Story is recorded in John 8.

The Woman

…Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. 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. John 8: 1-4

Who was this woman?

Some have suggested this is Mary Magdalene but the Bible does not say. Some have said it is the woman whom Jesus cast out seven demons but the Bible does not say. Some have told me she must have been a woman whom Jesus had redeemed or was a follower of Jesus, and the reason they picked her was to mock Jesus and rub his face in this failed follower, but the Bible does not say. All the Bible tells us is that she had no name given. Not one. In fact, the only thing we know is she is a Woman; a woman caught in adultery.

She could be any of us.  Let that sink in. She could be any of us.

Wait you say, “Come on, Pastor I have never committed adultery… how dare you say such a thing as that to me?”

This woman is like us: Like us all. She is defined by her SIN.  Think about it. The only name we have for her is her sin. Who is she? –The Woman caught in adultery.

The Lost: The real truth is we are all called the lost. 

The real truth is we are all called: The lost. It is important –that no matter who we are that we all understand when we stand before the living Son of God, who is God… we are naked in our sins. He sees all.

• 

  Just because you have never cheated or been caught does not mean you have no sin. Your sin may be different, but it is just as real. It makes you Naked before God.

  You may be a woman caught in adultery or…

• Man caught in anger

• A mother caught in selfishness

• A father caught in provoking you children to wrath

• A daughter caught in rebellion

• A son caught in hopelessness

• A brother caught in covertness

  A sister caught in lying

• No matter what we have fallen short in… God sees it all.

When you stand before the mighty SON of GOD …There is no hiding your condition. Just as that day, on those steps to the temple this woman could not hide her Identity –A woman caught in adultery.

The Law

Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say? John 8:5

What did the Law Demand? Simply death. Death to whom? This woman who had been caught in her sin.

“Moses said to stone such woman.”

How ironic. Did the law not condemn Men who committed adultery too? Where was the man?  What! Did this woman commit adultery all by herself? –I think not!

And yet, It is sadly not strange to me to see the man left out of the blame. A legalist always on applies only the part of the law they want, they believe, they seek, they up hold… and they ignore the rest. They were not concerned with the Law; they wanted to trap Jesus!

What would He do?

The Judgment

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.  John 8:6-9

He did not judge – But He could have. He did not judge though He was worthy to Judge. He did not judge, but He would have judged rightly had He judged. Notice – JESUS never let anyone back him in a corner.  You could not force His hand. He would not pick the lesser of two evils.

Jesus scooped and wrote in the sand. What did he write? Some say he wrote their sins; others say he did not write anything He was just giving time to for them to consider their own sinfulness. Others still say perhaps he just wrote the word forgiven.

I have given it lots of thought, and my own opinion is that He simply wrote the Ten Commandments and each saw their own sin in the breaking of the law. Think about it for a second time the finger of God wrote the law of God for man.

V7 “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”

Oh, that we would learn this lesson! But how had she heard those words I wonder?

She was guilty… She stood before all the holy men of Israel…

• The Pharisees

• The Rabbis

• Jesus.

Where they not all more Holy than she? Was she not guilty? I can only imagine she thought her accusers were indeed without sin next to her!!!

“The woman had stood before Jesus, cowering with fear.  His words, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone,” had come to her as a death sentence. She dared not lift her eyes to the Saviour’s face, but silently awaited her doom. In astonishment she saw her accusers depart speechless and confounded…” Desire of Ages p. 462

Reflecting on this paragraph in the classic work on the life of Jesus, Desire of the Ages, I have come to understand that too often we see his actions as condemning us when really he is acting to redeem us!

• Was she guilty? Yes.

• Was Jesus holy? Yes.

• Was Jesus in his right to condemn her? Yes.

Jesus chooses mercy. Jesus chooses redemption. Jesus chooses Forgiveness. Yet, she could not see what He was in the act of doing, while He was doing it!

It is a worthy endeavor to stop and consider why this is. Why do we only see gloom and doom when Jesus only offers love, mercy, and a chance at full and complete redemption?

The conclusion I keep coming back to is Sin (the condition) closes off to us what God is really up too. Sin produces an unfair, tainted, skewed picture of God. She saw His words as declaring damnation. But they declared salvation!

How is it for you?  Is it getting hard to see the goodness of God? – He may be in the act of restoring you too.

The Gospel Order

Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” John 8: 10-11

Don’t let people trap you in your shame.

Listen, if you learn anything from this blog, learn this…When Jesus declares you righteous no one can stand to accuse you!

1. Neither do I condemn you

2. Go and sin no more.

Don’t get it out of order.

1. Neither do I condemn you

2. Go and sin no more.

For years in the church I thought that if I could not sin any more God would not condemn me — this is Backwards! I was trying to win his love by good behavior. The problem is good behavior, without being inspired by His love, is in fact in short supply!

The world may call you all sorts of names but the name Jesus wants to call you is FREE!

I would work hard not to sin so I could be forgiven… then I would fall and give up… defeated by my own sin.

Thank God for John 8 and the lessons I learned from it. I must first understand God’s grace (“neither do I condemn you”) then I can have God’s victory (“Go and Sin no more”).

THIS IS THE GOSPEL ORDER – GRACE Produces SUSTAINING FAITH!

Alexander Whyte, the great Scottish preacher and famous New Testament  professor, once stood up in his pulpit in Edinburgh and said: I have discovered the most wicked man in Edinburgh … ” Then he paused, while the congregation eagerly awaited the name; whereupon the preacher continued—”that person is Alexander Whyte.”

Look to Jesus and he will set you free.

Stop trying to hide your sin and rather deal with it. Deal with it by keeping the Gospel order, accepting God’s love and letting him change you by His love. The problem with hiding your sin in a dark room is quite simply you don’t know when the Pharisees, and Scribes, will break into your room mid-sin and drag you out on the temple steps before God Himself. God knows everything about you and still desires to save you.

The truth is that at times we all feel like Romans 7:

So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man (person/human) that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
(Romans 7:21-24 ESV)

But today we must stop and remember: Jesus is writing you love letters in the sand… and what really matter is if you are you reading them? Follow the Gospel order to Jesus!

Roman’s 8:1 reminds us There is no Condemnation for those who are “in Christ.”

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
(Romans 8:1-2 ESV)

And I say to you today …Be those in Christ!

*This edition of my Blog is lovingly dedicated to Pastor John Gibson who suffered from depression and allowed the “stones” around him to cast him into actions of despair. Rest in Peace and may God still in his endless grace find you in His resurrection. May in that day Jesus present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the Father. 

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