Would I Stone Someone?

Then they said to Jesus, “Teacher, we caught this woman in the very act of adultery. Doesn’t Moses’ law command us to stone to death a woman like this? Tell us, what do you say we should do with her?” They were only testing Jesus because they hoped to trap him with his own words and accuse him of breaking the laws of Moses. John 8:4-6 (TPT) 

The law was pretty clear about putting to death those caught in adultery. It even specified the means of execution—a public stoning. So why did the religious leaders think that Jesus wouldn’t uphold the law? They must have heard something in his teaching, something to make them think he would disagree with this point of the law. 

Perhaps it was because Jesus talked about God as Father rather than God as judge. Everyone knew the God of fire and smoke upon an unapproachable mountain, demanding strict obedience to his Law. Everyone knew that God punished those who transgressed the law. The lepers and the blind were evidence of that. And yet Jesus went about healing all who were sick, including the lepers and the blind. And if that weren’t enough, he claimed this was God’s will. 

Jesus was preaching a different God, undermining the truth of the scriptures. Every teacher of the law could see this. They needed to discredit this false teacher. They needed a clear-cut case to confront Jesus and reassert the scriptural view of God before the people. 

The scriptures were clear on adultery. It would make a great example. Jesus would either reject the scriptures—branding himself as a heretic—or join them to kill a woman in front of everyone. This would be a perfect image—Jesus hurling stones at a woman until the brutal and bloody act took her life. This would shut down his talk of a fatherly God that loves and heals.

So they found a woman for their plot. They cared not for her life. They wanted to discredit Jesus, to shut down his heresies, and reassert their view of God and how he works in the world. This woman needed to be purged from the community anyway. 

In today’s world, there are some in the body of Christ that have taken it upon themselves to root out theological adultery. They drag believers into the public square and commence to stone them. Those who comment at the end of a blog post or video reveal their joy in the assault, and join in the brutal act. It sometimes seems like a competition, to see who can throw the most lethal stone that will silence this one who teaches heresies.

There is a place for protecting sound doctrine, for engaging with our fellow believers, or challenging those who teach error. But when I reach for a stone, I find myself in a dangerous place. Jesus is present, and I’m about to strike the one he loves. Yes, he so loved this one that he left heaven to save them. I think that I’m doing Jesus a favor by stoning this one into silence. But I have to ask myself—will Jesus pick up stones and join me in striking them down?

—

I came to Jesus with a jagged rock in my hand and said, I will strike down your enemies. Jesus came closer to me, extending his hands, revealing his scars. He said, I have already defeated my enemies.

There was silence between us as I pondered this.

If you want to strike someone, then begin with me, he said. Kneeling down in front of me, he turned his head slightly to give me a clear place to land my blow.

I dropped my rock, stepping back in dismay. And I heard the scripture echo in my head, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of mine, even the least of them, you did it to me (Matthew 25:40).