GRACE,
GRACE, GOD’S GRACE
Susan
Marlene
Pens
of Praise April 2016
Once
Jesus addressed the crowd. He said, I am the Light of the world. He who follows
Me will not be walking in the dark, but will have the Light which is Life. John 8:12
Such
grace as the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost can give…the light of the One. Life in
Him!
When
reading the passage written long ago, inside the pages of John, the eighth
chapter, I come across a desperate individual. A woman who choose to step away
from decency, not only from the Pharisees laws, but also from Elohim, the great
and mighty authority over Israel.
What
lured her away from the coveted acceptance that the boundaries of law and
tradition provided? Who knows, and really, does it matter? Don’t we all slip up
when we think, say, and behave in ways that offend the God of grace?
Observing
the men who dragged this woman right from the center of her sin, to expose her
with such harsh and deadly intent, catches my breath. Makes me pause—with
what—shock? Fear of such extreme authority? They made several mistakes. Some of
which were groomed inside them for years, from example, and expectations from
others and themselves. They’d not shown grace because that would have
challenged their traditions. Graciousness, an unknown face among their powerful
connections. They’d manipulated people’s opinions and expectations for years.
This is what they knew. Now, when they come before Jesus, they test and try to trip
Him up. But the test backfired.
All
because Jesus emulated grace and love that was strange to this people—though
they were the barriers of His message. His love was genuine, heart-felt and so
full of authority. He wrote in the dirt and the Pharisees still peppered Him
with questions. I believe their attention stuck on their anger and motivation
to stir Him. He stood and said those profound words that even some modern day
sinners may recall, “Let he who is without sin among you be the first to throw
a stone at her.” I believe He did so to draw their attention to what He would
write next. Even one stone was too great a burden for them to heft and toss in
light of the truth Jesus wrote before them. Though they walked away, probably
angry and feeling like failures, He touched them with grace that provided the choice
to leave…this woman, their sin, and their horrific tradition that had always
been necessary. Until He who embodied grace and life walked among them. Their
eyes were muddied with traditions and power seeking, so they saw a problem and
not their solution, their grace bearing Lord.
For
I have said, Mercy and loving-kindness shall be built up forever; Your
faithfulness will You establish in the very heavens [unchangeable and
perpetual]….The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours; the world and all
that is in it, You have founded them. Psalm 89:2 and 11
