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