From: andronicus451@gmail.com   
      
   Jesus Delivers the Adulterous Woman   
      
   John 8   
   1 Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. 2 And early in the morning he came   
   again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down,   
   and taught them. 3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a   
   woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, 4 They say   
   unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. 5 Now   
   Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what   
   sayest thou? 6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse   
   him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as   
   though he heard them not. 7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up   
   himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first   
   cast a stone at her. 8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.   
   9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out   
   one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left   
   alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 10 When Jesus had lifted up   
   himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are   
   those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? 11 She said, No man,   
   Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no   
   more.   
      
   * * *   
      
   We see here two different approaches to the problem of the deadly sin   
   of adultery. Pharisees brought the woman caught in the act before   
   Jesus - in fact to test him. Pharisees knew they had no permission to   
   execute anyone (John 18:31), but they saw no problem if they did   
   it by a proxy and if Jesus would do the dirty work for them.   
   But this was very far from what Jesus intended with this woman.   
      
   Indeed, in the Old Testament an adulteress and a cheating wife is   
   a source of disgrace for her husband and peril for those who get   
   involved with her: "Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell."   
   (Proverbs 5:5).   
      
   The narrator of the Proverbs continues:   
      
   Proverbs 5   
   3 Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey   
   and her speech is smoother than oil,   
   4 in the end she is bitter as wormwood,   
   sharp as a double-edged sword.   
   5 Her feet go down to death;   
   her steps lead straight to Sheol. [Hades, Hell]   
   6 She does not consider the path of life;   
   she does not know that her ways are unstable.   
      
   Indeed, a woman can turn a man into her slave with   
   bonds that are not cut even in death, they are said to   
   "not return" from such kind.   
      
   Moreover, in Proverbs 2 he says:   
      
   16 To deliver thee from the strange woman,   
   even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;   
   17 Which forsaketh the guide of her youth,   
   and forgetteth the covenant of her God.   
   18 For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead.   
   19 None that go unto her return again,   
   neither take they hold of the paths of life.   
      
   Why then Jesus refused to stone that woman?   
      
   One might argue that she the death penalty might force her to repent   
   for her act and return to God. This is not what always happens. Even in   
   the presence of Jesus, out of two crucified criminals, one was saved   
   and went to Paradise, the other one was hardened in his crime and sin,   
   mocking even Jesus on the cross, not recognising his Saviour and Messiah.   
      
   So, it is arguable that the death penalty would cause the woman to   
   return to God Creator. In fact, Pharisees might have thought that she   
   deserves also Hell, not only the capital punishment. Anyway, they only   
   did the Law of Moses. Or the part that suited them well. For Jesus said   
   they abolished the Commandment "Honour thy father and mother!" if   
   that could be converted into a financial gift to the Temple and the priests.   
   Meaning the Pharisees.   
      
   Now this woman was brought to peril only because she was an insignificant   
   adulteress, and Jesus knew that, for a powerful adulteress was their queen   
   and she caused his cousin John the Baptist to be beheaded. Naturally,   
   the Pharisees did not want to join John, so they made no objection on   
   the high ranking sin. But they scapegoated on insignificant adulteress.   
   Jesus saw in her the potential for good and reconciliation with God,   
   if she was forgiven now. But if she wasn't lost the the society first, she   
   might not appreciate that.   
      
   From the anecdotal sources we hear that this adulteress never committed   
   adultery again, which Jesus probably had foreseen as many things, for   
   he was also a prophet.   
      
   In fact, to this day, the law, whether religious like Law of Moses or the   
   Islamic Shariah law, or the civil law - acts as a deterrent for some not to   
   transgress, but has very limited potential for the restoration of the   
   offenders. We know from every day examples that but a few convicts   
   return from jail with resolve not to trespass again and endure all   
   of the temptations. Most notable being the temptation of returning   
   to the old environment that caused them to transgress in the first place.   
      
   This is why Pharisees could only stone the adulterous woman, while   
   Jesus could have mercy on her with the security that she will not sin again.   
      
   The other scene is the event when Jesus was at a dinner with a Pharisee.   
   Pharisee's sexual purity was the result of the discipline, fear of men and   
   repression of the Law. The sinning woman was an offence and a temptation   
   for him. By the Law, he would become unclean if he touched her.   
      
   Jesus acted in the grace of God: when the woman touched Jesus's feet,   
   the holiness from Jesus passed on her too, without Jesus having any   
   less or being anything less holy. Just as when he touched a leper or   
   the woman with the "flow of blood" (both were ritually unclean and   
   separated by the Law).   
      
   With the grace of God, Jesus was secure both that healed lepers were no   
   longer contagious, but also that the sinners he had forgiven like this   
   adulteress will never be caught in the act again, or will sin no more.   
      
   How could he do that? It is the gift of God that he as being conceived   
   without the original sin could have and behold normal, walking humbly,   
   as a servant, while we might think we were gods, because we have the old   
   nature.   
      
   Just like in the recent events the solution for sin, crime and terrorism   
   (perceived as such from one side) should best be dealt with by radical   
   execution, extermination, and summary executions without a trial,   
   deprivation of human rights, status of war prisoner and using torture   
   to extract information and confession.   
      
   While Jesus would see sinners in the need of the grace of God who can   
   be reconciled sand rehabilitated to the society, possibly by making amends.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)