Are We There Yet? Gal.6:7-15 NKJV

Are We There Yet?

Gal. 6:7-15 NKJV

Purpose:         To become better persons leaving behind our old human nature.

⁷ Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.

⁸ For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.

⁹ And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

¹⁰ Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.

¹¹ See with what large letters I have written to you with my own hand! ¹² As many as desire to make a good showing in the flesh, these would compel you to be circumcised, only that they may not suffer persecution for the cross of Christ.

¹³ For not even those who are circumcised keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.

¹⁴ But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom^[a] the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

¹⁵ For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation.

¹⁶ And as many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.

Footnotes:

Galatians 6:14 Or by which (the cross)

This is the word of God

For the people of God

Praise be to God

Amen

Are We There Yet?

Gal. 6:7-15 NKJV

Purpose:         To become better persons leaving behind our old human nature.

            I am pretty sure that each one of you has noticed that dealing with people is not easy. We encounter so many different personalities, different backgrounds, different experiences, different modes of personal communication. The reality is that dealing with people is not easy at all. And when we place people inside a car, a house, a school, and the church, then the issues with people are going to be more obvious because now we have a specific group of people.    

            For example, I am pretty sure that each one of us at least once, has been in a trip that seemed to be longer that it really was. We just wanted to reach our destination. It is not just for children to ask, are we there yet? We adults maybe don’t verbalize it but we think about it. This question easily reveals two meanings: (1) We are so excited to be in our vacations that we cannot wait to be there, or (2) the trip has become emotionally intolerable and even painful. The key to having a great and fun trip or an emotionally poor, sad, and upsetting trip is the people. For instance, when we travel to the ocean, full of sun and sand that could easily become so relaxing and fun; but one of our friends, and maybe more, he/she just discovers that the sand aches his/her skin, and it does really bothers her/him. Well, all of us know that sand aches and more when we are wet, getting out of the sea after swimming. So our friend suddenly has discovered that the sand has become such a problem for him/her, that he/she starts complaining about it the entire time while we are trying to enjoying the vacation. Ok. We think maybe he is going to take it easy, just ignore him. Later we go to eat and our friend notices that the restaurant is expensive and he/she doesn’t want to spend so much money eating there, her/his budget is not fitting for this kind of extravagances. It is just the first day of a week vacation after a long driving and a hard year of saving for it!!! Have you been in this kind of predicament? Our friend is really a problem. We don’t want to deal with him. This friend has the ability to ruin our so much needed and wanted vacation. Then comes to our mind that God wants us to be kind, loving, and not get tired to keep doing well to others. But where is the limit for this person? Where is the boundary? On the other hand, God is telling us that His Kingdom is at hand and it is good. My vacations are part of His Kingdom. God is a god of balance. Does God want me to stop my friend? And if He does, how can we be loving and kind with this friend in our dream vacation before we kick him/her out of the rest of it? We don’t want to hurt him. We don’t want to damage the friendship.

            And what about when this person is not a friend, it is a member of our family? or when he is part of our church? It is a difficult situation, trying to enjoy life when there is a person who just gets under our skin. And we pray, God, his personality and our personality just don’t match. You have to change him. Or remove him from my life. I cannot deal with him.

            Well, here is the Apostle Paul writing this letter to the church of Galatia. We know that when the Apostle Paul writes to a church is because they have a problem, and generally the problem is not small. There are people who were Jews and now are Christians. There are people who were polytheist, that is they believe in more than one god. And now as Christians they believe in just one god. All of them are together in the church. Remember that the church of the first century, they gathered every day for listening the preaching of the Word of God, a meal, and to take communion. There is something that has not changed at all. Here in the church of the first century and the church of this current century where we are grouped all sorts of people, with all sorts of personalities, experiences, and backgrounds and it is called the church. And where there are people always there are problems. But here comes Paul with the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, where he has found that the conversion of the heart and mind lead to the conversion of the one’s character. Paul knows that the answer for the problem of the Galatians, and the church in general, is the assimilation of the preaching of the Gospel. When the Word of God comes to us and we allow it to take root, when we allow it to make its home in or hearts and minds, there is an expected change inside us. Obviously, this change of mind and heart is going to be reflected in our thinking, speaking, and living. Paul knows that the Word of God is able to transform humankind. It is able to deliver us from evil thinking and feeling. The Word of God is able to help with the conflicts of the Galatians, with the problems of any of us. And do you know why the Word of God is transformative? Because we are a new creation in Jesus Christ. The old human nature of us has passed away, all things have become new (2 Cor. 5:17). Now if we are new creations by the Spirit, we must walk in the Spirit. Our attention has to be on the matters of the Spirit, not on the matters of the flesh, because if we pay attention to the matters of the flesh, we will be corrupted by the world again. In contrast, if we are alert to the matters of the Spirit, we are going to sow everlasting life for us and for others. Paul encourages us to do good to people but mainly to those who are part of their community of faith, their church. Let me tell you something, when one is focusing on the flesh, that means trying to be nice to people based on one’s own qualities and merits, one looks fake and artificial. In contrast, when one tries to be nice based on the Spirit, praying, “Please, God, change my heart that I can treat this person with respect and love”; showing him/her patience when his/her character shows up or when he/she shows self-centered attitudes. This is what Paul refers to in “doing good.” How does it show or does it feel to do good? It feels inside us and several times even it shows on the outside that the efforts to of doing good is, let the Holy Spirit, who lives inside us, empower us with His holy character. It is when we fight or struggle to let the Spirit to take control of our inner-self. It is when God is working in us.

            So, my dear ones, to have conflicts with people is not new at all. We know that we don’t want and we shouldn’t please people. We have to want to please God. And when we please God, everything comes to the right place, even the change of character and attitude toward others come easy. Let us not grow weary in doing good for others, especially those of the community of faith.

            Let us pray

            Dear and Good Father,

            Dear Father, our human tendency very often hurts others, but You have told us that we are new creation that the old tendencies have passed away. It is time to give place to our new humanity. A humanity based on the Holy Spirit, Your Spirit. We want to be more and more like Jesus Christ who always knew how to approach people giving them love, respect, and being patient with them. Help us to be attentive to the preaching of Your Holy Word that has the power to transform and to empower us.

In Jesus’ name, we pray.
Amen.           

No to Me. No to Us!!!/ Lk 8:26-39 NKJV

No to Me. No to Us!!!

Lk 8:26-39 NKJV

Purpose:         Do not let the negativity of the world change us.

²⁶ Then they sailed to the country of the Gadarenes,^[a] which is opposite Galilee.

²⁷ And when He stepped out on the land, there met Him a certain man from the city who had demons for a long time. And he wore no clothes,^[b] nor did he live in a house but in the tombs.

²⁸ When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and with a loud voice said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me!”

²⁹ For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had often seized him, and he was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles; and he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the wilderness.

³⁰ Jesus asked him, saying, “What is your name?”

And he said, “Legion,” because many demons had entered him.

³¹ And they begged Him that He would not command them to go out into the abyss.

³² Now a herd of many swine was feeding there on the mountain. So they begged Him that He would permit them to enter them. And He permitted them.

³³ Then the demons went out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the lake and drowned.

³⁴ When those who fed them saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country.

³⁵ Then they went out to see what had happened, and came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid.

³⁶ They also who had seen it told them by what means he who had been demon-possessed was healed.

³⁷ Then the whole multitude of the surrounding region of the Gadarenes^[c] asked Him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. And He got into the boat and returned.

³⁸ Now the man from whom the demons had departed begged Him that he might be with Him. But Jesus sent him away, saying, ³⁹ “Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you.” And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.

Footnotes:

1. Luke 8:26 NU-Text reads Gerasenes.
2. Luke 8:27 NU-Text reads who had demons and for a long time wore no clothes.

3.       Luke 8:37 NU-Text reads Gerasenes.    

This is the Word of God

for the people of God.

Praise be to God.

Amen

No to Me. No to Us!!!

Lk 8:26-39 NKJV

Purpose:         Do not let the negativity of the world change us.

            Two sermons ago, I hope you remember, we talked about how our parents and grandparents lived through difficult situations in their times, and how they used to talk about those situations. Well, now I want to ask you, do you remember the attitude of your parents or grandparents? It is important to remember what kind of attitude our parents and grandparents had when they encountered problems out of their control.  In my case, I remember that my mom was an assertive person, my dad’s tendency was pessimistic but mom was his balance and she usually very quickly made him touch reality. To be an assertive person is to be confident in one’s points of view.[1]

            Actually, we can be in the other extreme, idealistic. To be idealistic is to dream about perfection[2] in ourselves and in the world. To be an idealistic person is to be out of reality because perfection is impossible to reach in an imperfect world. To be a pessimist is a state of the mind that ALWAYS expects the worst to happen.[3] There is also the attitude of being positive. To be positive is to be confident of one’s opinion or assertion. It is to be fully assured.[4] Sadly, I have found more people who are pessimistic or idealistic but not positive or assertive.

            For example, all of us have heard the person who says, “I thought that I was going to be promoted but XYZ was promoted instead of me. Oh, well. It was obvious I shouldn’t think about it.” Pessimism spreads like a fungus. It is an infection of the mind. We also have heard the idealistic person who says, “Oh, well. I am going to lose 150 pounds and wear a wonderful bikini.” The idealist is totally out of her or his reality. Both of these attitudes are easier to find or to obtain because they lead us to the path of least resistance. Actually, the majority of the people or are pessimistic or idealistic because it is easier to let the circumstances, environment, or culture trick or trap us. It is hard to be in balance. It is hard to be a positive and assertive people.

            Here was Jesus is coming from one side of the lake to the other, and He encountered a man who is possessed with demons. This man was naked and was living in the graveyard. That means he was an outcast, homeless, and undressed. Life was hard on this man. Life was cruel to him. How many times has life been this way with us or with one of our beloveds? How many times have we been outcast people? To meet people who are in crises or being one person in crisis or being an outcast is difficult and sad. Do we welcome these kinds of people or do we send them away? When the possessed man saw Jesus, the demon inside him screamed and recognized the authority and power of Jesus.  How many demons are we able to carry around? There is the demon of negativity which helps to lose our hope and faith in God. And we start hearing or even thinking, “We are living in a terrible situation. We go to places just in fear.” There is demon of idealism which helps us to be out of touch with the reality of what God commands us to do. “It doesn’t matter if I don’t do it. It will happen anyway.” Do we keep our good attitude about life even in the face of terrible news? Or do we let the demon of negativity take over. God has been very clear with us, where the Lord’s Spirit is, there is freedom (2 Cor. 3:17). We can feel fear. We can be afraid for a moment but we don’t let the fear overtake us. We cannot live in fear. It is against our beliefs.

            Here comes the difficult part, after Jesus had healed the man. Jesus had made him a whole person again. This man was fractured and broken by demons, by the circumstances in his life. What was the first reaction and answer of this man? He wanted to serve Jesus. He stopped focusing on his demons, or on his bad luck, or on his circumstances. The man witnessed that for God there is nothing impossible. The man was restored to a normal life. The hard part for him was to accept his new good life. He could easily go back to the same emotional and spiritual brokenness. When one has lived for a period of time distant from God, the great danger is that once Jesus has helped us and restored us to a path of being better persons in a better life, then it is difficult to believe it. It is easy to go back to the condition and situation we were because it is what we know. God in Jesus offers us such a peace in the middle of international chaos called terrorism and abundant life and assurance in the middle of a society which is morally and ethically broken. He didn’t want to go back to the misery of his human condition. He thanked God for his new, good, and positive situation in his life. He knew that the only way that he could own and keep his sanity and wholeness, was embracing and accepting this care of Jesus in the middle of a dangerous world.

            My dear ones, our religion, Christianity, is a religion of abundant life, because the Spirit of God who lives in us cast out fear. It is a religion of sanity because Jesus heals in the middle of this messy and ill world. And is a religion of positive assertion because we know that Jesus is real and He’s still performing miracles.

Let us pray,

Dear Father

Very often, we think that Jesus is too good to be true. The man of today’s lesson knew and accepted Your goodness. He didn’t hesitate to take and live out his new and abundant life. Help us to do the same. Help us to be positive and assertive in our way of living. Help us to be like Jesus, who didn’t allow the crisis and the human situation in His time to make Him pessimistic or idealistic.

In Jesus’ name, we pray.

Amen.

---

[1] http://www.thefreedictionary.com/assertive (Accessed on 6/17/2015)

[2] vocabulary.com/dictionary/idealistic. (Accessed on 6/17/2016).

[3] https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/pessimistic. (Accessed on 6/17/2016)

[4] http://www.dictionary.com/browse/positive (Accessed on 6/17/2016)

We Have to Learn How to Love. We Have to Learn How to Live/ 1 Kg 21:1-21 NKJV

We Have to Learn How to Love. We have to Learn How to Live

1 Kg 21: 1-21 NKJV

Purpose:         To learn how to live lives that please God.

21 And it came to pass after these things that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard which was in Jezreel, next to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.

² So Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, “Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near, next to my house; and for it I will give you a vineyard better than it. Or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its worth in money.”

³ But Naboth said to Ahab, “The Lord forbid that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you!”

⁴ So Ahab went into his house sullen and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him; for he had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” And he lay down on his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no food.

⁵ But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said to him, “Why is your spirit so sullen that you eat no food?”

⁶ He said to her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite, and said to him, ‘Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if it pleases you, I will give you another vineyard for it.’ And he answered, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’”

⁷ Then Jezebel his wife said to him, “You now exercise authority over Israel! Arise, eat food, and let your heart be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”

⁸ And she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who were dwelling in the city with Naboth. ⁹ She wrote in the letters, saying,

Proclaim a fast, and seat Naboth with high honor among the people;

¹⁰ and seat two men, scoundrels, before him to bear witness against him, saying, “You have blasphemed God and the king.” Then take him out, and stone him, that he may die.

¹¹ So the men of his city, the elders and nobles who were inhabitants of his city, did as Jezebel had sent to them, as it was written in the letters which she had sent to them.

¹² They proclaimed a fast, and seated Naboth with high honor among the people. ¹³ And two men, scoundrels, came in and sat before him; and the scoundrels witnessed against him, against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, “Naboth has blasphemed God and the king!” Then they took him outside the city and stoned him with stones, so that he died.

¹⁴ Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned and is dead.”

¹⁵ And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, “Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money; for Naboth is not alive, but dead.”

¹⁶ So it was, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab got up and went down to take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.

¹⁷ Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,

¹⁸ “Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who lives in Samaria. There he is, in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone down to take possession of it.

¹⁹ You shall speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Have you murdered and also taken possession?”’ And you shall speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, dogs shall lick your blood, even yours.”’”

²⁰ So Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, O my enemy?”

And he answered, “I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the Lord:

²¹ ‘Behold, I will bring calamity on you. I will take away your posterity, and will cut off from Ahab every male in Israel, both bond and free.

This Is the Word of God

For the people of God.
Praise be to God

Amen

We Have to Learn How to Love. We have to Learn How to Live

1 Kg 21: 1-21 NKJV

Purpose:         To learn how to live lives that please God.

          Last week I was pretending with Toreigh that she was a genie, who was able to give me as many wishes I wanted. Later this game brought back many memories of my childhood. I remember playing the same game with my little sister, about a genie who was able to give me everything that I wanted. No matter what people say, it would have to be wonderful to have a personal genie who could give us everything that we wanted and in the place and time that we wanted it. No efforts. No sacrifices. No sufferings for what we want. It would just have to be amazing. I want a genie. Then, the game with Toreigh made me think of the desires of my heart, which are many. And how through all my young life, and early adulthood, I was so focused and determined to reach and accomplish all my desires that I never paid attention to other people’s wishes. I also couldn’t enjoy the present moment because always I was thinking in the next step to get the next desire I wanted to get. The desires of my heart were so important and so loved for me that I thought that they were the same for everybody else. In fact, when I became a mom, my children started asking for things with the prefix words “I WANT” I want a doll, I want a ball, I want an ice cream, I want to watch a cartoon. I thought that my job as a mom and caregiver who loved them deeply was to provide, to afford, and to give them everything that they wanted because again and of course, I love them. I wanted them to be happy. I wanted them to be pleased and comfortable in life and with me. I want them to trust. I wanted them to believe that mommy loved them so much that I was here as the genie to provide everything that they wished. I thought it was the right way to love my children. I loved them so much. The more love the more giving of the wishes for them.

          Have you been there? Have you thought that the right way to live and to love is to give and to get the wishes of our hearts and to give the wishes of our beloveds? How many times have we forced situations for our own benefit or the benefit of someone who we love and we don’t consider, much less ask God if the object, situation, or person we desire is lined up with His will for our lives?

          In the story of today, it is obvious that king Ahab, who had the means to get whatever he wanted, and Naboth, a person who didn’t have as much as the king, enter in a conflict. Naboth was very confident of the desires of his heart and how to live a peaceful life. Actually, it sounds childish that the king wanted a vegetable garden. However, the point here is not the vegetable garden. It is the intentions of the human heart. To want or to desire something is not bad. Otherwise, how can we strive to reach our goals in life? The very wrong was the intensity of the desire for something. The text tells us that the desire of the king was so intense that he became depressed and angry. When one wants something or someone so badly to the point of not functioning in a right and healthy way, then something is wrong. Not with the wish. Something is wrong with our attitude. I need to have this. These five simple words can lead us easily to sin. The same happens when we want to give to one of our beloveds the desire of their hearts.  Do we stop and think whether such and such thing, situation, or person is good for my beloved? Does God want me to strive and try to get it because it is what God wants and intends for their lives?  

          In Ancient Israel tradition it was considered a blessing from the LORD to have land and pass it on to the next generations. It was a given blessing from the LORD. Just listen to the answer of Naboth when the king asks him to sell or to exchange the vineyard, in v. 3 “The LORD forbid that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you!!!” For Naboth, the owner of the vineyard, it was important to follow the LORD’s desires, wishes, commands. Noboth knew how to live and he knew how to love. He loved the land that God gave it to his ancestors. Remember that everything belongs to God.

              How many times have we agreed to do something, have we gotten into an argument, or have we even gotten into a debt because we wanted to show our love to someone? Well, I think we need to learn how to live and how to love.

          When Jezebel, the queen and wife of Ahab, came and discovered that he deeply wished the vineyard of another person, what did she do? She went and arranged a lie, a plan on how to get what her beloved wanted. How many times can we compromise our integrity, our ethical and moral behavior for something or for someone? How far are we able to carry the accomplishment of desires and wishes “in the name of love”? How many times have we been content when life says “NO” to us?

          You know what the problem is, that we really believe that to get, to say, to do whatever our beloveds want is the right way to live and it is the right way to love. We can easily lose the right direction and the right perspective, that are God’s perspective and direction, when the desires, the wishes of our hearts consume us. Because in reality what should consume us is the love and obedience for our God.

          And you know what is ironic, when the intensity of the wishes and desires of our hearts take over us, we do not enjoy the process because it becomes an obsession. It becomes an obsession because we elevate material things or people to the level of gods. When we do that, we don’t experience permanent fulfillment when we reach the desire object or person or situation.

          So, my dear ones, what is the solution? The solution is to learn how to love and is to learn how to live. The only way we can learn such important lessons is through our personal and communal relationship and obedience with God.

Let us pray

Dear and Good Father

Thank You so much for the desires and wishes of our hearts and the desires and wishes of our beloveds. Help us to avoid raising people, situations, or things to Your level. We want to learn how to love rightly. We want to learn how to live well.

In Jesus’ name. Amen.

What Is Wrong, What Is Sin? John 8:1-12 NKJV

What Is Wrong, What Is Sin?

John 8: 1-12 NKJV

 

Purpose:         To know what is sin and wrong according to God’s standards mentioned in the Bible.

8But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

² Now early^[a] in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them.

³ Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst,

⁴ they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught^[b] in adultery, in the very act. ⁵ Now Moses, in the law, commanded^[c] us that such should be stoned.^[d] But what do You say?”^[e]

⁶ This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.^[f]

⁷ So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up^[g] and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” ⁸ And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.

⁹ Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience,^[h] went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

¹⁰ When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her,^[i] “Woman, where are those accusers of yours?^[j] Has no one condemned you?”

¹¹ She said, “No one, Lord.”

And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and^[k] sin no more.”

¹² Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world.

He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

Footnotes:

a.John 8:2 M-Text reads very early.

b.John 8:4 M-Text reads we found this woman.

c.John 8:5 M-Text reads in our law Moses commanded.

d.John 8:5 NU-Text and M-Text read to stone such.

e.John 8:5 M-Text adds about her.

f.John 8:6 NU-Text and M-Text omit as though He did not hear.

g.John 8:7 M-Text reads He looked up.

h.John 8:9 NU-Text and M-Text omit being convicted by their conscience.

i.John 8:10 NU-Text omits and saw no one but the woman;

M-Text reads He saw her and said. 

j.John 8:10 NU-Text and M-Text omit of yours.

      k.John 8:11 NU-Text and M-Text add from now on

                                                                                                 

This is the Word of God

for the people of God.

Praise be to God.

Amen.

What Is Wrong, What Is Sin?

John 8: 1-12 NKJV

Purpose:         To know what is sin and wrong according to God’s standards mentioned in the Bible.

       In this part of the Gospel, John is telling us that is morning and Jesus is coming to the temple, to keep teaching people about the right interpretation of the Scriptures, God, and the Kingdom. Remember that the New Testament was not written yet. The Scriptures that Jesus was teaching were the Torah, our Old Testament. The Scriptures had authority; that is why Jesus taught and instructed them. Scriptures have authority because they are based on the power and universal truth that reflects the character and desires of their author, God. God has given us His written Word in order to know what is wrong, what is sin. In order to know how we can change from sinners to saints, from sin to obedience to His Will. Jesus knew the importance of Scriptures.  That is why He taught about them. He was always talking about the Law; that is, our Old Testament.

        Actually, it is not an easy task to understand Scriptures. It takes a lot study, prayer, and discernment. It was the same in those times. It was very difficult to understand the Torah, our Old Testament. In fact, people in those times took the difficult questions about religion to Rabbis for clarification and enlightenment. Nowadays it is the same: we approach to our pastors and Bible school teachers with difficult questions for the same reason, clarification, in order to be better educated and make the right choices, and be enlightened. We want to know the Holy Scriptures, because they are the first-hand way to get to know God, our Lord and Creator. However, in this case, Jesus’ enemies, the scribes and the Pharisees, approached Him with the evil intentions to discredit Him and to shame Him in front of the people who respected Him. They came with a difficult situation with a woman caught in adultery.

       In the eyes of the Jewish law, adultery was a very serious crime.[1] The Rabbis said: “Every Jew must die before he/she will commit idolatry, murder, or adultery.”[2] Adultery was one of the severest sins, and its punishment was death for both who were caught in adultery, the man and the woman. It is remarkable how the genuine and committed Jews were willing to die before offending God with such actions: idolatry, murder, or adultery. So in the pure sense of the Law, the scribes and Pharisees were perfectly correct. This woman was guilty of adultery and she met the criterion of being stoned until she died.

       The situation or the dilemma with which the scribes and Pharisees wanted to confront Jesus was, if He, Jesus, agreed with them to stone the woman, two things would follow Him. He was going to contradict Himself because he was teaching, preaching, and practicing mercy and love for sinners. Remember that Jesus was called the friend of sinners. Second, Jesus could come into a serious problem with the Roman authorities because the Romans were the only ones who had the right to pass the death sentence on anyone. The Jews didn’t have the right to do it. On the other hand, if He said that the woman should be pardoned, then His enemies could accuse Him of breaking the Law of Moses, and of course they would say that He was ignoring and even encouraging the sin of adultery.[3] Can we understand what kind of people and how low their morals and ethics were? They wanted to trap Jesus. The scribes and Pharisees wanted not just to erase Jesus from their lives. They wanted to do it with cruelty, nastiness, and meanness. My dad used to say that man, referring as humanity, man is the only creature who can destroy himself/herself just for pleasure.  I think the scribes and Pharisees were enjoying the idea of the massacre and the destruction of Jesus. Have we been in a position where we wanted to stone someone for something wrong but didn’t see our own wrongdoings that the majority of times are similar to or the same as we point out in people?  On the other hand, when we have been redeemed and Jesus has changed our hearts and consequently our actions, there is something new inside us, the righteousness of God which through the Holy Spirit is telling us what is sin and what is wrong and not to do it.

       Here is where a lot of people get confused. There are mean and cruel people out there, or maybe at some point in our lives, we were the scribes and Pharisees of other people. It is one thing is to judge and another to condemn. We as humans are always judging. The act of judging means that we are assessing, we are evaluating the situation, the behavior, the intentions of someone. If we don’t judge, we cannot discern what is right and what is wrong. Judging is part of our humanness. We need to judge in order to discern what is morally and ethically right. To judge is important because we need to draw concrete and clear conclusions for our lives.[4] To judge is important in order to please and obey God. Now it is different to condemn. To condemn is to censure and to criticize. It is to pronounce a verdict.  In the specific sense of our Christianity, to condemn means to say if someone is or is not going to hell. It is the role that belongs only to God.

       I need you to notice how God connects everything. God, throughout Scripture, talks about the intentions of the heart. The intentions of the human heart are closely linked or connected to the thoughts and ideas of our human minds. We don’t need to be confused about doing the morally and ethically right things expected from God. In the case of this part of Scripture, the intentions of the hearts of the scribes and the Pharisees were cruel and mean because they wanted to condemn. They didn’t want to be better persons in order to please YAHWEH, that is, God. They didn’t want to help others to be better Jews. They were self-centered, focusing on their own agendas, not on God’s agenda. They wanted to kill the woman caught in adultery.

       Yes, the scribes and Pharisees were right when they accused her, but the intentions of their hearts were wrong. They wanted to kill Jesus and on the way to doing it they didn’t care about others. In this case, they wanted to kill the woman as a scapegoat in order to trap Jesus.

       This story is very difficult because it can easily be misunderstood. If we are not careful, we can get the impression that Jesus was easy on sin. We have to understand how Jesus treated this woman and how He applied His authority. In verse 11 Jesus is telling her that He doesn’t condemn her, that she is free, BUT there is a big, huge condition: SIN NO MORE. As William Barclay has noticed, “In effect what He [Jesus] was doing was not abandoning judgment and saying, “Don’t worry; it’s quite all right.” What He [Jesus] did was to wait for the verdict.” In other words, Jesus with His attitude and His words at this moment was not passing verdict. Jesus was saying, go and prove that you can do better that this. I am with you always and I am going to help you to stop doing this sin of adultery. At the end of the day, your behavior will tell if you stop offending God or not.

       I think that it is important to refresh in our memories what sin is. First the concept of sin is related to religion and Christianity. So according to the Bible dictionary, sin is, in Hebrew or in the Old Testament, a revolt or transgression, and it signifies an intentional and careless act of disobedience against God. In the New Testament, is the same, it is the act of disobedience toward God’s will.

     So, my dear ones, this story in the Bible has so much to teach us today, as does the rest of the Bible. It is still very important and relevant to be clear when Jesus comes and commands us to obey God, because when we don’t obey, then we clearly sin. Jesus was clear, and Jesus is clear to us today. He is telling us the same thing that He told the woman: I am not going to pronounce verdict yet, but go and SIN NO MORE. Go and prove that we can do better than what we have been doing. Go and be a better Christian. Go and be a better spouse. Go and be a better mother, father, daughter, son, a better person. Today, we are sure as the woman caught in adultery that Jesus is going to help us to stop sinning, to quit doing what is wrong, sin no more and obey God. At the end of the day God and the world will see how we have lived.

Let us pray,

Dear and Good Father

Thank You so much for The Holy Scriptures. It is through them that we know what is wrong, what is sin, and what pleases You. Help us to stop doing what is wrong, what is sin, and obey You. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen

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[1] Barclay William, The Daily Study Bible Series. The Gospel of John. Vol. 2(Philadelphia, PN. Westminster Press: 1956), 2.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] http://www.definitions.net/definition/judgment (Accessed on 4.29.2016).