Daily Reading 22

"Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. -John 8:12

Do you watch court room dramas? You know the ones where the bad guy has a huge stack of evidence against him and the prosecution is calling witnesses who just nail him? (or her!) You know the ones I'm talking about: Law and Order, Boston Legal, etc. Well... this story is a bit like one of those dramas.
Picture a courtroom full of religious types in the jury, the public, and lawyers benches. Behind the defense table sits a woman in a sexy night time ensemble. She has just been dragged in by a bunch of men, who caught her in the middle of an affair with a man. Back in the time of the bible, this was outrageous. If the same Jewish laws were enforced today, the religious guys would have brought her into the courtroom screaming for her death sentence by lethal injection. They brought her straight to Jesus. He would be the judge. The men threw her in front of the bench and told him what she had done. They publicly tell Jesus that they dragged her out of the bed in the middle of the adulterous act.
So, they tell Jesus that the law of Moses commands that she be put to death by stoning. I don't know about you, but I think Jesus probably knew already the law... And what did he do? He started writing something down in the dirt. Then he looked up at all of the people, including the men who brought her in and said, "Anyone here who has never sinned can throw the first stone at her." -John 8:7 Whoa! Instead of telling this lady how horrible she is and publicly humiliating and degrading her, he turns it back around on her accusers.
You see, Jesus doesn't take any body's crap. He doesn't let anyone think that their sins are "less" than another person's. The people holding stones dropped them and walked away. This woman was left standing with no one left to accuse her. When he asked her where her accusers were, she said that there were none left. He replied, "I also don't judge you guilty. You may do now, but don't sin anymore." Jesus had entered a "Not Guilty" plea on her behalf. EVEN THOUGH there was evidence to prove that she had done wrong, he accepted her and gave her a gift of forgiveness. You can see at the end of the story that he wanted the best for her. He knew that the choices that she was making were causing her pain and hurt. He loved her as she was, but he also wanted her to make choices that caused her to feel love instead of pain.
I like to remember that ALL OF US have a "Not Guilty" plea in God's courtroom. Jesus has put one in for every one of us. I hope you know that he loves you, even when you mess up. Even if you've never followed him or believed in him before. Even if you've been going to church your whole life and you feel like right now you just don't know what to think or believe.