Stones flying in all directions!?

Reflecting on John 8:1-11

“Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” (John 8:7)

This story is disputed because it is not in the earliest manuscripts.
But whether it is original or not, God speaks through it in a powerful way.
Like a parable, it’s lesson is in its meaning, not in whether it happened.
It serves as a summary of all the stories of Jesus, of how Jesus worked.
It brings grace to the humble, and conviction to the arrogant.

Have you ever wondered what Jesus wrote in the dust?
Someone suggested to me that it was the names of women they had sinned with.
This makes sense to me, and notice the older ones leave first (longer lists).
This story, like Jesus’s teaching about logs and splinters, is meant to convict us.
Our natural tendency is to downplay our own flaws, while highlighting the sins of others.

Thankfully our sins are written in the dirt, easily washed away.
If God treated any of us as our sins deserve, we would all be stoned.
This is a lesson the church today needs to relearn and reapply.
The church should not be a battleground of accusation and condemnation.
Of all people, we should be a community of humility and grace.

PRAYER
Lord Jesus, the stones are flying but they're not coming from You. Help us see ourselves, and others, as You see us: as graced, not condemned, children of God.