Jesus: True Bearing

31st in a series on how men and women in the Bible 

deal with waiting, disappointment and unemployment

Jesus: True Bearing

John 8:1-11

One of the most impressive characteristics of Jesus was his bearing.  He had the ability to remain composed and self-assured in the most difficult situations.  Up to this point  in John 8, Jesus had made some audacious claims.  There was no mystery here.  He said in language that his hearers could understand that he was the long-awaited Messiah.  But it was difficult for the people to comprehend because the Scriptures had been distorted by their teachers and their socio-political situation was so dire that they had formulated their own image of what a Messiah should look like.

Those that have been unemployed know what it’s like to view the world with jaded eyes.  Rejection after rejection can cause one to have a fairly pessimistic point of view.  How did Jesus maintain his disposition in the midst of death threats and disbelief?  And how can we develop a bearing that is confident, courageous and all-together positive without overstating ourselves by slipping into a fantasy that over estimates our talents and abilities.  

In this passage the Pharisees pull out all the stops in order to corner Jesus.  “They brought a woman caught in adultery”.  Their very basis for this case began in a flawed manner.  One person cannot commit adultery….it takes two to tango…so to speak.  But this is where Jesus’ bearing showed him to be the more honorable one.  The Pharisees went on to misquote the Scriptures by saying a woman caught in adultery ought to be stoned according to the Law of Moses.  In actuality, both people were to be put to death, but stoning was not specified.

Jesus’ response?  He squats down and writes in the dirt.  But that doesn’t deter the Pharisees, “they kept on questioning him”.  If you’ve ever been in an interview where the questions come rapid-fire, you will know what this feels like.  You can’t answer fast enough and you can’t give sufficient answers before the next question comes.  This is where we often coach people to ‘take control of the interview’.  Don’t let an HR person badger you or proceed with an agenda that isn’t helpful.  Derail their questioning by telling a story or respectfully hijack the process by asking your own questions.  In other words, maintain your bearing by being confident and courageous.

And what was Jesus writing in the dirt?  We don’t know, but some suggest that he, in his omniscience, was writing the sins of all the people standing there with rocks in their hands…Sarah-gossip, Jeremiah-lying, Demetrius-cheating, Samuel-theft, Mary-lust and so on.  But Jesus remained silent.  The Pharisees jabbered on with their accusations and the woman, who may have been stark naked in order to humiliate her and embarrass Jesus, was standing there, guilty, ashamed and ready to be condemned.  

It is then that in Jesus’ perfect timing, he stood up and I imagine looked each accuser in the eye and said, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Wait a minute!  Where is that in the Law?  We’re people of the Book.  Quote a proverb or interpret Moses, but this?  Jesus presents the great equalizer which the Apostle Paul later affirms in Romans 3:23 “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”  

The culture of that day had great respect for their elders and it is they who dropped their stones first.  They got it.  Conviction gripped their souls and they couldn’t escape the truth of Jesus’ words.  It would be like that one interview you had where you were asked what you knew to be a highly significant question and you nailed it with a story that you had prepared for just that moment.  But Jesus didn’t give a fist pump or high five his disciples, he simply squatted back down and began to write in the dirt again.  Maybe this time he was crossing out the sins he had listed because that was why he came in the first place.  John the Baptist had proclaimed, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

A moment later he stood up and faced the woman.  And I believe he looked her in the eyes with love and piercing concern, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”  The woman, weak from the ordeal, barely able to speak, says, “No one, sir.”  Now, Jesus as God and judge of the universe is uniquely qualified to condemn this woman.  She has sinned.  She has, according to God’s own law, done something deserving of death.  And the one person who can rightfully remove her from planet earth is standing in front of her.

Why doesn’t he?  Because in this one story he demonstrates the reason he came.  John later records him saying,  “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”  And earlier in John 3:17 “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”  

The woman must have experienced a range of emotions: from fear to joy, confusion to relief.  Alone with Jesus, he said two significant things: 1) I’m not going to do what the law requires because I am going to take the punishment upon myself…”neither do I condemn you”. 2) Receive this gift of life I am giving you…leave your life of sin…if it doesn’t get you killed by those who are zealous for the Law, it will eat you alive from the inside out.  

What an incredible message of freedom.  No condemnation but also a prescription for true living.  You should never take a job where the manager is one who shames and blames or is an abuser…like the Pharisees in Jesus’ day.  A life in Christ frees us to live as we really should and enables us to walk with a bearing that communicates true courage and confidence.

Points of Application:

1. Have you ever experienced an interview where you were able to take the lead or you wish you had?
2. Why do we judge others so quickly and so easily condemn?
3. Have you ever been forgiven when you didn’t expect it?
4. Do you struggle to forgive?
5. Is there anything preventing you from experiencing the freedom that Jesus gave this woman?

Let the wicked forsake their ways
    and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them,
    and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

Isaiah 55:7