"A Woman Caught in Adultery"

  "Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd. 

 "Teacher," they said to Jesus, "this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?"

 They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, "All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!" Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust. 

 When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, "Where are your accusers? Didn't even one of them condemn you?" 

 "No, Lord," she said.

 And Jesus said, "Neither do I. Go and sin no more."" (John 8:1-11 NLT) 

  "Lord, all my desire is before thee; my groaning is not hid from thee. My heart panteth, my strength faileth me: as for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me. My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore; and my kinsmen stand afar off. They also that seek after my life lay snares for me; and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and imagine deceits all the day long. But, I, as a deaf man, heard not; and I was as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth. Thus I was as a man that heareth not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs. For in thee, O LORD, do I hope: thou wilt hear, O LORD my God." (Psalms 38:9-15 KJV) 

 Very interesting, to say the least. Why would this, very popular and talked about Scripture, be left out of some of the oldest Greek manuscripts? The movie, "The Resurrection of Gavin Stone," has this as one of three very important parts in the performance of the play that they perform at their church. In this particular sequence, the one who plays the Woman, was the one that told on Gavin for having taken a gig in Hollywood, instead of performing his part as Jesus in the play that upcoming weekend. 

 For what it's worth, he changed his mind, coming back, and was given a chance to perform his role; as the Pastor's daughter said, "This is what we do!" This was a slogan used as the Pastor shows how we are to treat others, as we would like to be treated ourselves. Something to think about...

"We know what real love is because Jesus gave his life for us. So we ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion - how can God's love be in that person? Dear children, let's not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything." (1 John 3:16-20 NLT)