Divine Expectation

Jesus bent down and scribbled in the sand.

"Let the one who is without sin among you cast the first stone."

One by one, the community's supposedly upstanding men trailed off until only Jesus and the woman remained--only those two, and His sacred scribbling.

Did Jesus draw a line in the sand, silently daring even one sin-stained man to boldly cross it, stone in hand? Did he write in a secret code only the woman caught in adultery was able to decipher, perhaps some words of comfort like, "Don't worry. I'll protect you"?

Or was He killing time, making the woman and her accusers squirm with discomfort for a few minutes before He spoke the words that would set her free?

"The men are gone," Jesus said to the disgraced woman, when the stones of condemnation had been dropped into a pile at their feet and the coast was clear. "I won't accuse you, either."

Of course, He could have accused her and left it at that. He deserved to, since He had committed no sin Himself and had all the stones in the world at His disposal.

But His unconditional love for her demanded more of Him than just that He avoid accusing her or judging her. His unconditional love required that He equip and expect her--in her newly forgiven state--to change.

"Go, and sin no more."

There's a difference between lack of accusation and expectation of change, a fine-tuned note of grace that deliniates one from the other. I believe the difference is unconditional love.

What if Jesus had turned to the woman and said, "Looks like this is your lucky day. I got those dudes to back off, didn't I? Go do your thing, and I'll go do Mine."

In order for her to make the changes in her life that she so desperately needed, He held her to a higher standard than she would have ever held herself. When He said Sin no more, she received the grace to obey. And with that grace, she truly understood His unconditional love.

She didn't have to be perfect to receive His love, but once she experienced it, there was no way to remain unchanged.

Posted by Katy on 08/05/04 at 08:30 AM

Fallible Comments...

Wonderfully beautiful discription of one of my favorite stories of Jesus (because I identify with it so much...) - no doubt she took Jesus' words to heart...
I'll be referring people from my blog to read this!
-----
Posted by Patrick on 08/05/04 at 08:02 PM
What a great perspective. It is in this tension that we live and grow in Christ.
Posted by will on 08/05/04 at 10:39 PM
i really relate to that last line, katy...once i experienced the love of Jesus for the first time, i was profoundly changed; my perspective had irrevocably shifted. wonderful reminder.

www.justadjust.blogspot.com
Posted by lisa on 08/06/04 at 04:27 AM
Katy,

Have you ever read "Scribbling in Sand" by Michael Card? It's all about God's creation and creativity... It's a short, easy read. You might dig it.
Posted by timsamoff on 08/06/04 at 01:24 PM
Powerful stuff.

This is one of my favourite stories of Jesus, too. Like a lot of others, I'm probably guilty of paying more attention to the seeming condemnation of self-righteousness and less to the conferrng of grace that takes place.

Excellent post.
Posted by Bob on 08/06/04 at 05:37 PM
What a very thought provoking post, and so applicable to the world that is larger than each of us at this moment in history. I love the way you make me think, in ways I'd not thought of myself.

And dated on my birthday, too. What a gift!
Posted by Jennifer on 08/06/04 at 09:48 PM
We can't seem to walk that narrow road. Either we fall into the ditch of judgement or we stumble to the other side and get into lisence and call it grace. Jesus siad it was a narrow road.
The trouble is we transmit to others what we apply to ourselves. Either we preach an angry and judgemental god or we preach a god who loves without any boundaries to our behavior. Jesus came in part to show us who God really is. We still have trouble getting it. Maybe we need one of those deals that projects a lazer line on the wall. But then we have the Bible, don't we?
Posted by Angus Lewis on 08/08/04 at 05:27 PM
What a great depiction of one of my most favorite stories in the Word. Our pastor actually mentioned this in his sermon this past Sunday, and I was encouraged by knowing that Jesus holds me to a higher standard.. one that I would never hold myself to. And His grace enables me to be obedient... My struggle is accepting the grace and forgiving myself. Wonderful post.
Posted by Danielle on 08/10/04 at 02:41 AM
Patrick--I've always imagined (believed, I guess) that the individuals who encountered Jesus's forgiveness face-to-face were radically, permanently changed. How could it be otherwise?

Will--Do you wonder about the men who walked away from the scene? I got to think some of them were transformed by the encounter, too. They each had their own perspective coming into it--some were adulterers themselves, no doubt. It must have been an eternally challenging moment.

Lisa--Yeah. Now it's easier to look at others as Jesus looked at us on that first day we knew we'd been forgiven.

Tim--Yes! I got to be in a small session with Michael Card teaching at the Calvin Festival two years ago. I bought "Scribbling" at the festival, and love it.

Bob--Those poor guys. They were self-righteous--the Scripture indicates so. But when they could no longer look down on the woman as being "worse" than they were, perhaps a few wandered off convicted of their own sins (and some of those sins might have been committed with this very woman). Maybe a couple even repented. I like that thought.

Jennifer--Happy Birthday to You! I'm always amazed that Jesus--the Lord of the world and everything in it--will stoop to scribble on my behalf and yours. That's attention to detail!

Angus--Ouch! The Bible is the great plumb line, dividing between bone and marrow. A fine line to keep coming back to.

Danielle--I share your struggle. I am very hard on myself. When I read the words, "Go and sin no more..." I try to picture the look in His eyes when He says it. There's a world of grace in those eyes.
Posted by Katy on 08/11/04 at 03:09 PM

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Personal blog of christian writer & fallible mom Katy McKenna Raymond in Kansas City, Missouri Katy is represented by Greg Johnson at WordServe Literary Read more Katy at LateBoomer.net Follow Katy on Twitter Follow Katy on Facebook 123 Recent Posts Try Becoming Brenda Starr Off Beat Scattered That’s It So I’ve Finally Signed With An Agent. Now What? The Spoon Sciatica Sweetheart A Woman’s Train of Thought Has No Caboose However much we own, we are all still living on borrowed time After all, when restaurants shrink portions, they don’t shrink prices. As with everything in life, balance is key. Slow down, you move too fast… Yeah, I know. I have issues. Search Advanced Search Syndicate Login E me at katy @ ngenius.com	Divine Expectation Jesus bent down and scribbled in the sand. "Let the one who is without sin among you cast the first stone." One by one, the community's supposedly upstanding men trailed off until only Jesus and the woman remained--only those two, and His sacred scribbling. Did Jesus draw a line in the sand, silently daring even one sin-stained man to boldly cross it, stone in hand? Did he write in a secret code only the woman caught in adultery was able to decipher, perhaps some words of comfort like, "Don't worry. I'll protect you"? Or was He killing time, making the woman and her accusers squirm with discomfort for a few minutes before He spoke the words that would set her free? "The men are gone," Jesus said to the disgraced woman, when the stones of condemnation had been dropped into a pile at their feet and the coast was clear. "I won't accuse you, either." Of course, He could have accused her and left it at that. He deserved to, since He had committed no sin Himself and had all the stones in the world at His disposal. But His unconditional love for her demanded more of Him than just that He avoid accusing her or judging her. His unconditional love required that He equip and expect her--in her newly forgiven state--to change. "Go, and sin no more." There's a difference between lack of accusation and expectation of change, a fine-tuned note of grace that deliniates one from the other. I believe the difference is unconditional love. What if Jesus had turned to the woman and said, "Looks like this is your lucky day. I got those dudes to back off, didn't I? Go do your thing, and I'll go do Mine." In order for her to make the changes in her life that she so desperately needed, He held her to a higher standard than she would have ever held herself. When He said Sin no more, she received the grace to obey. And with that grace, she truly understood His unconditional love. She didn't have to be perfect to receive His love, but once she experienced it, there was no way to remain unchanged. Posted by Katy on 08/05/04 at 08:30 AM Fallible Comments... Wonderfully beautiful discription of one of my favorite stories of Jesus (because I identify with it so much...) - no doubt she took Jesus' words to heart... I'll be referring people from my blog to read this! ----- Posted by Patrick on 08/05/04 at 08:02 PM What a great perspective. It is in this tension that we live and grow in Christ. Posted by will on 08/05/04 at 10:39 PM i really relate to that last line, katy...once i experienced the love of Jesus for the first time, i was profoundly changed; my perspective had irrevocably shifted. wonderful reminder. www.justadjust.blogspot.com Posted by lisa on 08/06/04 at 04:27 AM Katy, Have you ever read "Scribbling in Sand" by Michael Card? It's all about God's creation and creativity... It's a short, easy read. You might dig it. Posted by timsamoff on 08/06/04 at 01:24 PM Powerful stuff. This is one of my favourite stories of Jesus, too. Like a lot of others, I'm probably guilty of paying more attention to the seeming condemnation of self-righteousness and less to the conferrng of grace that takes place. Excellent post. Posted by Bob on 08/06/04 at 05:37 PM What a very thought provoking post, and so applicable to the world that is larger than each of us at this moment in history. I love the way you make me think, in ways I'd not thought of myself. And dated on my birthday, too. What a gift! Posted by Jennifer on 08/06/04 at 09:48 PM We can't seem to walk that narrow road. Either we fall into the ditch of judgement or we stumble to the other side and get into lisence and call it grace. Jesus siad it was a narrow road. The trouble is we transmit to others what we apply to ourselves. Either we preach an angry and judgemental god or we preach a god who loves without any boundaries to our behavior. Jesus came in part to show us who God really is. We still have trouble getting it. Maybe we need one of those deals that projects a lazer line on the wall. But then we have the Bible, don't we? Posted by Angus Lewis on 08/08/04 at 05:27 PM What a great depiction of one of my most favorite stories in the Word. Our pastor actually mentioned this in his sermon this past Sunday, and I was encouraged by knowing that Jesus holds me to a higher standard.. one that I would never hold myself to. And His grace enables me to be obedient... My struggle is accepting the grace and forgiving myself. Wonderful post. Posted by Danielle on 08/10/04 at 02:41 AM Patrick--I've always imagined (believed, I guess) that the individuals who encountered Jesus's forgiveness face-to-face were radically, permanently changed. How could it be otherwise? Will--Do you wonder about the men who walked away from the scene? I got to think some of them were transformed by the encounter, too. They each had their own perspective coming into it--some were adulterers themselves, no doubt. It must have been an eternally challenging moment. Lisa--Yeah. Now it's easier to look at others as Jesus looked at us on that first day we knew we'd been forgiven. Tim--Yes! I got to be in a small session with Michael Card teaching at the Calvin Festival two years ago. I bought "Scribbling" at the festival, and love it. Bob--Those poor guys. They were self-righteous--the Scripture indicates so. But when they could no longer look down on the woman as being "worse" than they were, perhaps a few wandered off convicted of their own sins (and some of those sins might have been committed with this very woman). Maybe a couple even repented. I like that thought. Jennifer--Happy Birthday to You! I'm always amazed that Jesus--the Lord of the world and everything in it--will stoop to scribble on my behalf and yours. That's attention to detail! Angus--Ouch! The Bible is the great plumb line, dividing between bone and marrow. A fine line to keep coming back to. Danielle--I share your struggle. I am very hard on myself. When I read the words, "Go and sin no more..." I try to picture the look in His eyes when He says it. There's a world of grace in those eyes. Posted by Katy on 08/11/04 at 03:09 PM Page 1 of 1 pages Commenting is not available in this weblog entry. Next entry: Leviticus? Previous entry: R-e-s-p-e-c-t << Back to main


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Personal blog of christianwriter & fallible momKaty McKenna Raymondin Kansas City, Missouri

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Divine Expectation

Personal blog of christian
writer & fallible mom
Katy McKenna Raymond
in Kansas City, Missouri