Jesus encountered sin every day of his life. In many of the parables and in actual encounters, often times confrontations, Jesus speaks to the issue of sin and its destructive nature.
When confronted by a crowd about a woman caught in adultery, they remind Jesus that the Law of Moses calls for her to be stoned to death and ask him what do you say?
His response, “let anyone who is among you without sin be the first to throw a stone at her”. After the crowd disperses, the woman and Jesus are alone. Seeing the crowd is gone he asks, “has no one condemned you? Neither do I condemn you”.
What sin does best is bring about additional sin. It is all consuming. Judgement has a way of coming around to everyone. When consumed by the sin of the other, Jesus invites us to consider our own sin. No one is left to throw a stone! But the real gift is not simply coming to grips with our own sin, it is Jesus’ words, “neither do I condemn you”, that should get our attention.
Peace isn’t always found, sometimes it has to be made.
