John 8:9  When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.

What the critics of Jesus heard was their own convicting judgment coming back at them: "Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her" (John 8:7). None of them had the authority to truly sit in judgment of another for her sin. They drop their stones and walk away.

But now the woman stands alone before Jesus. She cannot hide from her own sin anymore. None of us can. Peter, in the presence of Jesus, fell to his knees confessing, "Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!" (Luke 5:8). Even in our prayers of solitude, we cannot escape the penitential truth of who we are and what we have done or left undone. Nor can we deny this truth.

But when we come to God, we come under the sign of the cross. Jesus said, "I came into this world for judgment" (John 9:39). Indeed, that judgment will take him to the cross, and his own death will expose us for who we truly are in all our sin. But he comes to make that judgment his own so that through his death, we may have his final word for our future. He comes to grant us standing before God in grace as God's own redeemed children. We are no longer guilty when we have Jesus by our side.

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

 

John 8:3-4  ...and, making her stand before all of them, they said to him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery."

A woman is being humiliated by accusers armed not only with legal backing for their argument but stones in their hands to execute their judgment. But all of this is only an attempt to test Jesus "so that they might have some charge to bring against him" (John 8:6).

There is ample evidence that we so often have a hard heart of stone, exhibiting no problem whatsoever judging others. We may even invoke God as our witness. What we do not show as readily is a kind heart of mercy toward others.

Jesus did not come in order to exercise legal judgment. He seems altogether disinterested in such efforts to put others down. He came to bring us a directive of grace. And such grace is for all. He would stake that on the cross, where he was publicly humiliated and put to death for all. Through Christ's death and resurrection, we do not seek the humiliation of others but the bestowal of grace. We trust that "in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us" (2 Corinthians 5:19).

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Jonah 3:10  When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them, and he did not do it.

This passage is one of the rare times where we read the "God changed his mind" and relented from judgment. We should not assume that the people of Nineveh escaped their fate by virtue of their own deeds of repentance. Our own works cannot save us either. Nor should we assume that God God's judgment was somehow never warranted. God's judgment is our just outcome.

The Ninevites' turning in repentance is itself inspired by faith in the promise of God by which we, too, are delivered. God's change of heart changes the hearts of us all. There is no divine answer to Christ's cry from the cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46). Here, Christ takes on the just judgment of our sin into death. But God will issue a new judgment in raising Christ from the dead and give to us a new and final verdict of grace. Death can no longer hold us in bondage. That new development is a promising change, indeed! We are regarded by God not by our sins but by the benevolent truth that grace is God's final word!

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

 

Jonah 3:5  And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth.

The people of Nineveh deserved judgment for their evil ways. But when the people of Nineveh heard the message of judgment, which Jonah was commanded by the Lord to deliver, they repented. The whole city fasted and put on sackcloth and sat in ashes as a sign of their repentance. But more than that, they believed God.

Their believing was very much like that of Abraham, who was without offspring of his own for quite some time. In the midst of great despair and an uncertain future, Abraham even considered God as one who defaulted on his promise. Abraham was commanded to come out of his tent of despair, and to look up to the heavens and count the stars. In the vastness of the stars of the universe, the Lord said to Abraham, "So shall your descendants be." Abraham "believed the Lord, and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness" (Genesis 15:5,6)

Judgment, even our own, only puts us and others down and leaves us unable to rise from our failure. But God has greater things in mind. Even the people of Nineveh are among those descendants who believed in God. So are we as we look with eyes of trust to the Seed of Abraham on the cross, through whom we do not perish but find grace and mercy.

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,


 

Philippians 4:6  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Paul shared these words with the Philippians when the church itself was in a time of anxiety. A schism was brewing between two women leaders of the church, and there was a fear that their disagreement might lead to further divisiveness within the community.

But Paul regards the faithful community, even in the midst of such times, as those who "have struggled beside me in the work of the gospel" (Philippians 4:3). Our work in the gospel may also take place in the midst of chaos, turmoil and unrest - all of which may prompt anxiety. But anxiety can never get the upper hand when we engage in prayer, bringing our supplications and thanksgiving to God.

Paul reminds us, "The Lord is near" (Philippians 4:5). In union with God through Christ who was crucified and risen for our sake, we are never without hope and promise. We trust that our Lord hears our supplications and accepts our prayers over all our anxiety.

-- Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

 

Psalm 6:8 Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.

Do we hear the laments of others? There are those who rarely listen to them. We may even need to count ourselves among those who do not hear. 

The psalmist could hear all the "workers of evil" who heaped upon him harsh words and mortifying turmoil. Still, however, he cries out to God. He trusts that, even if these do not hear, God will hear him in the midst of his struggle and pain.

Christ came into this world for us and for our salvation. All who are overcome by the turmoil of evil feel lost to the world and unheard by anyone. But Christ picks up His cross and brings our cry to the ears of God, even our scent of death to the very nostrils of God. The Lord hears the sound of our weeping! And our cries will give way to songs of hope.

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

 

Psalm 6:4 Turn, O Lord, save my life; deliver me for the sake of your steadfast love.

The Psalmist makes no claim to be righteous. He knows that God must hold him accountable for his sin. But here he cries to God to turn and look upon him in the midst of his struggle. He cries for God to save his life and to deliver him. And why should God do that? The psalmist lifts that up as well: "for the sake of your steadfast love."

There is an audacity to faith. There is the boldness that, no matter how bad it gets, we still call upon God to love us. In fact, Christ came to give us that promise of love and mercy. We are even baptized into that promise. Luther, in his greatest hours of turmoil, would cry out, "I am baptized!" "I am a Christian!"

Christ's love goes to great lengths, and at great cost, to save us and set us free from the depths of our turmoil. All that would separate us from God is nailed with Christ to the cross. The promise of love is with us always!

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,