THE STING OPERATION

THE STING OPERATION (John  8:1-12)

                I saw them dragging her half naked out onto the street. Kicking and screaming she clutched at the sheet she had managed to rip from the bed. It had been a sting operation. There was no doubt about that. In their passionless plot to trap the young prophet, they had showed no pity for the girl.

                Jesus did not avert His eyes from her as the scribes and Pharisees did in their pretended holiness. Instead he gazed beyond her present moment to a life that had been filled with heartache. Being naturally beautiful as she was, it had been hard to know who her real friends were and who just wanted what they thought they could get from her. She had been betrayed so very many times.

                 Her family had long since disowned her. They were prominent people in the community. Known far and wide as “Honest John with new and used donkeys for sale” it was hard enough to gain people’s respect without having a whoring daughter to further ruin his already bad reputation. He had had to make sizeable donations to every charity in town just to gain a seat at the gate. The girl had to go.

                All she had wanted was to find true love and to raise a family. But one relationship after another had started with hope and promise and ended in abuse… and now this. She had been set up.

                Daring a glance through tear-stained eyes she knew that her doom had been sealed. This aspiring young prophet, eager to make His mark would surely denounce her. He would gain a respectable position with the leadership of Israel… maybe He would become famous like Samuel, or Elijah. He could ill afford to be seen with such trash as her, let alone to defend her.

                Weeping in embarrassment, shame and fear she waited for the hammer to come down. She would never outlive this day… never trust a man again… never trust anyone.

                 “Let them stone me” she thought. “It will make everyone happy. The Pharisees will have this young prophet in their pocket and in a week it will be politics as usual.” She was shaking now… shaking with fear and anger. Bitter tears coursed down her cheeks as she pulled the sheet tighter around her.

                But the Prophet, after gazing at her intently for a long moment, stooped down and began to write in the dust. The crowd became silent as one by one, the elders, the Pharisees, the Sadducees and scribes began to slip away from the crowd.

                Was He writing her death sentence? Was He listing all of her sins? Why were they leaving? She gazed from between fingers now muddy from dust and tears. She could not comprehend this turn of events. What could He possibly be saying that would bring their well-planned plot to such a disastrous end... apparently not for her, but for them?

                It was as though every bird in the surrounding trees had ceased to chatter. Time began to move in slow motion. Dusty feet left the town square in silence as her heart thundered in her ears. She waited for the words of doom that would surely seal her fate.

                “And straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?

                Blinking her tears away, she stammered, “No one Lord.” And Jesus replied: “Neither do I condemn you; go your way; from now on sin no more.”

                “Yes Sir,” she gasped as she grabbed at her sheet and scurried back into the shadows and the safety of her room. She had no idea what had changed everything so quickly, but one thing she did know. From that day forward, she would follow the Prophet. She would become a disciple. She would anoint Him for burial and she would announce His resurrection. She would be His friend for eternity.