Week 20: What? Now I'm a Pharisee?!

Day:  139          Verses Memorized:  347          Working On:  John 8:1-11

The John Squad
(Please click here to chart your own progress - even though I'm the only one still doing this)

My Progress:
This week I discovered that "review weeks" simply do not work.  This was the second time that I set aside a week to go back and review the previous chapters while resisting the temptation to move ahead.  I have now realized that unless I am moving forward, I am not moving at all.  Spending a week on review sounds really great, but when it comes down to it, I wimp out every time.  I get too laid back and even skip days.  So I am going to have to make a new commitment and I'm thankful I have this blog to hold me accountable to actually do it.  I am going to recite one previous chapter each day before I am allowed to spend my time memorizing new verses.  After I realized I wasn't spending the time in review that I should have been, I went on ahead and memorized the first ten verses of Chapter 8 anyway.  (I initially considered not memorizing this section since it says that this story wasn't included in the earliest manuscripts, but then I figured I couldn't say that I memorized the entire book of John, so I reckon I'd better memorize it.)

Some Thoughts:
This one was a real eye-opener.  This is the story of the woman caught in adultery and Jesus makes his famous remark, "if any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."  I've heard this story a trillion times.  But when I took the time to memorize it this week, I began to learn some new things about myself.

First of all, I think we're all on the woman's side on this one.  The poor girl, right?  The Pharisees are just treating her terribly, especially when they "made her stand before the group" and threatened to stone her.  I am just overwhelmed with sympathy for this woman.  I feel so sorry for her.  I am sad that they are treating her that way.  I'm embarrassed for her.  No matter what her situation is, I am totally and completely on her side.  That was Sunday and Monday this week, when I began memorizing this chapter.

Then Tuesday came and I was putting my girls to bed.  We were reading through Exodus and we got to the story of the Ten Commandments.  (Guess what, one of them says that we are not to commit adultery.)  I kissed them goodnight, shut the door and as I walked down the hall, I stopped dead in my tracks.  Why on earth am I so forgiving of this woman's SIN?  Indeed, adultery IS a sin!  Jesus Himself says at the end of this passage, "go now and leave your life of sin".  Think about all the damage and pain that adultery can do to so many relationships.  Why am I so sympathetic toward this woman?

As I reflected on these questions, I started to focus on Jesus and His reaction.  After memorizing 7 chapters now, I can clearly see a pattern in the way that Jesus treats people.  How He loves them.  His patience.  His mercy.  His utter selflessness.  What a beautiful picture of a loving Savior. 

Unfortunately, I had a realization that was just about more than I could bear.  Several weeks ago, I had deep struggles with Chapter 5 and memorizing the story about that stinkin' guy at the Pool of Bethesda.  I was devastated that after hating him so much, I realized that he represented me.  (I still struggle with this story when I go back and review it.  It just makes me sick.)  Well, I began to realize that the reason I side with the adulterous woman is because the teachers of the law and the Pharisees are just so bad.  I would always choose to be on the opposite side of them.  But as I examine how Jesus has love and mercy for the woman caught in sin, I am reminded of this:  Sin is Sin.  Period.  "ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."  That includes the Pharisees, this woman, the man at the pool, and me.  This woman's sin is no better or worse than the Pharisees. 

Obviously, being a Christian for a long time, we come to understand this idea that sin is sin, no matter what.  We know that there are no measures to sin.  There are no "good" sins or "little" sins.  So I'm not sure why this concept has hit me as a new realization this week.  I just always held the Pharisees at a different level than everybody else and thought of them as the enemy.  They're just so easy to hate.  But when I stop and look at Jesus, I see that He treated them with just as much mercy, love, and respect as He did everybody else. 

So I guess I realized that yes, this adulterous woman should receive my mercy and love for her wicked sin (and I should not minimize that sin).  But I also realized that the Pharisees and the teachers of the law should receive my mercy and love for their wicked sin as well.  I need to stop holding a grudge against them and remember that just like the man at the Bethesda Pool, I am just as wretched and sinful.  So not only am I the jerk in Chapter 5...  I'm a Pharisee too.  This is just too much.