Letter Three: What Does it Look Like to Think, Feel, and Act Like Jesus
My Dear Family,
Families love to tell stories around the table. What better story to illustrate what we are trying to accomplish than the “Woman Caught in Adultery” story found in John 8:1-11. Everything we want to say going forward in “Bearing the Beams of Love” is captured in this famous drama.
Let’s look at Jesus as He is confronted with this moral dilemma. Jesus’ enemies drag this poor woman before Him to decide her fate. If He allows her stoning, He fulfills the Mosaic law but breaks Roman Law. If He lets her off, He sets Himself against Mosaic law. Instead, He stoops and writes in the sand with His finger. This is the “finger of God” motif, and thereby takes us to God’s finger that wrote the 10 commandments. It is essential to see that Jesus embraces the whole of the ancient Hebrew law because it is His law!
Knowing their hearts, but avoiding their hypocritical duplicity, Jesus places the challenge before them: “He who is without sin cast the first stone.” They all disappear, from the oldest to the youngest. Jesus sees this and asks the woman, “Where are your accusers?” Then He says, “Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more.”
It is essential to see that Jesus thinks in paradoxes. He embraces the law yet is not condemning. He is most tolerant with the sinner but is intolerant with the sin. His enemies think completely opposite; they are tolerant of sin, especially their own which they ignored until Jesus called them on it, but are intolerant with the sinner.
We see the compassion Jesus has for this woman; His heart goes out to her as it does for all sinners. Jesus feels it all so intensely! And we see the obedience of Christ where He commands the woman to go and sin no more. As Jesus is obedient to His Father, so He expects all of us to be obedient to our common Father.
The absolute beauty of this story captures it all in utter simplicity. Jesus is teaching us all that we can indeed think like Him, possess His own heart toward sinners, and act in obedience like Him. Since we have the same Holy Spirit within us, WE CAN THINK, FEEL, AND ACT LIKE JESUS!
Your in Christ,
Fr. John Worgul
Takeaway
Jesus loves the sinner but does not tolerate the sin. He calls us to live in obedience.
Discussion Questions
- What might it look like in real life to love a person while not tolerating their sins?
- Why is this often difficult for us to do?