Jesus went to the mount of olives early in the morning and He came again in the Temple, and all the people came to him; and he sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the very act; Now Moses in the law commended us that such should be stoned. But what do you say? This they said testing him, that they might have something of which to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with his finger, as though he did not hear.

So when they continued asking him, He raised himself up and said to them He who is without sin among you let him throw a stone at her first. And again he stooped down and wrote on the ground then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one.

Stoning was specified in certain cases of adultery (Deut 22:23-24) though not all ( it is not clear why the authorities intended to punish the woman but not the man) In the Greek text, the pronoun you is emphatic the religious leaders were trying to trap Jesus into saying something that was contrary to the law.

Beginning with the oldest even to the last And Jesus was left alone and the woman standing in the midst when Jesus had raised himself up and saw no one but the woman ,He said to her. woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?

She said no one Lord” and Jesus said to her” neither do I condemn you go and sin no more. << Then Jesus spoke to them again saying” I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. If Jesus had said not to stone her, He would have contradicted Jewish law. If he had said to stone her he would have run counter to roman law, which did not permit Jews to carry out their own execution. What Jesus wrote on the ground is a matter of conjecture.

The Pharisees there fore said to him You bear witness of yourself: your witness is not true.

This sentence does not mean” False” it means not “sufficient” The Pharisees challenged Jesus on legal ground because no man on trial in the Jewish court was allowed to testify on his own behalf. Their point was that, if Jesus were the only one testifying as to who he claimed to be, it would not be enough to prove his case.

Jesus answered and said to them: Even if I bear witness of myself. My witness is true. For I know where I came from and where I am going; But you do not know where I come from and where I am going. You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one and yet if I judge, my judgement is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the father who sent me. It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true am one who bears witness of myself and the father who sent me bears witness of me.

Jesus argued on the basis of legality and offered other witnesses. Sometime, however, an Individual only one who knows the facts about himself. Thus, self-disclosure is the only way to truth. According to the flesh, this could mean either “according to the appearance” or “by human standards” The religion Leaders formed conclusions based on human standards and imperfect, external, and superficial examination. Jesus did not Judge according human standards or outward appearances.

Then they said to Him. Where is your Father? Jesus answered. you know neither me nor my father If you had known Me, you would have known my Father also.” These words of Jesus spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one laid hands on him. For his hour had yet come.

Then Jesus said to them again” I am going away, and “you will seek me and will die in your sin. Where I go you cannot come, so the Jews said, will he kill himself because he says where I go you cannot come? He said to them you are from beneath; I am from above you are of this world; I am not of this world Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins for, if you do not believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.

Jesus said again, Who are you? And Jesus said to them Just what have been saying to you from the beginning, I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from him.” They didn’t understand that he spoke to them of the father.

Then Jesus said: when you lift up the son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my father taught me. I speak these things and He who sent Me alone for I always do those thigs that please Him. As he spoke these words many believed in him.

Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed him, if you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, we are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone, how can you say you will be made free?

Jesus answered them most assuredly, I say to you whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And as a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever therefore if the son makes you free you shall be free indeed.
I know that you are Abraham’s Children, but you seek to kill me because my word has no place in you. I speak what I have seen with my Father and you do what you have seen with your Father. They answered to him, Abraham is our father”

Jesus answered to them: If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham, but now you seek to kill Me a man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this; you do the deeds of your father.

Then they said to him, we were not born of fornication we have one Father God.

The Pharisees believed that being a descendent of Abraham guaranteed them a place in heaven. We were not born of fornication; This has been interpreted in the ancient time as a sneer, as if to say “we are not illegitimate children, “but you are” apparently gossip followed Jesus, alleging that he had been conceived out of wedlock.

The Jews answered and said to him Do we not say rightly that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?
Jesus answered” I do not have a demon: But I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. And I do not seek my own glory; there is one who seeks and Judge. Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word he shall never see death.

Then the Jews said to him “now we know that you have a demon! Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and you say, if anyone keeps my word he shall never taste death. Are you greater than our Father Abraham who is dead? And the prophets are dead Who do you make yourself out to be?

Jesus said: If I honor myself, my honor is nothing. It is my father who honor me, of whom you say that He is your God. Yet you have not known him, but I know Him. And if I say I do not know Him, I shall be a liar like you; but I do know him and keep his word your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad. The Jews said to him” You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham? Jesus said to them, most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was” I AM”.

Then They took up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.
Abraham and the Prophets kept God’s word and they died. Jesus claimed not that he would prevent physical death, but that he could give eternal life. To the Jewish leaders, this was proof that Jesus was demons- possessed.
Jesus was not just claiming to have lived before Abraham; He was claiming eternal existence.

God Bless,
Imani

page moved to swahili

Relieve the afflicted, help the needy    – how do we do it, in what way and to whom? This concept is always on my conscience, I don’t know about yours. Where do I do I start? Jesus sums up the Old Testament in two commends: the first is to love God with your whole being, and the second is to love your neighbor as your self.( mark 12: 30,31) The second Commend must surely mean that  we must do as much as we can for those who have little or are in need, as that is what we would want done for us.

DO GOOD TO ALL

Who is our neighbor anyway? We are told in Galatians 6:10 ” Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers” But I think some times we can take this a little too far and justify ourselves in not really helping others. When I first started work a colleague needed a lift to Prescott . I lived in Phoenix, Arizona was miles out of my way – so I kept quiet and waited until some one else offered her the lift she needed. Unconsciously,  I justified my silence by thinking that she wasn’t in the meeting so I didn’t need to help her – my time  was too precious in doing things for the meeting. Afterwards I felt guilty for my response, but I felt that the attitude within me was entrenched in my very being. I was being careful not to be polluted by those around me that I had become number to seeing the good I could do. When Jesus was asked ,” who is my neighbor?” he told the parable of the Good Samaritan, showing that we need to do good ,and not just do good  ,but go out of our way, even for those who hate us.

SHOWING GOD’S LOVE

Being unspotted from the world is good, but God did not intend us to live as monks. Whilst we are in this  world we need to show God’s love through the kindness we can give to others. Jesus says that if a man ask us to walk one mile we  should go two, and if someone wants to take our coat we are to give it and more besides. We should do above and beyond the call of duty. there is no better way than this to serve our master, and to show others that we are different, that life has a better way. After all ,that is what God has called us to be brothers of Jesus, and adopted sons. Just think of that amazing grace. Surely we should be all the more eager, knowing this ,to bend over backwards to help those around us, in any and every way. Let us then try to do this ,looking for the need(small or insignificant though it may be ) In this way we can show God’s love to others and maybe we can touched ours.