Throw the Stone, Lob the Gas

The biblical narrative of the woman caught in the act of adultery has fascinated you and me for years, has it not? After we debate the inclusion or exclusion of this story in the Gospel of John, we settle into it because it is terribly consistent with the Jesus we know in the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Therein lies much hope.

Have you ever wondered about the deeper, richer context of this story? If so, you might read Schneider's article which you can find here. I think you'll find it interesting and challenging. 

Against this scene in which stoning was an overt option, I am thinking about lynching as public spectacle and theater. Thousands and thousands would gather to watch as a black person was lynched, charred, and mangled. Maybe public lynchings have been community events for a long time. In my recent publication, you'll find a section about this heinous activity. 

There is the scene of intense opposition. While He is sitting and teaching in the temple courts, the scribes (those who could write, as not all could) and the Pharisees come with a demand in an all too obvious attempt to trap Him. “We’ve caught her in the act of adultery and the Law demands that we stone her. What do you say?” 

The intent is to entrap and to lynch or stone this woman publicly in the community of Jerusalem. Outside the walls, of course.

To this situation of great irony, He pauses, kneels, writes on the ground while they continue to pepper Him with questions.

In the background rests the intense anxiety of the leaders of the day. They had lost control over their ability to self-govern to the power of the Roman government. Apparently, the Sanhedrin and its power had been diminished, much to the chagrin and anger and frustration of the Jewish people. No longer were the Jews able to proscribe lynching as an answer to crimes committed. The Roman government would not stand for it. Some leaders have sold out to the Romans. Others attempt to maintain their own sense of control by living segregated insofar as possible from the powers that be.

If Jesus said, do away with her, He would run against the grain of not only His teachings, but against the Roman government. If he said to let her go, He’d run against the teachings in the Law and the Prophets.  He was trapped. Or was He?

“If anyone of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” One by one they departed until Jesus was alone with the woman. Her accusers had walked away, the oldest to the youngest. “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir.” “Then neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin.”

I am pondering current day applications. Some I see. Perhaps you see others. Perhaps there are none. I think there are several.

We are stuck potentially on the horns of a dilemma, obey God or obey the God perpetrated upon us by the religious right and their anointed and appointed one in the White House. That man allegedly has the power to change the laws of the land with regard to any number of things, including immigrants. He has the autocratic power of the tweet and the pen to change things as he wishes, so he and his followers think. If we honor him, we are honoring God; and if we dishonor him, we are dishonoring God. If we deal graciously with the immigrant caravan, we will allow our nation to be plundered by criminals and thieves and the like. If we build that wall, and if we close off the borders, we insulate and protect ourselves against the raging hoards at our borders. And doing so honors God.

Or, obey God as we are told to obey God, or allow or chosen country to be swept away by immigrants who are turning our nation brown or less and less white.

The irony of honoring the Holy One of Israel versus honoring the presidency as it is currently inhabited is too biting to ignore.

Out of a power sense of ambiguity Jesus defused the mob intent upon lynching the woman. And, oh by the way, where was the man who participated in the vile act?

Our current political scene is driven by anxiety, especially in my opinion, those at one end of the political spectrum. MAGA or we shall all lose in the end. MAGA or we shall all be surrounded by brown people.  MAGA or the left will lead us down the slippery slopes to hell.

To ease our anxieties, we place prohibitions and controls on people and institutions. Out of our fear, we catastrophize and demonize the least of these. Yes, those people. The least of these.

Out of what sense of righteousness do we push back on inhumane treatment of people in our day and age? When power and privilege are right in front of our faces, demanding lynchings of various sorts, what do we do for the sake of righteousness? How do we stand with those who are facing the firing squad or the lynching tree or the tear gas or the jails?

Let those who have absolutely no ancestry of immigration in their background throw the first stone at an immigrant. Let those who have pure white blood cast aside the first person of color. Let those who are sinless castigate and rage against the sinners of our time.

Moral authority. Integrity. Standing with a non-anxious presence in the face of existential anxiety.