Casting Stones

When they kept on questioning Him, [Jesus] straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." John 8:7

 What a picture this scene must have been:  the angry rabbis standing at the head of an uncontrollable crowd, screaming, pushing, fighting, demanding justice. The onlookers at the outskirts, watching the whole thing unfold, too afraid to lift stones themselves but never brave enough to step into the middle, to try to stop the onslaught, to et caught in it themselves. Jesus' followers- like Peter- raring to go, to take out the Pharisees, to make them hurt as much as they made everyone else hurt. Jesus, eyes full of love and pain, saving yet another of His own.

The woman, the adulteress, probably covered in dirt and scratches, ashamed, humiliated, lying on the ground between them all, wishing the earth would open up and swallow her alive (check out Numbers 16:31 for that story).

It's hard to be caught in your own sin.


Last night, I was talking to my parents about my great aunt, my abuelita's sister. In the months since Abuelita died, Grace has been alone, devoid of her best friend and almost her mother, for at 11 years her senior, Abuelita had raised Grace, too. She's been living in an apartment- alone- on food stamps, and yesterday I was going to make some cookies to bring over to her, he last of the living aunts whom I actually like.

But then I found out that my dad's cousin, her nephew, had moved in with her. This guy is a weirdo if I've ever met one. A full grown man, he spends his days on the computer, looking up trash and spreading it around. He doesn't clean up after himself and he's eating the little food she has.

She's too afraid of him to tell him to go.

I was livid.

I demanded justice from my father, who said the most we could really do was invite Grace out to dinner. Nowhere near mollified, I continued to brainstorm ways to get him out, to make him suffer, to see justice served.


Let she who is without sin cast the first stone.




I have become like the Pharisees, more interested in punishment than in loving people, more concerned with the rules than the heart. This man may be there because he thinks she's scared to be alone- and he's right. He may be providing protection amidst his mes. The best thing for me to do isn't to charge in, fire blazing, stones in hand...

The best thing I can do is do what Jesus did.

Love them.

Maybe that does mean taking Grace to dinner. Maybe it means being intentional about visiting. Maybe it means asking my dad's cousin tough questions- not in accusation but in true love.

The way of the Pharisee is easy.
But the way Jesus worked was better, and until I am without sin, it is not my place to cast stones.

Chalita (Grace) y Abuelita (Mercedes), 2010