Let anyone who is without sin be the first to throw a stone… John 8:7.

There are two ways to try to make another person change: order them to change, or love them into changing. With the Pharisees, ‘repentance preceded acceptance’; with Jesus it was the other way around.

Read: John 7:53 – 8:11. The Pharisees were clever, but not clever enough. Jews were not permitted by the Romans to execute anyone; but the law of Moses prescribed execution as the penalty for adultery (execution of both parties – where was the man?). So was Jesus going to be off-side with the Romans or Moses? ‘Let whoever is without any sin cast the first stone.’ Someone has said that there is the sin of law-keepers, and of law-breakers, and each is worse than the other! On balance, though Jesus did not condone sin in any form, he preached more against ‘sins of the spirit’ than against ‘sins of the flesh’. Why? Meditate: Let us put ourselves into this story. With whom do I identify? Why? Pascal once wrote: ‘There are only two kinds of people – the righteous who believe themselves sinners; the rest, sinners who believe themselves righteous.’ Which am I?

O Lord, our God, grant us the grace to long for you with our whole heart, and that so longing we may seek and find you; and that so finding you we may love you; and that so loving you we may hate those sins from which you redeemed us for the sake of Jesus Christ. Amen. (Anselm).

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