Declaring Right to Judge

 

2021 01 09          Psalm 24             Genesis 24-26                   John 8

When reading from Psalms and Proverbs each day I tend to flip to one of them and read whatever is on that page, sometimes choosing by the length of the reading and the time I have. Sometimes I will pick on that is already highlighted or has few highlights or notes written in. This morning Psalm 24 only had the first verse highlighted from a previous reading so I chose it when I opened to that page.

 As I read through it David asks a question and then poses the answer:

Who may ascend onto the hill of the Lord?

And who may stand in His holy place?

4 One who has clean hands and a pure heart,

Who has not lifted up his soul to deceit

And has not sworn deceitfully.

5 He will receive a blessing from the Lord

And righteousness from the God of his salvation. (NASB)

 

A call to integrity.

 In Genesis 24-26 the story of Isaac and Rebekah begins as Abraham send his servant to choose a wife for Isaac from the land of his birth. Rebekah returns and Isaac takes her as a wife and makes her the one that will bear the descendants promised to Abraham. We see the same characteristics in Isaac that were in Abraham as he deceives others about who Rebekah is to protect himself. When Rebekah is pregnant the twins are in conflict in the womb. God tells Rebekah they will not have the normal relationships that we would hope for in our kids.   When they are born and grow we begin to see the struggle between them and the deceit and manipulation that will become a part of there story that will cause grief between them throughout their lives.

 It was interesting to turn to John 8 and look at Jesus teaching on sin and its impact on our relationships with one another and with God. Though early manuscripts don’t include it the story of the woman caught in adultery and brought to Jesus really sets the scene for the rest of the chapter. We want to have the right to judge another by our standards but present them as God’s standards. Notice that they bring her to a public place for her humiliation but also to publicly challenge Jesus. I often picture this as a angry mob that has coming demanding that their judgements be upheld. Jesus turns their judgement back on them when he offers them the right to execute their judgement. He tells the one that wants to declare themselves righteous, following perfectly the ways of God, to take on the role of the first witness and cast the first stone. They begin to scatter, beginning with the oldest, and I often wonder how many in the crowd knew of the sin in each of their lives. If they declared themselves without sin could they find themselves placed next to the woman?

 The rest of the chapter is Jesus interaction with them as he points out time and time again that they are not the sinless people that they want everyone to believe they are. Those that declare themselves most righteous, they follow the ways of God, are the ones he challenges the most. Their reaction is to become so angry they want to destroy the messenger that is challenging them.

 In these readings today I see the struggles we continue to have even today. There are those that will declare themselves the righteous ones, without sin, and have the right to judge, condemn and carry out judgement. How many of us reflect on our life and the sin in it before we step up and declare we will cast the first stone? Would those around us have reason to put us beside the woman caught in adultery and declare our sin?