John 8 recounts a most interesting story. Jesus is on the Mt. of Olives, perhaps in or near the Garden of Gethsemane. Early in the morning He went unto the temple and scribes and Pharisees brought a woman before him taken in adultery.
They set her in the midst and claimed to have taken the woman in the very act. Now what does that mean? Where is the man? They quote Moses as to her penalty. She is to be stoned, and in a pitiful attempt, the wisdom of the natural man tempts God,
“What sayest thou?” they ask of the Savior.
Putting the scene into perspective, Jesus, the only pure entity in the lot, is being tested in hopes the tempters can leverage something against Him and rid themselves of their guilt.
Keep in mind; He can recite the sin of each member in the accusing party, including the woman.
So the Savior stoops down and starts writing something in the dirt. Nobody really knows what He wrote, but here is a plausible text. Not only does Jesus know He’s the Son of God, but He grows in strength and glory daily. He is standing in the courtyard of the Temple, His house.
He no doubt is filled with the spirit and is the Great Judge of mankind. Instead of inserting judging into the space shared by deity and sinner, he delegates thought to all involved by perhaps writing the name of the man with whom she was conducting her heinous sin, or with whom she was caught in the very act. After that man walked away, he wrote the name of the next client in her black book, and then he left.
One by one, as each man sees his name in the dirt, he leaves. When no man remains, the Savior, in a neutral, loving and tender voice excuses the adulterous woman, who at no time defends herself.
“Woman, where are those thine accusers?” he asks. She responds that they are all gone.
“Neither do I condemn thee: go and sin no more.”
No condemnation, no guilt, no seeking agreement that He was right. He was gracious in His space giving the woman an opportunity to repent without being backed into a corner.
Three levels of truth.
- Official truth – for public consumption
- Ground truth – for private consumption
- Underground truth – usually avoided or ignored
Let’s take the recent and foolish attempt to deceive the Savior.
Official truth:
The Pharisees and Scribes are pious, intelligent, attorneys. They want others to think they are righteous and pious leaders. The woman is taken in the very act of adultery.
Ground truth:
They are manipulative, conniving, and have a hidden agenda that the masses don’t see. They are each clients of the adulteress. They threw their own call girl under the bus for the sake of personal gain.
Underground truth:
They are raging with anger, jealously and addictions. There is no happiness in their marriage. Each is probably cheating regularly on his wife. They probably don’t like each other, but Jesus is a common enemy so they rally together.
Since the scriptures type of each of us, how do these truth filters impact our happiness? Do we make ourselves out as victims to mask our underground truths?
The very truths that clearly expose our weaknesses and our culpability?
Remember, using the example of our Savior, to keep your space neutral and without judging when communicating with your loved ones, friends, and enemies.
I feel if we all act upon empathy instead of judging, we will do better with each other. We don’t know what others have been through in their lives and is we can put ourselves in the proper frame of mind and give them the benefit of doubt, we can progress faster and further.