In the bible, the Pharisee's were generally a proud, self-righteous people. They were the "tattle-tales" that everyone dreads. They were the children who waited and watched until they found someone doing something wrong and then they'd scream at the top of their lungs to get that someone in trouble.
In John 8, we read such an account.
"And the scribes and Pharisees brought into [Jesus] a woman taken in adultery: and when they had set her in the midst,
They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act."
The story goes on to tell that they tried very hard to convince the Lord that this woman should be stoned, according to the law of Moses, which they lived to the very detail. Jesus ignored them at first and then responded,
"He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her."
The Pharisees walked away, knowing that Jesus had created a verbal trap for them: If they threw a stone, they would be lying and everyone would know it because they, too, were known to often commit the same sin (yet THEIR sin was justified in their eyes). If they walked away, they admitted their sins thus damaging their pride. They walked away.
As I read this account, I was reminded of how intimately Christ knows our hearts. Here was a woman committing a terrible sin, but at that time it was not uncommon for women to turn to this way out of utter desperation. We don't know much about this woman or her reasons, and I would suspect that neither did the Pharisees. But we DO know that Jesus could see deep into her heart. He knew what events in her life that led her to this end. He saw her story from the beginning.
He also knew the hearts of the Pharisees and what led them to become who they were.
Then I was reminded that sometimes I am like a Pharisee.
Sometimes I look at people and get angry or frustrated or afraid at what they are or the decisions they make. Sometimes I puff myself up and pride blinds me. Sometimes I am too quick to point fingers, when I should be using those fingers to fix my own problems. Sometimes I guffaw and call out to the Lord saying things like, "I'm right. They're wrong." or "Why aren't they being punished?" or "Who do they think they are?"
These sacred words in the story today reminded me that I am in no place to judge. It is not my responsibility to present others sins when I have so many to work on myself. The words I SHOULD be thinking are "Who am I to judge them?" I was reminded that only the Lord knows the hearts of a person. Only HE knows what events happened in their lives to lead them to the lives they now lead, the decisions they now make. Only Christ has the flawless ability to pass a perfect judgement.
It is my job to make them feel loved, not degraded. It is my responsibility to recognize the sin that's my own, not cast the first stone.
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