Tuesday, April 2, 2019

How Jesus Treats People

There's a famous story about a woman who was caught in adultery and people brought her to Jesus, saying that according to religious law she should be stoned to death. "What do you say?" they asked him. (Read the full story in the Gospel of John 8:1-11.)
Maybe they wanted to trap him. If he responded with "yes" or "now" he would be breaking either religious law, or the law of the Roman government. Maybe they didn't want to make the decision and wanted to load it off on him. He didn't take the bait. He didn't give them the answer they wanted. He took his time to think about it, and then he said, "Whoever among you is without sin may throw the first stone."
That was not the answer they were expecting. And one by one, they walked away.
Jesus doesn't condemn. Not even women who were always harshly judged, and considered their closest male relative's property. (As a sidenote, this woman may have been raped. Even non-consensual sex was considered adultery if the woman was married.) Jesus breaks the laws and customs of his time and treats people as a a person, not an object. All people. Even those who were considered second-class humans: women, people with disabilities, mental illnesses or diseases. People of other faiths and ethnicities. Jesus treated them all equal: As a person with dignity. A child of God.
Oh, Jesus, if only we treated people the way you did.
If only we stopped judging others and recognized that we are no better than they are.
If only we treated ALL people with dignity and respect.
What would our world look like if we did?

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