Tradition!?

“Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” John 8:11 [ESV]

Jesus made this statement to a woman the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him saying she was caught in adultery. Many points of view exist in this passage – Jesus’, the woman’s, the scribes' and Pharisees', the man who was with the woman, and the people who are watch this story unfold. Today let’s consider the latter group of people because that is who we are, the people who watch the episode unfold.

As the watchers, we assume the scribes and Pharisees caught this woman in adultery. Of course, no blame could be cast on them because, let’s get real, they are the leaders of the faith. Still, how did they know the woman was a prostitute? Also, what was their intent – to shame and condemn the woman publicly, to show their “righteousness,” or to trap Jesus with His answer?

As watchers, we see a woman, one without a protector or provider. This may mean she had no way to make a living. Still, the Jewish leaders did not want to recognize that and help her. They considered her of a low social status since she was a woman without a husband or father. We can assume that is what she was since she was alone and without an obvious protector or provider.

As watchers, we see the absence of the man who was part of this adulterous relationship. Why is that? Did he have stature in the community and so the Jewish leaders let him “slip away” without condemnation? Was he one of the Jewish leaders and so they didn’t want one of their own condemned because then people might paint them with the same brush? “That could never be!” Right? We watchers don’t know the whole story, but we trust these leaders and want to believe them.

As watchers, we intently watch Jesus’ reactions and listen waiting for His every word. We’ve listened to Him teach about God and His love for every person. We’ve heard Him teach all the Laws can be summed up into two commandments – “Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-39) Now we watchers wait with breath held to listen to what Jesus will say to these religious leaders about the women. Will Jesus condemn the woman and demand the people stone her for her sin? Will He pat the leaders on the back? Will Jesus turn to the crowd and tell us another parable? What will we learn today?

As people living in Jerusalem, we know what our religious leaders and parents taught us. We understand adultery is a sin against God according to God’s Law in the Old Testament. In God’s Law, a person caught in adultery must be stoned, yet delineations exist in that law. Was the woman a girl who was raped? Was she one who went willingly to lie with the man? Did her father chose a fiancé for her already? Depending on the answers to these questions, God’s law gave the required judgment.

What we should see as watchers of this accusation and Jesus’ reaction is the fact that Jesus paused. He took time to write in the dirt. Jesus did not have a knee jerk reaction of judging and condemning the woman as the religious leaders wanted. He paused, considered the situation and the Father’s love for the woman, the man, the religious leaders, the watchers, and the world. Jesus’ reaction was contrary to the Jewish leaders' reactions. He first considered the people. He waited for time to pass so possibly the tensions and emotions would calm. Jesus allowed the people to consider for themselves what is right according to God, then He acted.

We don’t know what Jesus wrote with His finger in the dirt. Still, as the watchers, we see the religious leaders did not calm down. They determinedly tried to trap Jesus. These leaders didn’t care about the woman; she was a pawn in their game. Their goal was to get Jesus. When these religious leaders continued to question Jesus, He stood up and said, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” (vs. 7) Next, silence weighed heavy with the exception of Jesus scratching the dirt with His finger again.

Jesus gave everyone a chance to ponder his or her own heart. In the moment of silence before Jesus’ proclamation, He wanted them to think on their own sin first and their inability to be the righteous judge of another person. When that time did not produce the required result, Jesus led them, as He leads us watchers with this passage, with a more direct approach. “Are you a sinner,” He asked. “Then why are you condemning this woman? You are not righteous and so cannot judge and condemn anyone.” Ouch!

Let’s understand this better. Jewish tradition required the religious leaders to be the police, judge, jury, and enforcer of judgment. Their tradition said to trust the religious leaders, learn from them, obey them, or suffer the consequences. The scribes and Pharisees tried to prove to the people Jesus was a heretic, so they would not lose their own followers and their power in the community. With Jesus’ answer to these religious leaders, He did not condemn them Himself. He allowed their consciences to convict them. These scribes and Pharisees walked away. Every person except Jesus and the woman involved in this confrontation walked away, too – the Jewish leaders, the watchers, and the man who was with the woman in adultery. Jesus noted their absence in verse ten. “Jesus stood up and said to her, 'Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?'”

What is the “take away” from this episode in Jesus’ life? The Pharisees, scribes, and other people determinedly followed tradition. When confronted with God or His Laws, they chose to follow the letter of the Law and not the intent. If they had followed the intent of the Law as Jesus taught them, then they would have realized their own sinfulness and seen the woman and man with love through God’s eyes. The people’s traditions blinded them to obedience to God. If the woman and man were actually in an adulterous relationship, then God would be the Judge. If the religious leaders determinedly obeyed God’s intent or not, God would be the judge. If the watchers were condemning the woman in their hearts or not, God would be the judge. Jesus understood God did not send Him to earth to judge people. He came to die on the cross to save people from their sins.

We must decide if we will follow tradition or follow God.

Will we obey God or what fallible people teach us?

Can you hear Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof singing about tradition? Towards what does your heart lean – tradition or obedience to God?

Lord God, I haven’t questioned why I do the things the way I do them. It was always done that way. But, Lord, now I am wondering about these things. Am I being obedient to You or taking the easy and possibly the coward’s way out? Lord, teach me to hear Your voice when tradition crowds my thoughts. Make me bold and courageous to stand up in obedience to You when the people around me say, “This is the way it should be done and the way we have always done it.” Lord, forgive me my casual acceptance of the ways of people. Forgive me for accepting the easy way. Help me not to walk away from my own sin, but to bring it to You in repentance. Help me hear and obey You. Amen.

Traditional Faith

Genesis 22, John 8 

When we see God at work, His reality is easy to confirm. Many choose not to see Him because they do not want to admit He is God and alter their paths in life. There are those who do choose to acknowledge Him. Many of these people follow Him and become like Him; they see the Light, believe in the Light, and He enables them to do His will. A warning, though, must go out to those who have chosen to see the Light but not trust enough to allow Him to work the Christ-changes in them. These persons will not pass the test. 

Consider Abraham. He was a man born as all men are. He owned slaves, camels, goats, and sheep. He was a nomad and had one wife. When God called to Him, a voice foreign to his ear, he chose to hear, listen, and heed His voice. You can take note of someone without listening. Ask any parent; this occurs often. We can listen without acting upon what was said. It takes a humble person to heed and follow someone who is unknown. This requires acknowledgment that the One speaking is greater than you are and is worthy of your dedication. Abraham acknowledged God as being the Creator of everything, the Sustainer, and Provider. God told Abraham he would be the father of nations. He promised that Abraham’s people would be the children of God. On this, Abraham followed Yahweh. Abraham listened and heeded.

This did not occur once in Abraham's life. God tested Abraham a couple times, as He does in our life. God takes us to a trial to find out how much we trust Him instead of how much we trust in our image of Him or what we consider is the “right” way. When God told Abraham in Genesis 22 to go to the mount and offer a sacrifice, Abraham went then with his son, Isaac, and two of his slaves. They packed their donkey and walked to the mountain. When they arrived, Abraham climbed the mountain without a sacrifice to offer. God had not told him yet what to offer. When they had finished arranging the altar, sticks, and wood, Abraham still did not spot a replacement sacrifice to offer instead of Isaac. Abraham took Isaac, bound him, and laid him on the altar. There were many cultures at this time in history that appeased their gods with human sacrifice. Abraham spotted no other potential sacrifice, so offered what he had, Isaac, his promised and only son. At the point of sacrificing Isaac’s blood and life, God stopped Abraham's hand and showed him a ram caught in the branches (vs.10-12).  

What was God doing here? He was testing Abraham; we acknowledge that. What was He testing and teaching? God wanted to know how much Abraham loved Him. Was it enough to offer his son to Him? This testing was not everything God was doing though. God was working out for Abraham, right in front of him, in a very close and personal way, that the way of sacrifice that his ancestors followed was not the way of sacrifice to God. He tested Abraham on two fronts: 1) Was Abraham willing to give back to God that which he had desired the most, a son? 2) Was Abraham ready to have his belief system changed into obedience to God? 

Often times, we come to God to do things as He always did in the past. Tradition does not dictate God's ordained method. Tradition is man's interpretation of what God told them to do. We must come to the point in our hearing and heeding where we actually listen to what and how God wants things said and done. Consider the church fathers, when the disciples of the original apostles of Jesus began correcting and teaching how to be church in their respective cultures, they had to determine what Jesus said on a thing and put it into practice. If Jesus did not speak specifically on the subject, they checked the writings of His apostles for their teachings on it. If the apostles had not written upon it, then these disciples/apostolic fathers had to decide the message of the word or action, its intent, and then apply it to the culture of the time. An example of this kind of topic is infant baptism.  

We do not read of babies being baptized in the time of Jesus' ministry or during the lives of the apostles of Jesus. We do read of it coming into practice in the late 2^nd century and becoming common in the 3^rd century. What changed? The idea that the act of baptizing makes one saved from sin and eternal damnation. With this idea came the idea that everyone must be baptized to avoid hell. At this time in history, people did not live to an old age. A vast majority of babies died young. To make sure a loved child would not go to hell, parents would have their child baptized within the first eight days of his/her life. Did Jesus teach this? No, Jesus taught a person must acknowledge and trust in Him, confess their sins, and receive His forgiveness to become followers of Him. Baptism in the name of the Trinity was a symbolic dying to your old life of sin and being born into your new life with Christ. Baptism does not save you from hell. 

How does this affect us now? Just as Abraham had to go to the altar and prepare to sacrifice his son, which was a norm for his time, we have areas in our lives that are the norm for us and are taken into our belief system. What could those norms be? Tolerance of alternative lifestyles, abortion, promiscuity, living together before marriage, and accepting that every faith leads to the same God are a few of these. It is not an exhaustive list. How does each of these lead us to follow our faith as Christians more? People say if we are not tolerant, we do not love everyone as God does. Nonsense, we love everyone but we do not condone their sinful living. If we truly loved women, then we would support their decision to decide what to do with their own body. That is also nonsense. It is a horribly violent act for a woman to be abused and raped. If she should perchance become pregnant, that crime against her resides with her in visible form. I agree rape is a very, very difficult and life damaging thing to have occurred, but killing an unborn child would also leave her with mental and emotional scars.  

These are extremely difficult issues we face in life. As Christians and people with senses and the ability to decide right from wrong, we can figure out what we should do , who we should follow, and how we should react. When we do not, God will “check” us and show us which traditional belief, what we have taken into our worship and religious life from the culture, should be changed and how, so we can truly show God to the world through our words and our actions. This is the test for us. We must recognize God, listen to Him, and heed what He tells us. It is only by doing this we can find what God would have us do in our daily lives as Christians and children created by the Father. It is the one way we will be able to determine the distinction between tradition and godly ways. Remember, tradition can bring parts of the culture into our way of being with and following God. As long as we walk closely with God, He will take us through the trials. From the trials, we will come to recognize and be acquainted with Him better. It is through these growing times we can truly discern and worship God and we can learn better how He wants us to act in a world where tolerance of lifestyles and victimization occur every minute. We must choose to follow, hear, and listen to God every day and every moment. What is standing in our way of worshipping and following Jesus completely and correctly?