True Maturity

By Richard

In John 8 we have the well-known story about the woman caught in adultery. The religious leaders drag her before Jesus and trying to trap Jesus start talking about how the Law of Moses requires that she be stoned to death. We read that Jesus started to write on the ground and when they questioned Him further, He stood up and told them that if anyone is without sin then they could be the guy to throw the first stone. Jesus then stopped down and carried on writing some more. Some think that Jesus was writing a list of sins on the ground. We don’t know but we read with, “the older ones first” (John 8: 9), one by one they left until just the woman and was left before Jesus.

We sometimes have the impression that age can harden us and make us more stubborn but just maybe age is meant to mature us and make us more aware, not less aware, of our need for God's grace. I pray that we will age well and over the years become more sympathetic to the failings of others, and more aware of our ongoing need for God forgiveness.