from the beginning

This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. (John 8:6-7)

I started a blog last year, which I have had to rethink. Mostly because it began with an evangelical zeal that simply isn't something I can sustain!

It's for this reason that the story of the woman caught in adultery appeals to me. Jesus saves her from stoning but, as with so many of Jesus' encounters with people, he sends her away with a difficult command: "Go, and sin no more."

Sinning no more is nigh on impossible, but if we believe in the awesome power of God's grace then we are still saved. It is our responsibility to remember Jesus' words.

I try to remember. And then I need reminding!

The woman caught in adultery could be any one of us. Jesus doesn't ask for any background: for her difficult childhood, for stories of her abusive or neglectful husband, for the alcohol she had consumed or the romance of the moment. He does ask for obedience.

When he wrote in the dirt did Jesus write serious exegesis of scripture that confronted the Pharisees? Or did he doodle a mexican on a bicycle? Perhaps he began a game of noughts and crosses and straightened up because no one dared to take on the Son of God.

There are so many challenges that today's Pharisees parade in front of us. My reponses range from the serious to the facetious with all manner in between. But I am always aware that ultimately I am the sinful woman, saved by Jesus' compassion.