The Adulterous Woman-From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks for stopping by for a little break today at Coffee Hour with Chicklit Power. Grab your coffee and come on in. We’re in the crowd of people surrounding Jesus in the Temple and He was teaching and then the Pharisees and scribes entered with someone. Grab your coffee and let’s go get comfy.

Who is it that they are practically dragging in with them? Could this be her, the adulterous woman we’ve been waiting to see? As she gets closer and closer, it is hard to see her, what she looks like because her head is looking down. They are heading straight for Jesus, looking straight at him, only daring to look out into the crowd once before they stop right in front of Him.

Wow, these men that brought her in are pretty arrogant, treating her as though she’s an extremely dangerous and sought-after criminal and they should get the reward. If I didn’t know better, I’d say they are wearing an innate mask of smugness.

Let’s get closer so we can hear what they are saying.
Oh, would you just look at them all look around before they begin to address Jesus! Talk about prideful! Ugh. You can just see it oozing out of their pores as they speak. “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act.”

Let’s stop there for a second. Now, this is just an Evinda-ism, but I can’t help but wonder if they really caught her or just saw her and knew of her reputation and used her to advance their scheme of tricking and thereafter arresting Jesus. That’s just a thought! Let’s get back to what they are saying.
“Now Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?”
Scripture says thereafter that they said this to test Jesus that they might have something of which to accuse Him, which is why I wondered what I did.

Before we get to one of the most acclaimed responses of Jesus, let’s talk about this woman for a bit. Though she remains nameless in the Word of God, she is such a pivotal example of the reality of The Gospel, the necessity of the reality of the need for a Savior. And though she remains anonymous in Scripture, she is someone we can all relate to, someone we must relate with if we dare to let go of shame, one of Satan’s most powerful ropes that hold us in bondage, an unseen bondage that pulls us away from abundant life.

Now you may be saying to yourself, I can’t relate to this woman; I’ve never committed adultery. Well, I’m so glad you brought that up, and we will definitely dig a bit deeper into this tomorrow, but for now let me leave you with this truth: Idolatry is a form of adultery!

Being freed from adultery,

Evinda

The Adulterous Woman From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thank you so much for joining me today for a little coffee break at Coffee Hour! I hope you had a great weekend. I know the extra hour of sleep sure helped me, especially after an awesome event on Saturday. I am looking forward to sharing the highlights with you in a couple of weeks when this series is complete. As we get closer to the upcoming season, we will need the reminders of the things that we learned but for now, let’s get back to The Adulterous Woman! Grab your coffee and come on in.

So we just finished a little detour so let’s get back to the crowd and the pandemonium of questions and opinions after Jesus stood up and cried out professions and confessions in this huge crowd. I can just imagine the officers standing around watching and listening as their delusion of being in control crumbled every time they heard someone say, “This is the Christ.” In fact, Scripture tells us that they had a little meeting with the chief priests and Pharisees who wanted to know what in the heck was going on and why hadn’t they brought this man called Jesus to them.

I love what John 7:46 says: “The officers answered, ‘No man ever spoke like this Man!’”
So Jesus did get to them! Even these guys had hearts with a God-sized hole that only “The Christ” could fill. Unfortunately the Pharisees jumped on them like white on rice accusing them of being deceived, reminding them that no rulers or Pharisees believed in Him so they shouldn’t!
I feel another detour; in fact, there are two very important detours that relate to things staring me in the face of my life right now as I am writing this for you.

First, how does someone get so deceived? If I am honest with myself, and with you, I have to admit that I’ve asked this question of Him so many times, more than I can count, especially of people who claim to be believers of Him and in Him. How could that be? When I look at the word deceived I can’t help but think the answer lies within the word itself so I think it’s important to take time to research it. Before I do that, let’s take a quick look at the second detour, which is not nearly as long or as deep as the first. The detour is that of the peer pressure of the Pharisees upon the leaders. I mean here they were at this meeting and I can just see the fascination that moved from their hearts to their faces and then finally into their voices as they confessed that no one had ever spoken like this Man!

As I read these words that the leaders dared to speak about “this Man,” I can’t help but feel the blanket of pressure thrown upon them as soon as the words left their mouth. In fact, I bet if I were a fly on the walls inside this meeting, I’d wager that there was a moment of silence induced by shock, and you could hear a pin drop on the floor. These men that dared utter their curiosity were so overwhelmed with wonder that they didn’t even stop to think before they spoke. They didn’t take into account what others would think; they didn’t take into account the possible ramifications. They were responding to what had pierced the God-sized hole their hearts when they heard His words.

But how many of us dare to respond to that call, to that piercing of the heart, despite our circumstances, despite what others may think, even when we know others won’t agree? Even when we know there may be negative ramifications?

Oh, that we would be moved to rise to the occasion of daring to answer the call of “The Christ” and not get sucked into societal pressures.

Join me tomorrow for the other detour which is actually imperative to take before we meet The Adulterous Woman. In fact, we may feel like we know her because of this detour!

Joyfully,

Evinda


P.S. Join us today at 1:00 at www.blogtalkradio.com/Chicklit-Power for our show about breaking free from co-dependency, a viral disease indeed!

The Adulterous Woman From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks so much for joining me today for a little break. I know life is full of demands and it can be challenging to stop what you’re doing and turn it all off. Grab your coffee and come on in for more of the history surrounding The Adulterous Woman.

So we’ve learned some interesting facts about this party that we’re eventually going to get to and I have to tell you, something tells me we haven’t skimmed all of the facets of its spiritual significance but I know we will see more of it as we get more into this true story. For now, let’s go check out who’s there.

Wow, there’s a bunch of important people here; you can tell by the way they are dressed, and I’m not just speaking of their clothing, either. Their body language is screaming authority in such an audacious way. They are everywhere, or so it seems, standing erect like stone walls with their arms crossed. I think they are the religious leaders.

And who is that lurking in the shadows? Oh, my goodness, is it really Jesus? Why does it look as though He is trying to hide? For some reason, He’s not the life of this party, or so it seems. I’m going to get in a little closer and see if I can hear why that is.

Ah-ha, apparently Jesus had just spoken openly in the Temple, the main location for this country-wide party. Wow, He’s really caused some ruckus among this party. I can hear some people saying “He is good,” and others are saying, “No, He’s not good. He’s trying to deceive the people.” No matter where I go in this crowd, people are in their little groups and Jesus is the topic of their conversations. I still can’t figure out why they are whispering.

Oh, that’s right; they are whispering because the religious leaders were more like dictators and they had a lot of power over the common people. Wow, they are not even trying to mask their authority. They are everywhere, lording over the crowds like a cloud threatening to break open with rain any moment. See, the more Jesus taught and worked publicly, the more these leaders would cause trouble for Him and His followers. Is it any wonder why they are whispering?
If these so-called leaders heard them, their worst nightmare would begin: ex-communication from the synagogue.

We’ll stop right there. Join me Monday as we get closer to The Adulterous Woman.”

Digging for the facts,

Evinda