The bible reading today was the Gospel of John chapter 8 verses 1 through 11. It's the story of the Pharisees bringing a woman who had been accused of committing adultery to Jesus. I find the passage very interesting because of its simplicity and complexity.
The accepted take-away from the reading is: let he who is without sin cast the first stone. A great message but it doesn't do the reading justice if that is all that is seen in it. If we took the accepted message literally we'd never have a firm stance on anything. The inference to not get too self-righteous is clear and worth taking to heart. But what was Jesus writing on the ground? The reading provides no answer. A blog entry? Probably not.
My wife has studied the Bible and often gives me the contextual background of Bible passages. Sometimes she is very helpful. Sometimes I just like to sit with the reading and be satisfied with the ambiguity of the message.
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