Lighthouse or Nightlight?
I just spent a fabulous week in Cape Cod. So much beauty.
But seriously?
Some of their lighthouses are so stubby they seem more like a nightlight than a lighthouse.
My husband laughed and said it’s as if their lighthouses are barely whispering, “We’re over here.”
If I’m sailing in troubled seas, a stubby nightlight just won’t do.
A Drowning Woman
Early one morning, while Jesus taught in the Temple, the Pharisees and Scribes tossed a drowning woman at Jesus’ feet.
They’d caught her swimming in someone else’s waters, and now she was treading in a sea of trouble.
Like a puny nightlight that can’t even protect our toes in the dark, the leaders revealed only partial truth. They reminded Jesus that the Law commanded anyone caught in adultery be stoned.
Actually, they told Him, “Moses commanded us to stone such women.” They twisted the truth and spared the guilty man.
SOS: Stoning Or Salvation
After Jesus heard the woman’s accusers, He stooped down and wrote in the dirt.
Unimpressed, or maybe confused, the accusers pressed Jesus to condemn the woman.
Jesus simply straightened up like a towering Lighthouse and said:
“He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”
Grace, love, and truth screamed through the darkness and offered salvation.
Then Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dirt again.
What did He write?
Scripture?
The names of women these leaders would recognize in an incriminating way?
Who knows? But the impact can’t be missed.
One by one the leaders slithered off.
The older men probably had more stone-able secrets they wished to keep hidden, so they scuttled off first.
Flip Flopped
After Jesus spelled it out for them, their anticipated judgment flip flopped.
The “righteous” men saw the Light and walked off, judged by their sins.
The guilty woman saw the same Light and remained, saved from her sins.
Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?”
She said, “No one, Lord.”
And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.”
The men could’ve fallen at Jesus’ feet and received the same salvation she did.
Instead, they preferred to slip off and drown in judgment rather than bow to Christ.
Safe To Shore
Jesus didn’t tell the guilty woman, “Go, and sin no more” and then He’d bring her safe to shore.
Nope. He gave her a full pardon upfront.
I’ve tread in many a troubled seas.
Sometimes I never saw the craggy cliff. Blind or careless, I slipped and fell off.
Other times I dove off headfirst.
And still other times, I was pushed.
It doesn’t matter how we got into trouble.
Jesus is a towering Lighthouse of salvation for all — the blind, the careless, the victim, and, yes, even the culprit.
Then Jesus said, “I am the Light of the world;
he who follows Me will not walk in darkness,
but will have the Light of life”
(John 8:12, NASB).
We all make it safe to shore, free of guilt, if we look to Christ — our Lighthouse — and follow Him.
My Lighthouse by Rend Collective
As I read John 8:1-12, I couldn’t help but think of Rend Collective’s song My Lighthouse.
I’ve featured Rend Collective before, but If you’re not familiar with this fun Irish band, I’m thrilled to introduce you to them.
They present God’s life-changing truth in their own quirky style.
Enjoy:
[bctt tweet=”#MyLighthouse, because a nightlight just won’t do. #ChristIsTheLight @rendcollective” username=”jeanwilund”]
