Vantage Point Method
STORY - The Woman (John 8:1-11)
PERSPECTIVE – A Pharisee
I arose early in the morning with many thoughts in my head, one of which was “today is the day!”. Today is the day we finally catch this man Jesus in a trap, for he certainly cannot sweet talk his way out of this one. It's quite the plan we devised if I might say, to set it up so that we might catch her in order to accuse Jesus. I have to be honest with myself though, I felt a moment of remorse for having set her up for this, knowing full well it could result in her death. But the satisfaction I would have from seeing Jesus flounder in doctrine would make the scheming worth it. So I gathered with the other Pharisees and Scribes and we, in a group, brought the woman before Jesus, and waited for him to answer whether she ought to be stoned or let free, either one breaking some form of the law. As I'm standing there smirking to myself, I see the man Jesus stoop down and begin to scribble in the sand. My curiosity piques and ignoring the crying woman in the middle of the circle I step closer in order to see what he is writing. Confusion clouds my brain as I see my Pharisee brother Matthan's name being written down beside the words “stole from widow”. I look up in time to see Matthan turn around and disappear, along with 3 other men. I'm not exactly sure what's going on, but I catch on to the pattern taking place, and I realize that whatever Jesus is writing is starting from the oldest and headed down to the youngest of the group, which means I will be next. I have no idea how he knows such deep secrets of ours, but it scares me, and our master plan is now being ruined (once again) by this man. How infuriating. All of a sudden I see my name, and then my deepest secret is revealed before those who are left standing there. In my embarrassment I turn to leave, still not sure how he knew these things. How could a mere man read inside the deepest parts of our souls? Could it be this man Jesus was not so mere mortal after all? I immediately attempt to push that thought out from my mind, but the question nags. Is Jesus who he actually says he is, or is he as us Pharisees claim, simply a man with inexplicable power? I will probably never know the answers to those questions, but I can say with certainty that they will continue to haunt me until I see him dead. After what happened today, I realize Jesus is harder to trap than we thought, and next time, we will have to get craftier. Until then, my mind continues to ponder, against my will, who is this man?
God bless, and blog soon
PERSPECTIVE – A Pharisee
I arose early in the morning with many thoughts in my head, one of which was “today is the day!”. Today is the day we finally catch this man Jesus in a trap, for he certainly cannot sweet talk his way out of this one. It's quite the plan we devised if I might say, to set it up so that we might catch her in order to accuse Jesus. I have to be honest with myself though, I felt a moment of remorse for having set her up for this, knowing full well it could result in her death. But the satisfaction I would have from seeing Jesus flounder in doctrine would make the scheming worth it. So I gathered with the other Pharisees and Scribes and we, in a group, brought the woman before Jesus, and waited for him to answer whether she ought to be stoned or let free, either one breaking some form of the law. As I'm standing there smirking to myself, I see the man Jesus stoop down and begin to scribble in the sand. My curiosity piques and ignoring the crying woman in the middle of the circle I step closer in order to see what he is writing. Confusion clouds my brain as I see my Pharisee brother Matthan's name being written down beside the words “stole from widow”. I look up in time to see Matthan turn around and disappear, along with 3 other men. I'm not exactly sure what's going on, but I catch on to the pattern taking place, and I realize that whatever Jesus is writing is starting from the oldest and headed down to the youngest of the group, which means I will be next. I have no idea how he knows such deep secrets of ours, but it scares me, and our master plan is now being ruined (once again) by this man. How infuriating. All of a sudden I see my name, and then my deepest secret is revealed before those who are left standing there. In my embarrassment I turn to leave, still not sure how he knew these things. How could a mere man read inside the deepest parts of our souls? Could it be this man Jesus was not so mere mortal after all? I immediately attempt to push that thought out from my mind, but the question nags. Is Jesus who he actually says he is, or is he as us Pharisees claim, simply a man with inexplicable power? I will probably never know the answers to those questions, but I can say with certainty that they will continue to haunt me until I see him dead. After what happened today, I realize Jesus is harder to trap than we thought, and next time, we will have to get craftier. Until then, my mind continues to ponder, against my will, who is this man?
God bless, and blog soon
