Be a Stand Up Guy

It is dawn, and Jesus has shown up early to church. As a crowd gathers around Him, He sits down to teach them.

Soon a disturbance erupts. A group of men, teachers themselves, drag a woman through the temple grounds. They force her to stand in the thick of the crowd, in front of Jesus, and they begin their accusations.

“This woman was caught in the act of adultery!” they declare. “In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women!” Their purpose is laid bare with the ensuing heavy-handed question: “Now what do You say?”

Jesus knows exactly what’s going on here. The Bible even tells us plainly in John 8:6 that the Pharisees, this group of teachers, were just using the question as a trap, a way of tripping up Jesus so they could have a reason to arrest Him. And they were willing to barter with a woman’s life to grasp their goal.

Important to note here: this is an example within biblical text of a group of men accusing a woman in order to gain an advantage, and not the other way around. But that’s another blog post. 😉

It’s easy as leaders to get caught off guard when dealing with issues of a sexual nature, be it sin or assault, and especially in instances where others are watching how we’ll react. In many cases, logic and reasoning seem to short circuit. There are so many reasons for this, and they can be addressed at another time. But the point here is that Jesus stayed calm. He wasn’t worried about what the crowd was thinking, and He was able to recognize that what was being presented by the Pharisees wasn’t necessarily the whole truth. He refused to engage in the drama, the fiery accusation, the ultimatum of action. In fact, He remains seated. The Pharisees want a public fiasco, an immediate decision, and Jesus won’t give it to them.

When the Pharisees keep pushing and questioning Him, Jesus stands up.

Look: He stands up. He takes a stand, in front of a crowd, in front of His followers AND His enemies, and gets between this mob of men and the woman they’re threatening. Jesus calls the Pharisees out: “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” And of course, the only one left standing is Jesus. The crowd disperses, the fireworks are extinguished, the trap has failed.

To Jesus, in this moment, the issue is not whether or not she’s guilty, but the way she is being treated. Jesus, the only person who could actually take offense at the sin, chooses first to focus elsewhere. Perhaps she did commit adultery, but that’s not what the Pharisees care about. They don’t care about the truth, the circumstances, or the spiritual state of the woman…they just want to trap Jesus. And He knows that. He stands between the mob and the woman and says, “This isn’t right.”

Jesus didn’t excuse the sin, He shifted the power dynamics til the mob of men and the accused woman were on equal footing: they were all sinners. Jesus removed the external threat, and only then did He address the woman, though not with an accusation! He instead asks a question: “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” He is asking her to look up and see: He took care of her. He sheltered her. He saw and understood. He could be trusted with the truth of her and her situation. He did not go off the testimony of others, He spoke directly to her. After peace and safety for the woman were restored, only then did Jesus correct and direct her. And He addresses her spiritual state privately, not in front of a crowd.

Jesus is a stand up guy. He doesn’t get caught up in the optics or politics of a situation. He doesn’t get distracted by fireworks or emotions or offense. He stands up for the vulnerable and the defenseless. He recognizes manipulation. He sees through sexism.

He stands up for women. He stands up for me.

Will you?