The Right Way to Defend Rights

John 8:7,9 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” … When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. (NRSV)

Without a doubt, Christians these days are suffering more persecution than ever before. For some, that still means being shot or beheaded. For others, it’s governments limiting religious freedoms or “political correctness” trying to silence God’s Word.

And so, as we saw yesterday, many a Christian leader is whipping up the flock to stand up for our rights. All this … while we purport to worship a Saviour who was humiliated, denied justice, and led like a lamb to its slaughter, to die on that bloody cross so that we might live.

Jesus, it seems, wasn’t so much into defending His own rights – and for you and me, that’s just as well. But He was into the defence of other people’s rights, big-time – lepers, tax collectors, prostitutes or indeed that woman caught in adultery.

You may remember her story. The Pharisees dragged her in front of Jesus to test Him. The law of Moses said that she should be stoned to death. The Roman occupiers forbade it. So they thought they had Jesus in an impossible spot. But …

John 8:7,9 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” … When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. (NRSV)

Think about it. Jesus placed Himself bodily between an angry mob whipped up by corrupt religious leaders and that woman, to stand up for her rights.

Man, if we’re going to stand up for anybody, then let’s stand up for the rights of others – for the oppressed, for the sinners, for those incapable of defending themselves – just as Jesus stood up for the likes of thee and me.

That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.

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