Morning Devotional

February 11, 2004

"The Healer" 

by Don Emmitte

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When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. Then Jesus stood up again and said to her, "Where are your accusers? Didn't even one of them condemn you?" "No, Lord," she said. And Jesus said, "Neither do I. Go and sin no more." (John 8:9-11 NLT).

People, even those who call themselves religious, can be so quick to judge. Maybe because they so badly need to affirm their own righteousness, I don't know. What I do know is that Jesus wasn't like that. When I watch hurting, sinful people come to Jesus, I am amazed to see the gentleness with which he treats them.

Mary Magdalene, from what we can discover, was a wealthy heiress who was tormented. The demons of her past and present completely controlled her. Jesus set her free, and gradually, as she spent time listening to his teaching and following him, she was healed from the inside out. Did you know that this Mary was the first to see Jesus after his resurrection? Blind people came to him and went away seeing. Friends and relatives carried cripples to him. He was their friend. He never turned them away or rejected them. Instead, in his presence they were healed. Rich-robed leaders seeking to fill an inner emptiness came to talk with Jesus. So did ragged beggars.

Our reading this morning tells the end of the story of one lady who was dragged to Jesus. Earlier that morning she had been surprised in the arms of her lover, and hauled in front of Jesus while he was teaching in the temple. "Should we stone her for adultery?" the Pharisees sneered, hoping to expose Jesus' legendary mercy. "Let the one among you who is without sin cast the first stone," Jesus replied. And when they had all slunk away, one by one, Jesus knelt down to where the woman was crouching. "Where are your accusers?" he asked. "Gone," she said. "Then I don't pronounce sentence upon you either," he told her. As she got up to leave, I can see him touching her sleeve, as if to give her a final healing word. "Go," he said, "and sin no more." That is the ultimate picture of gentle love. Without compromise, Jesus communicated an incredible amount about how much God loves us, aches for us, longs for us, and gently calls us to paths of wholeness and wholesomeness. No self-righteousness here, not even from the only One who has any right to the term "self-righteous." Just compassion.

Do you need him? Do you feel messed up or ashamed or confused or lonely or just plain tired of it all? You are his kind of person. Jesus knows your pain, and reaches out a strong and friendly hand, and says to you, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls.”

That’s a real Valentine! We need to be people like Jesus. Let someone else play the religious game. For us it is getting to know this Jesus, and then being his hands to reach out in our communities to the hurting and struggling. Some of those who are hurting and struggling live in nice homes and drive BMWs. Others live in apartments and have barely enough for the coming month's rent. If we serve a Healer, then we are called to be a healing people, unafraid of pain, even our own. We know that through his love and working in our midst, that ancient healing touch of the Living Jesus will touch again. Let him work in your life and through your life!