Jesus, It's A Trap!

The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing Him.

John 8:3-6

These teachers and Pharisees were out for blood. They didn't really care about upholding the law, if so they would have dragged the man to Jesus as well. No, they wanted to use the woman's sin as a bait to catch Jesus in a lie.

They couldn't accept who Jesus said He was because He was nothing like what they expected Him to be. The Savior, the Messiah who hung out with sinners and who wanted nothing to do with their self-righteousness. This was not what the teachers and Pharisees signed up for so they wanted to oust Him for the liar they believed Him to be.

So they took advantage of this woman's sin. If Jesus told them not to stone her, then that would be against God's law. But if Jesus allowed them to kill her, then His testimony of grace was false. This was a situation where they knew whichever way He answered, He would lose.

Little did they know that their questions revealed more about themselves, their lack of faith, their doubts about Jesus. (And their evil intent)

Listening to the pastor preach on these verses last night, it hit me that I was like the Pharisees and teachers.

I'm not sold on who He says He is.

I approach every situation just waiting for Jesus to fail me.

I wait with baited breath for Him to prove Himself wrong because His promises sound too good to be true.

I'm at the edge of the shore, not willing to step in because I'm afraid to drown if I follow Him into the waves.

So I watch Him, waiting, trying to find His limit, to see where He can't be who He claims to be, to search for the places where I can't trust Him.

But that's not what I'm called to do. That's not the life God called us to have.

When you spend your time toeing and skirting around to find His limit, you get stuck living a cautious life instead of the abundant life He promises because you're bracing yourself against something that doesn't exist.

Jesus is limitless. He has no end. He never fails.

And He's not a liar.

What are you looking for?

What are you waiting for?

God has no issue with your doubts. He's not afraid of them. He does not fault you for your doubts. But when your doubts influence your life more than your faith does, then there's a problem because that's when your doubts keep you away from God.

And He wants you to come close and cast all your cares onto Him. That includes your doubts. Bring them to Him and He'll take care of them. He is willing to show you the truth that would get rid of your doubts if you were honest with Him about them in the first place.

Don't be like the teachers and Pharisees.

There's no need to think that there's always a catch with Jesus, that He has a back door, a loophole to get out of any and every promise He's made to you. Jesus is not trying to dodge or skip out on you.

Jesus said, "Heaven and earth will pass away but My words will never pass away" (Matthew 24:35).

You can trust Him even if your circumstances look crazy, His word reigns over your life, always.