So the people gathered and brought before Jesus a woman caught in adultery. It was expected, they say, that she should be stoned. All the people there had stones in their hands. Ready to stone the woman. This story is told in John 8:1-11. The people are insistent that the woman should be stoned according to the law of Moses. But Jesus, instead of stoning the woman uttered these famous words, “The one who has never sinned should throw the first stone.” To this, the crowd started leaving. One after the other. From the oldest to the youngest. Until no one was left except Jesus and the woman. Then Jesus said, “Where are your accusers? Did no one stone you?”. To this, the woman replied, “No, Lord.” Then Jesus said, “Neither will I condemn you. Go and sin no more.”
What if you were confronted with the same situation? What if you were part of that crowd? Will you stone the woman? These questions kept rolling in my head and I said- “No Lord, I will never do such a thing. I will never be part of the crowd of people who hold stones in their hands, ready to throw it to the sinful one.”
But then God said, “But what is that in your hand, my child?” I looked and was surprised with what I saw— a stone is in my hand!
I thought that this situation would no longer happen. Stoning is a thing of the past. Only after much contemplation did I realize, this incident happened every day— on several different occasions. The truth is, I always encounter the same situation but on a different platform. And yes, like the people in the crowd, Jesus would also see me with a stone in my hand.
Where do these “stoning” situations happen? In the very trending— social media. Yes, they happen almost every minute on social media.
The netizens would bring a politician in a very expensive getaway. Or a newly elected official, with a very expensive bag in her hand. Sometimes they bring a married pastor caught in adultery with another married woman. Sometimes it’s a group of high school students bullying to death a classmate of theirs. And the list goes on.
These seemingly sinful people would make our nerves tremble. We hold our fists tighter and with the stones in our hands, we are the ones who cast the first stone in the comment section.
“How could this politician be in a very expensive getaway? He is wasting the people’s money!”
“How could she afford a very expensive bag? She must have used the taxes of the people.”
“How could he be serving the Lord and living a sinful life at the same time? Such a hypocrite!”
“These students should be punished! They should be expelled! No school should accept them.”
We throw one stone after another. We show the world how sinful they are and how righteous we are. It was always that way. We throw stones at them because we think we are better. Are we correct?
I always catch myself with the stones in my hand— in the form of a comment ready to be posted on social media. I always have a seemingly righteous comment to an unrighteous person. I tell the whole world how that person deserved all the bad things in life. And that person should cease to exist. I am one of those keyboard warriors who are always ready to throw the first stone at the sinful person the netizens will bring to their attention.
Sometimes, we are the ones who bring “sinful” people to the feet of the netizens. We share the post. At times, we even create the post. And we wait for stones to be cast through comments that don’t help, only worsen the situation.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying we should keep our opinions to ourselves, but hey look who’s talking. You and I are as sinful as that person in social media. It’s just that, nobody was able to take a picture of us during our sinful moments. Why are we pretending to be more righteous? We need forgiveness, too, as much as they do.
If Jesus were here He would tell us, those of you who have no sin, then cast the first comment. I don’t know if we’ll be able to type something in the comment section. Why would we? Even Jesus would never type a comment.
As a Christian for many years, I have always forgotten Jesus’ act towards the adulterous woman. He never condemned. He never judged.
So what do we do when confronted with these situations? We keep quiet. And we pray. Yes, we should be praying for these people. We should silently pray that they might know the Lord and that the Lord will help them in whatever difficult situation they’re in.
It is us Christians, who should know better, that we are no better people. It is not our role to cast stones. Our role is to pray and to love. After all, we are just all the same— sinners saved by grace.
Cecilia G. Benlota
Licensed Professional Teacher
Author of The Nine Principles My Mentor Taught Me
