>> Next guess? > > Hi Bob, > > OK, nobody else bit on it. Time to reveal your "theory". Unless it is a > secret, of course.
No, no secret. I hypothesize that He wrote exactly what the Law called for: "STONE HER." Consider the motive of the Pharisees. It was not to stone the woman -- they knew well that it was strictly forbidden by the Romans for the Jews to take executions into their own hands (hence, having to plead their case later before Pilot). To do so would have been sedition. Nor was it to quiz Jesus about this elementary and "black and white" case of what the Law required under the circumstances. They all knew the answer. So what was it? Consider the venue. The Temple was heavily guarded by the Romans so anything said there would have been within earshot of a centurion. Even a seditious suggestion to take the Law into their own hands... Consider the time. It was the Sabbath, when it was forbidden to write anything on paper. He HAD to speak it! Or did he? Clearly, they were trying to trap Him into saying out loud a punishment of death that the Law required -- indeed, they probably thought they were very clever in boxing him into this "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation. But, He saw through their intents, gave them the answer they wanted in the only manner available to him under the circumstances (it was OK to write on the sand on the Sabbath, just not on paper), and then He rubbed it in with the clincher, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." Why would he say THAT if he didn't accept the premise of stoning her? Of course, in His mercy toward her, he was also consistent with the Law, which required 2 witnesses. There were none after they all had scattered. Jesus was in many ways, some of them exhibited in this incident, the perfect synthesis between the Greek and the Hebraic mindset, a fact that is easy to overlook. - Publius > -- > Regards, > > Pete > http://pete-theisen.com/ > http://elect-pete-theisen.com/ > [excessive quoting removed by server] _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech Searchable Archive: http://leafe.com/archives/search/profox This message: http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/profox/[email protected] ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
