How marvelous! How wonderful! And my song shall ever be:
How marvelous! How wonderful is my Savior’s love for me!
There is nothing more humbling than to realize this one truth: Jesus loves me. I’m not special, though. He loves everybody like this. You, too.
Remember the adulterous woman brought to Jesus for condemnation? Jesus is teaching a group of people one morning, and all the sudden a group of religious leaders ushers a woman onto the scene, stands her in the midst of the crowd, and publically calls her a sinner of the worst kind in that day. They ask Jesus if he agrees with Moses’ Law that requires such a woman to be stoned, but Jesus ignores them and starts writing in the dust. They keep badgering him until he stops writing, looks up and says, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” Starting with oldest and moving to the youngest, each person leaves until the woman and Jesus are left alone.
All my life, I have envisioned these men who walk away in embarrassment (not shame) because they do not live sinless lives. But did you catch what happened here. The religious leaders are not the only ones who exit the scene. The morning starts with “all the people” coming to Jesus to hear him teach. This was a crowd. A crowd gathered to hear Jesus’ astounding words. A crowd with no idea it was about to become a part of a public scene of humiliation. So where are they at the end of the story?
It is unlikely that they left at the beginning of the ordeal because the story reveals that the religious leaders stood the woman in the “midst” of the crowd. So, they must have been there to hear the charge against her. To stare at the top of her bowed head. To scrutinize her dress, her manner, her sin. But with Jesus’ words, they, along with the religious leaders, clear the scene so she and the Savior can address her sin in private and restore her dignity.
So, why did he orchestrate this mass exodus?
If you’ve ever been the spectacle of public shame, you know that the one thing you desire at that moment is to simply disappear, literally to become unseen. Why did Jesus cause everyone to leave? I believe it was his overwhelming love for this stricken woman. He did what it took to give her what she most needed at the moment – a little privacy from the judging eyes of the crowd, so she could see the loving eyes of Jesus.
Wisdom, understanding, compassion, mercy, love. This is my Jesus!
How marvelous! How wonderful!
Is my Savior’s love for me!
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