Friends of Root of Hope,
“No one, Lord,” she answered. “Neither do I condemn you,” said Jesus. “Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.” Jo 8:11 (CSB)
We are all familiarized with this narrative. Based on the context one of the themes that can be extracted from it is the one about forgiveness. There are some curiosities about this passage being one of them that this sentenced woman never asked for forgiveness. It’s not inferred in the text so let’s not to thrown in there what may not be there. The most noticeable aspect of the whole enactment is the stepping in of Jesus. I can envisage the accusers salivating by the thought that not even the Messiah could save her from their bloody hands. But she was a woman of “luck”. On that day, on an hour of being defamed, and so close to be thrown in a deep hole and stoned to death, a special man stepped in. Out of respect, and so assured of their skills, they interject Jesus so he would become of witness of their own righteousness. So they thought. You know the story. Stones thrown away, only the unbreakable Rock, stayed visible, not to condemn but to love. He is an expert of it. He is IT! No need to call a priest for confession. No! Dear friends, we don’t want anyone one to unwrap out failures. No! We know who they are and, also, how to keep them neatly wrapped. Oh! How good is Jesus! Evil left and goodness stood ground. Jesus is unmovable.
I am someone that loves to read into the Scriptures but never with the intent of trying to fish birds out of the deep waters. You know what I mean. I’m not that crazy. But I love to take a dive and swim in the current of the spirit looking for possibilities that will enlighten my soul. I don’t survive on old sermons, old teachings or many things I learned throughout the years. My joy, above anything else, is to find the hand of the Master on someone’s life when every human being does not give them any hope. I love to go beyond human thinking and any resource available and dive into the living waters of the Word. There I find things that many may not see. My discoveries have a personal effect, and in no way they become someone else’s doctrine. You probably heard it, or said it yourself, that one day, when you go to heaven you would like to ask certain people certain questions. Perhaps, most of them are not about good things that they did. I am going to raise one person up: Eve. What would you ask her? Would you be screaming at her “Why did you eat that?” “Do you know what you did?” “Were you crazy, Eve?” Right? Would we throw her questions like this? But this crazy guy writing this, after learning to ponder and not to come to rash conclusions would say to her “Thanks, Eve?” I can envisage you think: Eddie has problems. Right? Do I? Breath in and listen to this: How did we became people loved by Jesus? The answer is: thru Eve’s disobedience. Could it be that the Lord was provoking her into going behind the veil so later she could distinguish the difference between good and evil? As the Lord’s people we have this same knowledge today. We know of the Lord’s goodness and of his power because we also know the dark side of things, but we choose the ways of the Master. How can you pick apart a bald person from a hairy one? From knowledge. It’s so extraordinary when we know both sides and then pick whom to follow or what to do, isn’t it? Our life decisions are made because we know the contrasts that life brings to all of us. As Eve found out about the power of darkness and could observe the guilt that brought her, we can only take a step back and be grateful that the LORD uses people that many times behave in wicked ways, but, at the same time, understand that His love and mercy are always present. In our darkest times His light shines the strongest. He stills uses us when we feel at odds with Him.
From Mozambique, and you may go to rootofhope.net to see it, we received the news, this week, that the mothers of the 50 children that are being helped got together and built a large room for the kids that you help. They recognized what we are doing and they know that no organization on local churches do any of the work we are doing for free. We must build a church and classrooms as soon as the Lord provides. We thank the Lord for them and we can never ignore your kindness towards them. If we are sowing there is because you provide the seed. May the Lord richly bless you. Please pray for our trip that will start on the last days of June.
Kanimambo.
Root of Hope 