In his book, Tell it slant', Eugene Peterson recommends Kenneth Bailey's book 'Jesus through Middle Eastern Eyes'. I am just over half way through the book and finding it to be a fascinating read.
This morning I read through the chapter 'The lady is not for stoning' which is Bailey's take on the story of Jesus and the woman caught in the act of adultery(John 7:53-8:11)
He writes:-
“At great cost Jesus has shifted their hostility from her to himself and he doesn't even know her name. The famous servant song of Isaiah affirms, “ with his stripes we are healed”(Isa 53:5). She knows that the opponents of Jesus will be back with a bigger stick and that Jesus is in process of getting hurt because of what he is doing for her. She is the recipient of a costly demonstration of unexpected love that saves her life.Jesus demonstrates the life-changing power of costly love. This scene provides an insight into Jesus’ understanding of the significance of his own suffering. A core aspect of his “doctrine of the atonement” is here displayed….
"Jesus lives out the core meaning of the Cross. He offers the woman a costly demonstration of unexpected love. The reader is obliged to reflect on how the woman in the story may have responded, and in the process think deep thoughts regarding his or her response to the costly love of God offered on the cross for the world."
"Great theological and ethical bells ring in this story and the greatest among them is Jesus interpreting his own cross”.
Would this story serve as a powerful illustration of what was happening on the first Good Friday?
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