WWJF: What Would Jesus Facebook? Part 2: The Solution

All this talk of cheating, affairs and subsequent divorces via online social networking has countless pastors and Christian writers across the nation talking about its possible long-term effects. And many are additionally wondering what Jesus would have to say about it or how He would utilize social networking sites were He walking the Earth today. What would his status updates look like? How many friends would He accumulate on Facebook? Would He Tweet?

In keeping with these questions, I humbly offer the following personal opinions and commentary and ask you to journey with me as we retrace the steps of Jesus and His loving connections with broken people, one in particular, in need of a redeeming Savior.

In John 8 we find Jesus at the Mount of Olives, a triple-peaked mountain ridge running north to south through eastern Jerusalem and the location of one of the New Testament's most powerful and recognizable encounters. Close your eyes and imagine the scene that is about to take place.

It's early dawn and the hot Jerusalem sun is just beginning to peak over the horizon, drenching the landscape in color and light. Deep in the local temple court stands Jesus, surrounded by people intent on listening to His renowned teachings.

Suddenly and without the slightest warning, His gentle and loving voice is overpowered by the sound of heavy wood slamming against solid stone. The colossal doors at the rear of the temple have been opened and bursting violently through them is a processional of angry, self-righteous Pharisees, their hands clutching, white-knuckled to the arms of a half-naked woman clinging to her tattered, dirty bed sheets, desperately trying to cover herself and hide from the eyes of countless onlookers. She is squirming in an explosive fit. She longs to escape.

The men brutally sling her to the ground, her body colliding painfully with the dirty, rocky ground. As she lies there, helpless, hopeless, bleeding and bruised, she lifts her head ever so slightly and sees, through her tears and the haze of dust still swirling in the air, the sandaled and worn feet of a man. Before she can make out who He is, or even stop her head from spinning, she hears the booming voices of her captors and trembles at the sound.

The Pharisees, intent on trapping Jesus within his own teachings, somewhere between Old Testament Laws of stoning to death those accused of adultery and His own doctrines of forgiveness, mercy and grace, explain to Him her sins.

"Teacher!" one of them bellows. "This woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. What then do you say?"

Without missing a beat, the Savior kneels to the ground and with hands that would soon know the unbearable sting of crucifixion nails, begins drawing in the dirt words only He ever will know. Persistent as always, the esteemed lawmen continue with their senseless questioning before the Messiah quickly silences them with one of the most confrontational and brilliant statements ever uttered in human history.

"If anyone of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."

Suddenly the thundering voices and accusations of these so-called spiritual leaders are replaced by a soft thud...thud...thud. Listen carefully. Can you hear it? It's the sound of stone after stone dropping one by one to the ground from the angry hands of speechless Pharisees. One after the other they exit the temple, their prestigious robe tassels swirling this way and that, bewildered and amazed at the wisdom of this man they call Jesus.

Then there, in the center of the Jerusalem temple court, surrounded by stunned and astonished men, women and even children, Jesus breaks through every social barrier and destroys every cultural stereotype as only He can. How? By extending his hand downward, toward a dazed, ashamed and filthy woman, whose only Hope of survival was now looking into her eyes with more love and grace than she had ever seen. And she was looking back into His.

"Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?" He asks.

"No one, Lord," she replies.

"I do not condemn you, either. Go and from now on, sin no more."

So if you're wondering what kind of status updates and posts Jesus would have in today's ever-changing, fast-paced social networking culture, look no further than His closing words here, spoken in loving response to a woman in desperate need of a rescue: "I do not condemn you, either. Go and from now on, sin no more," His revolutionary message to a people in desperate need of a Savior.

Have more powerful words of forgiveness ever been spoken? The words of Jesus to the adulterous woman ring truer than ever before in our world today, where marriages are constantly under attack from the Enemy and temptations like adultery are often indulged in at every open opportunity. But the wonderful news of the Gospel is the forgiveness and redemption offered by Jesus.

He's waiting to reach down, pick you up, dust you off and walk the path of life beside you. He died so that He could. It's what He does best.

There are no more stones. Only grace.

**All Scriptural quotations and dialogue taken from The New American Standard Bible.