The journey seemed to take forever. But finally, I saw him. He was sitting with some of his followers. They dragged me to right him, my heart racing, my stomach in my throat.
The crowd threw me as hard as they could to the ground. I was too frightened to look at him, but I looked up just enough to see him stand up and walk towards me. My hair was in disarray, my clothes were torn, and tears streamed down my face. Then someone in the crowd spoke up, “This woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law tells us to stone such women. So what do you say?” Some of those in the crowd had already picked up stones in their hands. They were laughing and jeering, excited at the chance to kill me.
But this man. He was so silent. He got down on the ground, right in front of me, drawing with his finger in the sand. The crowd kept questioning him, waiting for him to give them permission. But he remained silent. That scared me even more. Was he trying to think of how to deal with me? “In any minute,” I thought, “it’s over.”
I don’t know how, but I got the courage to look up at him, through my tears. He looked right back at me. But there was something unusual about this man. There was a sort of peacefulness in his face. And he even smiled at me. At me, an adulteress?! I couldn’t understand what was happening.
Then he stood up. The entire crowd became quiet. It was a deafening kind of quiet, where everyone stood still, awaiting his judgment. They were ready for me. All they wanted was to hear the word “go.” But it never happened. He finally spoke, “Who here has not sinned?” There was even more silence.
Then he spoke again, in this calm, but serious way. He told them, “Whoever here is without sin, go ahead. Be the first to cast a stone at this woman.” The crowd just looked at one another. I’m pretty sure that’s not what they expected, or wanted to hear.
And just like that, people dropped their stones to the ground, and while they didn’t look very happy about it, they just walked away. Just like that. This time I looked right at him, without any fear. He knelt down again and wrote in the ground some more. A smile came across his face. “Where is everyone,” he said, “Has no one condemned you?” I looked around. Where there was once a huge crowd, screaming and shouting, there was now no-one. The streets seemed so empty, so quiet.
My voice quivered as I attempted to speak to him, to this man who had just saved my life. I told him, “No one, sir. No one has condemned me.” And with that, he took me by my hands and lifted up from the dirty ground. I’ll never forget what happened next. He took my chin in his hand and he said, “Then neither do I condemn you. Go…..and sin no more.”
What?! I couldn’t believe it. Is this for real? Just a minute ago I was condemned to die, but this man, the one they call the son of God, forgave me. He pardoned me, just like that. I’m not sure what came over me, but I practically leapt into his arms. I didn’t want to let go of him. I hugged and I hugged him, tears fell from my eyes again, but this time I wept for a different reason. This horrible sin I had committed, had not only been forgiven, but I feel like it was wiped completely out of my life.
Surely this was the man of God! Who else could he be? I knew right then and there that my life had been changed forever. I had heard the stories everyone told, about how he was crazy and demon possessed. And I was believing it. But I know better now. I’ll never forget the day that I met him. The day that I met Jesus.
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Copyright Maggi Normile 2003, all rights reserved. This script may
be performed free of charge, provided no charge is made for the performance.
In return the author would like to be told of any performance. She may
be contacted at
heavenlycreatures@excite.com