Author: C.A. Phillips

This is, unfortunately, something we all tend to overlook when we choose the path of sinful disobedience. We may rationalize our actions and behaviors, even planning ahead for the time when it catches up with us. However, we don’t have a contingency plan for the havoc we cause in others’ lives. This is nearly always the most painful repercussion we face—seeing others suffer for our wrongdoing.

Amazingly, these sailors—despite knowing Jonah’s defiance is causing their immediate peril—try to find a way to avoid having to throw Jonah overboard! They put themselves in further danger by attempting to row toward land. “But the stormy sea was too violent for them, and they couldn’t make it.” (v. 13)

Realizing the futility of their efforts to row ashore, they begin to plead with the Lord for their lives! Not only that, but they also ask God not to hold it against them if Jonah dies when they toss him off the boat.

When Jonah high-tailed it as far west as he could get from Nineveh, he was only thinking of himself. He never, for a moment, thought that he would put dozens of innocent people at death’s door because of his disobedience. But that’s what sin does. It only shows us the part of the outcome that appeals to us in the moment. We don’t get a glimpse of the wreckage it causes.

The greatest deterrent to sin is the realization that we create separation from God; we break community with Him. Perhaps the next-best preventative measure is to consider the pain we will cause others when we don’t choose God’s best.

Ultimately, if we live in such a way that we are putting God and others first (the two Greatest Commandments), we win—and we have peace of mind knowing God’s hand will be on us along the way.

So, Jonah hops on a boat headed in the opposite direction from where God had instructed him to go. Instead of taking a camel to Nineveh, he purchases a one-way ticket to Tarshish. Honestly, we don’t know for sure where Tarshish was located—many historians believe it was in the western Mediterranean. But we do know he was “moving away from the Lord” (or at least he thought he was). And a powerful storm was brewing.

Let’s pause for a moment here. You know, there’s always that interlude between the disobedient act and the punishment being doled out. Many times, we don’t realize we are in for a hurting—we’re just enjoying sowing our wild oats, as they used to say.

I remember one day as a nine- or ten-year-old kid doing something really stupid. My friend and I found a couple of old gallons of paint lying around his house. We had nothing better to do, so we decided to take the paint with us into the wooded lot next door—an area where we would often ride our bikes and hike. But on this day, we decided to add some color to the landscape. We began to paint the trunks of the trees—orange and blue. We didn’t just do one or two; we did dozens of them!

When his mom came home, she didn’t take kindly to this. And she felt obliged to share this with my mom (tattletale).

When I got home, my mom had some choice words for me. She then said she would discuss it with my dad. When he got home from work, she informed him of my artwork and asked what my punishment should be. He said he would have a talk with me and hand down the sentence. So, my dad came into my room to have a chat. He made sure I understood that what I had done was unacceptable. Then he said, “Your mom wants me to punish you. So, you have to stop smoking for a month.”

While the Lord was ultimately loving and compassionate with Jonah, he wasn’t getting away that easily. He sent a violent storm—one so intense that it seemed as though the ship was going to break apart! And as we’ll discuss tomorrow, he wasn’t just bringing these circumstances on himself—others’ lives were now at risk!

Jonah was about to learn an important lesson: when it comes to obedience, God means business!

Exasperation and frustration—that is what I felt, and that is what I caused my wife early in our marriage. Long before IKEA, other retail establishments offered the good old DIY furniture assembly. I can recall purchasing desks, side tables, and chairs from a variety of stores—the kind that also happened to sell groceries, household cleaners, and school supplies.

I’d get home from the store, tear open the box, and begin tackling the project. But no matter what the item was or where it was purchased, it always seemed to end the same way: me, angry and sweaty, with extra washers or bolts in my hand that hadn’t been used. “Why?” you ask. Because I failed to read the instructions!

It’s one thing to ignore the instructions included in a box filled with particleboard, hex screws, and wing nuts. It’s altogether different when God Himself tells you to do something, and you defiantly go in the opposite direction. This is precisely what Jonah did after God told him to go to Nineveh.

Jonah served as “God’s man”—His messenger. As a prophet, he certainly would have known the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament). He also would have known that you can’t hide from God (remember Adam and Eve?). But fear and uncertainty drive us to do some outrageous things, clouding our ability to see and think clearly.

Sometimes I think to myself, They had it much easier back in the Old Testament. God spoke directly to them, and He was present with them much of the time. But clearly, it wasn’t easy. Time and again, we see God’s chosen leaders making grave errors in judgment—or completely disregarding His instructions.

Because we all have doubts. We all get a bit anxious over the unknown. We all like to be comfortable. But, as we’ll see throughout the week, God’s plan will come to fruition. And we’ll have to face the painful consequences of our decisions when we defy Him.

This week, we’ve been taking a closer look at the story of the woman condemned to death, but another similar exchange happened between Jesus and the Pharisees. Like the story in John 8, this account also involved a woman whose reputation preceded her.

In both stories, the Pharisees are mired in their self-righteousness. They have a penchant for identifying the sins of others but are oblivious to their own need for a Savior. However, the immoral woman anointing Jesus’ feet has found new life in her Savior. In fact, Jesus comments that she loves much because she has been forgiven much.

In yesterday’s devotional, I shared that we don’t truly know what became of the woman caught in adultery. However, we can be certain that her encounter with Jesus left her a changed woman. Jesus’ grace quite literally gave her “new life,” as she had been condemned to death by the Pharisees.

If you have been on the receiving end of mercy and grace, you know how it tends to heighten your compassion and love for others. When you’ve experienced brokenness and walked through the painful restoration process, your vision for others becomes clearer.

Conversely, if you have been forgiven little—or if you’ve fooled yourself into thinking you’re perfect—you extend that same measure of love and compassion to others.

Sandwiched between the two excerpts from Luke 7 above is an exchange between Jesus and the man who invited Him to his home:

41 Then Jesus told him this story: “A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other. 42 But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?”

43 Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.”

“That’s right,” Jesus said.

Forgiveness opens the door to living with open hands and an open heart. The best news is that Jesus has already forgiven you. When you recognize that you owe a debt you could never repay and accept His gift of new life, your story is given a new chapter—and an eternally joyful ending.

Jesus has saved the woman—quite literally. In an attempt to trap Him, these men brought the woman and likely hurled her at Jesus’ feet, throwing the Law in His and the woman’s face. They were daring Jesus to step in and speak blasphemy. But Jesus was light-years ahead of them. He flipped the script and sent them on their way.

Now, it’s just the woman and Jesus. She is humiliated—alive, yes, but ashamed.

He reminds her that no one has condemned her. She has escaped the throes of death. But Jesus doesn’t leave it there. He presses in. I imagine He looks her in the eyes and, with compassion in His voice, plainly tells her, “Go and sin no more.”

Jesus doesn’t pardon the sin or make light of it. He knows her heart was hardened before she was caught, but now it has softened because of the mercy and grace He has shown. This is not just a teaching moment—it’s a life-altering moment.

We don’t know what became of the woman. We aren’t sure if she heeded Jesus’ words or became one of His followers. But at this point in the story, we must insert ourselves. We all have the opportunity to experience new life through the redemptive power of Christ’s love.

2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”

The power of sin is diminished when we abide in our “newness” in Christ.

Paul implored the Christians in Ephesus to remember why they originally turned their lives over to Jesus:

“But that is not how you came to know Christ, assuming you heard about Him and were taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus, to take off your former way of life, the old self that is corrupted by deceitful desires, to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, the one created according to God’s likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth.” —Ephesians 4:20-24 (CSB)

How about you? Are you still trying to put on the “old self” and live apart from your Savior? If you’re one of His children, be reminded that the old version of you no longer exists! Embrace your new life in Christ and the freedom He bought for you on the cross!

In my formative years, I loved watching professional wrestling on TBS. I remember Gordon Solie and, later, Tony Schiavone on the mic each week as the best wrestlers paraded out and got the crowd riled up. There were “good guys”—known as “babyfaces”—and “bad guys”—known as “heels.” Of course, I always rooted for the good guys. I was particularly enamored with wrestlers like Tommy “Wildfire” Rich, Mr. Wrestling No. 1 and 2, and The American Dream, Dusty Rhodes.

There were some memorable bad guys as well—The Iron Sheik, Super Destroyer, Roddy Piper, and Abdullah the Butcher. But one bad guy took the cake: The Nature Boy, Ric Flair. I mean, I despised him—flaunting his long golden locks and strutting around in his flashy, full-length robes. Flair was known for his devastating finishing move, the Figure Four. If he locked his opponent in that hold, it was over.

All bad guys like Ric Flair were merciless in the ring. Worse, they would cheat when the referee wasn’t looking—choking a guy on the ropes or sneaking in an extra stomp to his forehead. But on those rare occasions when Flair’s opponent had the upper hand, he would beg for mercy. He would crouch low, hands spread wide, head shaking from side to side, pleading to be spared. Often, the good guy would relent—because, well, he was a good guy. And that would lead to his downfall, as Flair would seize the moment and make him pay. But there were also those times when the good guy—urged on by the roaring crowd—didn’t fall for it and instead delivered an elbow between the eyes. And the crowd went wild.

We’re often the same way. We want to see “the bad guy” get what’s coming to him. In this story, the “bad guy” is the woman caught in adultery. The mob gathers to see her punished—to see justice served. Jesus gives the Pharisees an answer to their challenge:

“OK. Go ahead. But the first stone must be thrown by the man who has no sin.”

But after Jesus stuns her accusers, they skedaddle, leaving only the two of them.

The man without sin—the only one who can condemn this woman—chooses instead to offer grace. Jesus becomes the rescuer in the bleakest moment of her life.

Are you eager to see others “get theirs,” or are you on the lookout for opportunities to show grace to hurting souls? You just might be the rescuer someone needs at the bottom of their pit.

It seems that society has always had an insatiable appetite for gossip, celebrity headlines, scandals, and sensationalized news stories. We’ve had The National Enquirer, The Jerry Springer Show, Keeping Up with the Kardashians (and every other reality show with Housewives in the title), and, more recently, TMZ. Shows and publications like these survive because of our consumption—plain and simple.

But long before tabloids and sleazy TV, humans still found ways to elevate themselves and degrade others without the benefit of media. In this case, it was spearheaded by those regarded as the Jewish spiritual leaders of the day—the Pharisees. These proud men were blind to their own misgivings and got a perverse thrill out of watching others suffer in shame, sometimes even to the point of death. Or maybe both.

In His omniscience, Jesus saw through the façade. He knew their true intentions, and He knew the perfect weapon to send them running back home: a mirror.

Have you ever found yourself taking satisfaction in someone else’s name being dragged through the mud? If so, I encourage you to pull out the same mirror Jesus used to show the Pharisees how they had come up short. We can become so caught up in artificially elevating ourselves and inflating our pride that our hearts grow calloused—just like those of the men condemning the woman caught in adultery.

Many theologians believe that when Jesus was writing in the dust, He was revealing deeply personal, incriminating details about each of these men—details only He would know. And before long, the woman and Jesus were the only ones left.

As you begin or continue your day, ask the Lord for a soft, compassionate heart. And pray that you can drop your rocks before someone ever has to point out where you’ve missed the mark.