I was preaching the gospel of Christ on a Thursday night farmer’s market in San Luis Obispo when my new acquaintance said he didn’t want anything to do with God because He’s an a$$#0|e. I was kind of dumbstruck by this response, and generated the standard deer-in-the-headlights expression.
But it got me to thinking. Many people struggle with the perception that God is mean-spirited, and often they question his fairness. I found a good analogy in Jesus’s actions & teachings.
One analogy was the woman who put in a couple of pennies into the collection box when all these flashy rich dudes put in a bunch of money and made a big deal out of it. Jesus had way more compassion for her than for them. Her contribution was WORTH more to Him than theirs was. I liked that as an example of God’s fairness.
Another analogy was the woman caught in adultery. Jesus didn’t forsake the law, didn’t say that we should just ignore it because it’s not relevant to this situation. In fact, he even encouraged others to fulfill the law, just throwing in one little twist of “he who is without sin cast the first stone”. Go ahead, cast it. But the crowd dispersed, starting with the oldest who were more conscious of their own sin nature.
One of the things that’s apparent here is that the woman’s husband evidently wasn’t there witnessing this, because there is a distinct possibility that his blood would boil and he’d cast the first stone even knowing he had sinned. At any rate, that’s a side point.
When the crowd dispersed and Jesus was alone with the woman, he said that “since they do not condemn you, neither do I.” The thing to keep in mind was that there WAS someone there who had not sinned — Jesus Himself. And if he wanted to, he could have cast that first stone. But He chose not to, and even took His cues from the rest of humanity. This is an excellent example of how “fair” God is.
No one I’ve ever spoken with about this passage has ever said that Jesus’s resolution of this situation was unfair. It was more than fair. And Jesus is God, so it’s a great example of how fair God is.
Those 2 examples of fairness help create a healthier mental picture of Christ.
“But He chose not to, and even took His cues from the rest of humanity.”
I might argue that Christ took his cues from what he saw the Father do as well. The Father didn’t suddenly rain fire and brim stone on such a woman nor would Christ do so as well. The Father was merciful to men and Christ was to be the conduit of his mercy and grace!
A verse comes to mind..”He will judge, not as men see but rather the heart, and he will judge with righteous judgment”...
24 but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the LORD.