Christian Truths
In all of the rather distasteful blanket wall-to-wall coverage over the Phillip Scholfield and ‘This Morning’ TV saga I was struck by the number of people trying to understand it, although they may not have realised it, through the lens of Christian thought and belief. For example, Scholfield’s ‘This Morning’ colleague Alison Hammond upset by the revelations, broke down saying:
“..my mum always said ‘use your Bible as the Sat Nav for your life’, and in the Bible it says ‘he without sin cast the first stone’…”
Elsewhere in the forensic interview that the BBC’s Amol Rajan held with Scholfield he asked him:
“..they say ‘the truth sets you free,’ so for all the stress you’ve been living with, do you feel slightly liberated by speaking out?…”
Now both of these sayings come from the same part of the gospels, namely John 8, and start (surprise, surprise) regarding the matter of adultery. It is worth exploring them for the light they bring on the situation and the very nature of sin, forgiveness and freedom.
In John 8:7, the background is that Jesus was teaching people in the temple courts when Pharisees brough to him a woman who had been caught in adultery, they point out that the Law of Moses requires them to stone her as a punishment, and they tried to set a trap for Jesus by asking him what he thinks they should do.
Jesus is said to have “..bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger…” before saying to the group “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her”. We don’t know what it was Jesus wrote on the ground, but the effect of his statement was absolute- they were convicted by their conscience and left the scene. Talking to the adulterous woman, Jesus said simply “Woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee?...Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more”.
The point Jesus was making is who are we to judge? We are all sinners and have we the right to condemn? As Christians we are called to be kind, compassionate and offer graceful love to each and every one, forgiving those just as Christ God has forgiven us. It was something He referred to in Matthew 7:1-3 when he said “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?”. In other words, we should practice what we preach before criticising others.
Later in John 8:31-38, after the incident with the adulterous woman, people questioned who Jesus actually was. Jesus explained he was not of this world but was carrying out the wishes of the Father-God. People did not understand Him but to those who did, Jesus said “ if you continue in my word then you are my disciples indeed, and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free”.
That statement ‘The truth shall make you free’ is of course one of the most famous ever spoken and not surprisingly a considerable number of organisations have it as their motto from the CIA to numerous universities. Although Jesus was talking about the truth in the sense that by believing in Him you will be free from the slavery of sin, it has another practical meaning that by living a lie- presenting yourself as someone who you are not – is a sin to the spirit, and you pay a heavy price for that.
Shakespeare got it right when in ‘Hamlet’, Polonius gives advice to his son: “…this above all: to thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man…”.
A lesson from this tragic affair may be to honour your pledges to people, to turn away from the sin of temptation, and above all live a life of freedom from sin- the one Truth can give you that....
Tags: Faith, Jesus, PHILLIP SCHOLFIELD, This Morning, Holly Willoughby, The truth will set you free, Let he who is without a sin let him cast the first stone