Can you see the soldier lying there facedown, covered in the dirt and sweat of battle, bleeding and unable to stand? He has been left for dead. His enemies have nearly destroyed him, but there is still in him the faint will to live - a heart yet beating. He has given up on looking for rescue, he has lain there so many days without help. In one of the long nights since his defeat, he hears footsteps , but, of course, thinks he is merely dreaming. First far away, then nearer, they crunch the dewy grass and kick up small rocks scattered on the path. Fearing he will awaken before there is a touch of water to his lips and clean bandages to wrap his wounds, the man's heart beats faster. Then the thought: What if the enemy has come to finish me off! So the soldier closes his eyes, lying still, waiting for the dream to play itself out.
The footsteps stop. There is someone beside this wounded warrior, bending down at his head, reaching out to touch him. Gently, the stranger lifts the soldier's face from the dirt of his affliction and wipes it clean with a cloth. With hesitation, the soldier opens his eyes slightly to peek at the One who has come to rescue him. To lift his head and bring him back to life. It is the One who binds up the brokenhearted, sets the captive free, comforts those who mourn - who gives beauty for ashes (Isaiah 61). As the soldier swallows the last drop of the cup of kindness pressed to his lips by this One, he is strengthened to fight another day, head held high, for he has been renewed.
Remember the woman the Pharisees set in the center of the temple court in front of Jesus. She had been caught in bed with a man to whom she was not married. Shame bowed her head.
"Stone her for this sin!" cried the religious leaders. A horrible death associated with the rebellious. Rock upon rock would pound her head and body until there was no life left in her. She trembled, guilty in their presence.
Jesus stooped down on the ground in front of her, writing something there with his finger. "What do you say, Jesus? You sit here teaching the Law to us! What does it say we should do to her?" The Pharisees were demanding an answer from Jesus so they could trick him.
Standing up, Jesus said: "The one of you who is without sin, you throw the first stone." Then Jesus stooped again, doodling with his finger once more. Waiting. Waiting for it to sink in. Was her sin worse than theirs? If you break the law in one point you break it in all (James 2:10). A sinless man would have to throw the stone, thus proving his sinful pride at being perfect. A catch-22 and Jesus knew it.
One by one the religious men, so proud of their spotless lives, walked away, leaving the woman in her ignominy standing before Jesus, head down, guilty and she knew it. Jesus stood to look at her. "Woman," he began. She dared to glance at Him. "Where are your accusers? Did no one condemn you?"
"No one, sir," she all but whispered. Then she lifted her head and looked into His eyes.
"Then neither do I condemn you," said her savior. "You can go free now, but don't live this way any more."
Aren't these our stories? Weren't we defeated, wounded, near dead, at least spiritually, ashamed and guilty, head down with no help in sight? Our God does not kick us when we are down, contrary to popular belief. Jesus came to show us what David meant in Psalm 3....."He is the lifter of my head." He is the One who heals me and restores my dignity - "I do not condemn you, either, but don't live this way any more."
Psalm 27: 4-6, if I may get ahead of myself, is the reaction we should have to such amazing grace:
One thing I have asked from the Lord, that will I seek; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in His temple. For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; in the secret place of His tent He will hide me. He will lift me up on a rock. And NOW MY HEAD WILL BE LIFTED UP above my enemies around me, and I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy.
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