Then They Took Up Stones To Throw At Him

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Keraza Magazine issue 47-48 December 5, 2014

The attempts by the Jews to stone the Lord Christ were not mentioned by any of the four Evangelists except John the Beloved, who clarified that these attempts occurred twice. The first attempt was mentioned in John 8:59: "Then they took up stones to throw at Him," in the chapter that began with the story of the adulterous woman whom the Jews were ready to stone. The second time was mentioned in John 10:31: "Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him." Perhaps the word again was not mentioned here unintentionally, but rather to confirm that this is the second attempt. What is amazing about these two attempts is that they were both preceded by accusing Him of having a demon: "Then the Jews answered and said to Him, ‘Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?'" (John 8:48), "And many of them said, ‘He has a demon and is mad. Why do you listen to Him?'" (John 10:20).

Among the causes for punishment by stoning in the law was for the person to have a demon: "A man or a woman who is a medium, or who has familiar spirits, shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them with stones. Their blood shall be upon them" (Leviticus 20:27), or for one to have blasphemed the name of the Lord: "And whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall certainly stone him" (Leviticus 24:16). From here it becomes very clear that the Jews, in both instances in which they wanted to stone the Lord Christ, made a dual accusation against Him: that He has a demon, and that He blasphemes God.

In truth, many take up stones to throw at the Lord Christ today. The world has lost all discernment, until it sees light as dark and every darkness as light. Does not today's society answer to His teachings towards love, forgiveness, sacrifice, and chastity saying: "He has a demon and is mad. Why do you listen to Him?" (John 10:20). Do not many consider the cross ignorance, and the narrow gate insanity? Do they not condone homosexuality and drugs under the label normal biological individual variation in preference? Do they not see Jesus as blaspheming their gods of world pleasures and desires, which they worship? Do they not pour out their full wrath on Him, boasting their membership as atheists? Do they not "crucify again for themselves the Son of God and put Him to an open shame?" (Hebrews 6:6). Did not St. Antony prophesy concerning them saying, "A time is coming when men will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him saying, ‘You are mad, you are not like us'"?¹

It is time for each of us to search ourselves to see to which group we belong: the group who lift up stones against Jesus seeing His teachings as insanity and blasphemy against their gods, or the group of those who put on Christ, on whom the stones are taken up each day, being classed with their Teacher as deserving of all contempt and scorn?

But, let those who lift up the stones against Jesus know that He will certainly disappear from them, passing through the midst of them, slipping through their hands, without them being able to catch Him. They will find themselves in the end left alone with their stones in their hands witnessing against them forevermore that they loved darkness rather than light, so it came to them.

Bishop Youssef
Bishop, Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States

Reference:

¹ Ward, Benedicta, trans. The Sayings of the Desert Fathers: The Alphabetical Collection. Revised Edition. Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1984.