Disclaimer: I didn't make the Bible. The Almighty God is responsible for the genius in the book!

Author's Note: This is for Ducky'sgirl4ever. I hope you like it. :)

The First Stone

By Shinshia101

No one knew what she had to go through. They just judged her in that moment—during that still frame. No one understood: they just assumed one thing…

Adulterer!

A round woman screamed. "You slept with my husband, you harlot!!!"

Adina ran as fast as she could. She placed her hands over her ears, trying to block out their loud cries, but it was to no avail. True, she was a harlot and slept with the chubby woman's husband, but she needed the money. He had told her he was willing to pay for her services. It was for the money and nothing more! It was how she survived. Tragedy and misfortune put her in a situation that she wanted to get out of, so she just took a path where she knew she had complete control—or at least that is what she thought at the time.

No one understands!

She gasped, when she felt a strong hold on her arm yank her back. She turned and saw a bearded man staring at her with narrowed eyes. She noticed that with one hand he held her and the other was a stone. She knew what was to come now—a barrage of rocks will come her way, until she was dead. She flirted with the thought of just playing dead, maybe they would leave her alone then, but that seemed very unlikely—when it came to the law, these people showed no mercy.

The crowd began to surround them and their screams and accusations bombarded her ears. The man sneered at her, as he raised his hand. She closed her eyes, waiting for the blow to the head, however none came. Cautiously, she opened one of her eyes. She was surprised when she saw a Pharisee holding the man's hand back. Would the teacher of the law, of all people, be the first one to condemn her?—well beside the wife that was.

The man growled. "What are you doing? You know this whore must be dealt with! According to the law…"

"I know exactly what the law states," the Pharisee snapped, glaring at the man. "But we shall not stone her here. Instead…" He looked at his fellow religious scholars, and then back at her. "…we shall bring her to Jesus and see what he says about this." The religious leader chuckled lightly and sneered at her.

Adina's eyes widened. Who was this 'Jesus' person that they were talking about? Was he a higher religious authority?

She noticed the man drop the stone and she was pushed into the Pharisee's chest. He looked at her with disgust. "Come on!" He dragged her by the arm. "We are going to the Temple."

Her head dropped down. Now she was certain that Jesus was a high religious figure, just going to condemn her. Why did these people even bother? Why drag out her inevitable death?

As she walked, she began thinking of how she got into the lifestyle of adultery. She had not always been like this. No, she was the pride and joy of her father, even though she was a girl and not a boy. She was happy and content, but of course good things never last long. Her father died when she was 16 by an illness, and because she was a woman, she couldn't own her father's property, and it was sold. No man was willing to marry a girl who had nothing to give as a dowry. She had no other family, what else was she to do? She needed to survive. She was about to be sold as a servant, but she ran away. She wasn't going to beg for money, no she was going to make money on her own terms! It was then she decided that prostitution was the only way to get the money she needed and stay in control. She needed that sense power, because as a woman, she had second to none in her society. People were willing to pay her for her services, for things she did. She didn't beg them for money—they gave it to her because she was good at what she did. Besides she was living up to her name sake: 'Adina' or Voluptuous.

However in actuality, with the lifestyle that she lived in, she felt trapped. People hated her because of her shameful ways, but if she ever stopped, she would have no income and people would still hate her anyway. There were times that she felt shameful and wondered how her father would react if he could see her now, but he was dead and he wasn't coming back. Adina didn't cry. She knew the risks in her line of work, which was why she was always careful. However her last customer had given her wrong information and his wife came earlier than any of them had anticipated. Both of them were caught, but she was the one that was blamed. She was the one who seduced the husband by flaunting her long eyelashes, at least that was what the chubby woman said. But that was just that was just foolishness. That was just the woman's excuse because her husband wasn't attracted to her anymore after bearing five children for him, and rightfully so—the woman could've at least tried to look attractive for her husband and maybe nobody would be in this mess!

When they finally reached the Temple, Adina looked up and saw a swarm of people. Why were there so many people at the temple? It wasn't even Sabbath! She looked around—there had to be thousands of people and she was going to be tried here? With this army? Sure, let's just add more people to throw rocks at her!

The religious scholars and Pharisees pushed through, until they reached what was the center of the attention. The Pharisee pulling her forward scowled and then grumbled: "We'll see what he has to say about this! Jesus surely can't say no to this!"

On the steps of the Temple, there stood a man. Was this the Jesus that the teachers of the Law of Moses were referring to? To Adina, there was nothing special about him. He wasn't some handsome king or a religious authority in this case, and nothing about the way he looked should have attracted these people to him, but here they were crowding around him like sheep listening to their shepherd. But at first glance, he just looked like an ordinary man, yet something seemed different, something that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

The Pharisee pushed her to the ground, in front of the man named Jesus, so that she was in plain sight of everyone. The crowd quieted down, wondering what was going on. Her road to death was about to begin.

"Teacher," the religious scholar shouted. "This woman was caught red-handed in the act of adultery." An accusing finger was pointed her way and she heard the gasps and offensive words from the people around her. Heads were shaking and people were screaming. Adina put her head down.

They didn't understand a thing!

"The Law of Moses," the scholar continued, "teaches that a woman like this should be stoned to death. What do you say?"

By this time, Jesus was on the floor with them. The crowd made way for him as he took a place near to where Adina sat, He bent down and began to write something on the dirt with his finger. He was completely silent as he wrote.

Adina didn't understand what he was doing, but the scholars and the Pharisees kept at him, badgering him about her.

Finally Jesus straightened up; his eyes gazed over the crowd, who were waiting for his response. "If anyone of you here is without sin, then cast the first stone at her!" Bending down again, he wrote some more in the dirt.

She stared at the man hunched down next to her. That was a very strange response to their question. However after he had said those words, she noticed the people were walking away, one after another, beginning with the oldest. She was left alone.

Jesus stood up and spoke to her. "Woman, where are they? Does no one condemn you?"

Adina lost her voice. She just stared at him for a moment, confused about what had just happened. She couldn't see what he had written on the ground, but it must have been something that drove the people away. She then understood why the crowd of people surrounded him. He spoke with much more authority than any of the religious leaders. Who was this man?

He looked at her, patiently waiting for an answer. Realizing this, she shook her head. "No one, Master."

"Neither do I," said Jesus. "Go and sin no more."

Again, she stared at him in amazement. She was so sure that he was going to agree with the other teachers, but he did something unimaginable. This man truly was different! He didn't judge her, despite the fact she was presented to him as a harlot. He didn't even know her, yet at the same time it seemed like he did. It was as if he somehow understood her. Not only that, but it felt as if the chains that bound her to her lifestyle were suddenly broken. When she looked at him she saw something that she had never seen before.

Hope.

Suddenly he nodded and gave her a gentle smile. She could feel the tears well up in her eyes. And as she sat on the dirt ground, crying, she was able to choke: "Thank you, Master…"

End

Author's Note: I was able to carve out some time to right this. I thought about it yesterday, but thought that I would write it like in December when I had off, but I didn't. May you be touched and know that Jesus loves us all, no matter what we have done in our past, he still loves us, that is why he died on that tree 2000 years ago!

Thank you Lord, for loving me as I am. I know I am not the best daughter to you, but thank you for forgiving my sins and loving me anyway. There is nothing I can do to repay you, so because you died for me, I shall live for you. Please remind me about this promise I make to you, so if I ever go astray, you will bring back to you. Again thank you, and I pray that someone will read this and know that you are an AWESOME God! This is my prayer in Jesus' name, Amen.