Why Are You Still Holding That Stone?
The crowd in that courtyard had a choice to make. They could cling to their stones or surrender to His words. We face that same choice today.
Why Are You Still Holding That Stone?
Jesus didn’t leave the crowd confused. His words were not complicated. They didn’t require interpretation or a committee to explain them.
“Let him who is without sin cast the first stone … go and sin no more.”
There was no ambiguity in that—only silence. One by one, the stones fell. One by one, they walked away. Not because they didn’t understand Him—but because they did.
We’ve been reading those words for 2,000 years. We’ve preached them and studied them. We’ve built entire ministries around them. And yet, somehow, the stones are still in some of our hands.
Why? He was not unclear.
I came across this quote the other day:
“We don’t struggle because God is silent—we struggle because He’s already spoken and we’re still deciding if we agree.”
Ouch!
The crowd in that courtyard had a choice to make. They could cling to their stones or surrender to His words. We face that same choice today. It’s one thing to hear Jesus say, “Don’t condemn.” It’s another thing entirely to live it out.
It’s one thing to receive His mercy. It’s another to extend it to someone who doesn’t deserve it.
You see, we don’t struggle with understanding—we struggle with surrender. Jeremiah 17:9 reminds us, our hearts are deceitful. We will always be ready to justify and excuse what God has already judged.
And so we hesitate.
We hold onto our stones a little longer. We delay obedience just a little more. We tell ourselves we’re “processing” when, in reality, we’re resisting.
The people who dropped their stones and walked away weren’t the ones who had it all together. They were the ones who were honest enough to admit they didn’t. They didn’t argue or defend themselves. They didn’t negotiate with Jesus. They just dropped their stones and left.
Maybe that’s what following Jesus looks like. Not necessarily mastering every doctrine or winning every argument or trying to look righteous in church. Maybe following Jesus is simply responding when He speaks.
So here’s the question: What has God already made clear in your life? Where has He already spoken?
And why are the stones still in your hands?
