Mark Batterson comments on the story in John’s Gospel of the women who is caught in the act of adultery. The religious mob is ready to stone her to death when Jesus steps up and steps in. Jesus doesn’t defend her adultery, but He does defend this adulteress. And His defence is pure brilliance: “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” (…) ‘I can’t help but wonder,’ Batterson says, ‘would I have come to this woman’s defence, or would I have picked up a stone? I honestly don’t know, but I’ll tell you this. Whenever I hear about a high-profile failure, I try never to respond in a holier-than-thou fashion. The first thing that fires across my synapses is John Bradford’s famous adage: “There, but for the grace of God, go I.”’

Mark Batterson, IF, 2015, Grand Rapids: Michigan, Baker Books, p.31