In the army of ancient Rome, there were many brutal ways of punishing soldiers who committed offenses, and many of these resulted in the death of the offender. One such capital punishment was carried out by the offender’s friends. If he had done something that was worthy of death, often his friends were ordered to beat him to death with their fists.

As the commander of the Continental Army, General George Washington, after the conclusion of active hostilities with Great Britain but while he needed to keep his army in the field and ready to fight, discovered a plot among some of his soldiers to march on Philadelphia and force Congress to acquiesce to their demands. He ordered the conspirators to be executed by firing squad—a firing squad composed of their closest friends.

Why? Why were the friends of the guilty ordered to execute them? Because the friends probably had known what the guilty were planning and had chosen not to stop them. Perhaps they had even aided and abetted them. If, of course, it was found that the friends knew nothing, they were not held accountable.

In ancient Israel, under the Mosaic Law (given by Jehovah, even Jesus Christ), capital punishment was carried out by stoning, and the accuser had to throw the first stone.

When Jesus was confronted with the woman taken in adultery (a capital crime), he said to her accusers, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” One by one, the accusers departed, convicted by their own consciences. I have often wondered, where was the man with whom the woman had committed adultery? Why was he not brought before the Savior along with the woman? I have also often wondered if he was perhaps part of the crowd or watching from a safe distance. When the accusers had all fled, Jesus told the guilty woman, “Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.” He determined that she had suffered enough, but he charged her to abandon the sin. He did not let her off the hook entirely, but he showed her mercy. It was up to her to decide if she would continue in sin or repent and be forgiven. He also said on another occasion, “Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more.”

Perhaps in that crowd of potential stone-throwers, there were those who had been injured by the sin or one like it. Perhaps there were children whose families had been broken. What about the woman’s husband, the man she’d betrayed? What about the wife of the absent-yet-equally-guilty man, the woman whom he had betrayed?

What about the wronged? What about those hurt by the sin?

The Master Healer can and will heal them as well, if they turn to Him.

Perhaps there were those in the crowd who simply got swept up the furor of emotions. They saw the crowd and heard the shouting, so they gathered. They heard the accusations, they believed the accusations (I mean, the woman did not deny the accusations, and the Savior did not declare that she was innocent of the charges), and yet these people stood there with stones in there hands, ready to meet out justice. Ready to kill.

But when the Savior suggested they look at their own consciences, they all walked away. All of them. There was not one innocent among them.

Imagine you are in the crowd with a stone in your hand. Once the stone-throwing starts, what happens if some of the stones miss? I mean, does every stone-thrower have perfect aim? What if some of those stones bounce or ricochet? What if some of those stones hit innocents in the crowd?

If you cast the first stone, you are declaring that you are without sin. If you cast any stone, you are declaring that the death you cause is justified. And if there are innocents hurt, well shucky darn. Them’s the breaks, folks! And if you throw that stone with hatred in your heart, you are guilty as well. Jesus said, “Wherefore, I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin.”

Hatred is never justified. Hatred will never make you happy.

Vengeance will never make you whole. And if to achieve your vengeance, you destroy innocents as—oh, well, can’t be helped—unavoidable collateral damage, you have become a monster.