1.30.2018 SPARE THE STONE (taken from World Magazine2.3.18, p14

Christ took the Penalty that His Stubborn Children Deserve

OK, the SKEPTIC (def - says: a person who questions the validity or authenticity of something purporting to be factual.; "consider, examine; look, see)
You Christians who want to follow God's guidelines and 'reclaim America' and all that  -
you Christians who say homosexuality is sin based on a few verses in Leviticus -
what about those other verses in Leviticus?
do you want laws against mixed fibers or mixed marriages, or (this is the kicker) are you for stoning rebellious children?

to them that settles it:
the Word of God is a creaky artifact that didn't even work in its own day.
but as Matthew Henry said, 'the divine law cannot be reproached unless it is first misrepresented'.
the Word of God is living and active, sharp and shrewd. (def -   'curse'; astute and sharp in practical matters)it is animated by God's won breath and when a man or woman is likewise animated (or born from above),  that breath blows through every saved soul. and if all of it is instructive, we don't blow off tough passages like Deuteronomy 21.18-21
If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother and that when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them
then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him and bring him out unto the elders of his city and unto the gate of his place.
and they shall say unto the elders of the city, THIS OUR SON IS STUBBORN AND REBELLIOUS.
HE WILL NOT OBEY OUR VOICE
HE IS A GLUTTON AND A DRUNKARD.
AND ALL THE MEN OF HIS CITY SHALL STONE HIM  with stones that he die,
SO SHALT THOU PUT EVIL AWAY FROM AMONG YOU
AND ALL ISRAEL SHALL HEAR AND F-E-A-R.

because rebellion is serious.
rebellious kids drive youth culture and some of them, like Frank(ie) Schaeffer and Bart Campolo, make headlines.
a rebellious child stands as the greatest reproach to Christian parents (note; read, TO JESUS CHRIST!, and often to christians in general.
our culture rewards them with press releases and interviews on NPR, as proof that the christian life doesn't work - at least not for everybody. in an earlier age, among 'God's people' (say the skeptics) they would have been stoned.

or would they?
the law from Mount Sinai says that if a stubborn son refuses to obey his parents after repeated warnings, they are to bring him before the elders and make a formal charge.

 IF THE CHARGE PROVES TO BE TRUE,
THE SON IS TO BE STONED BY ALL THE MEN OF THE CITY
AND THUS 'YOU SHALL P-U-R-G-E THE EVIL FROM YOUR MIDST
AND ALL ISRAEL SHALL HEAR AND FEAR'  (deuteronomy 21.21)

PURGING THE EVIL IS THE PURPOSE BEHIND OTHER CAPITAL CRIMES:
false prophecy (Deuteronomy 13.5)
rank idolatry (deut. 17.7)
premeditated murder (deut. 19.13)
malicious false testimony (deut. 19.19)
these are deady crimes, because they lead to the destruction of untold others.

but how often did these stonings actually occur:
the record shows only 2: achan, who hid the Lord's dedicated spoils from his tent (Joshua 7) and
the man who gathered firewood on the Sabbath  (Numbers 15.32-6)
but the sons of Eli, Samuel and David were allowed to pursue their destructive ways until God Himself - rather than a hail of rocks from their own country men - struck them down.
the history of Israel might have been different if those executions had occurred earlier,
but that may be the lesson of the law:
WE ARE NOT VERY GOOD AT PURGING EVIL FROM OUR MIDST.
we quail at drastic measures because we don't quite believe the drastic charge.:
REBELLIOUS CHILDREN UNDERMINE SOCIAL ORDER..
LEAD OTHERS ASTRAY
WHILE DESTROYING THEMSELVES. 

of course, throughout history pious Jewish parents as well as righteous Christian parents
have hurled their contrary children out of the house,
following the verbal boulder:  'YOU ARE DEAD TO ME!'

it's the equivalent of stoning, perhaps,
but the evil that must be purged remains in the heart of the parent as well as the child.

FOR EVERY PUZZLING OLD TESTAMENT LAW WE SHOULD ASK OURSELVES,
'HOW DOES CHRIST FULFILL THIS?'
THAT'S WHAT HE CAME TO DO.
NOT TO ABOLISH THE LAW, BUT TO FULFILL IT.   EVERY PART OF IT.
put Him in the place of the stubborn son who won't be corrected.
drag Him before the city elders (or Sanhedrin)
formally charge Him ('He has made Himself equal with God!)'
pelt Him with verbal stones (Crucify!
'He saved others let Him save Himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God.' luke 23.35
'and they that passed by railed on Him wagging their heads and saying, Ah, Thou that destroyest the temple and buildest it in 3 days, save thyself and come down from the cross. likewise also the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes,  He saved others, Himself He cannot save.
'Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross that we may see and believe'. and they that were crucified with Him reviled Him. mark 14.29ff

'For He (God the Father)  hath made Him (Jesus, God the Son) to be sin for us, who knew no sin,
THAT WE MIGHT BE MADE THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN HIM (JESUS!) II Corinthians 5.21
CHRIST BECAME THE REBELLIOUS SON AND (OUR) EVIL WAS PURGED.

what the law was powerless to do, god did.
rebellious children today are just as guilty and dangerous as they were in Moses' time.
the death penalty remains if they don't repent.
but GOD holds the stone, e'en while pleading with them to
ACCEPT THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF HIS OBEDIENT SON.
HIS IS TEH GOSPEL OF SECOND,K FIFTH, SEVENTY-SEVENTH CHANCES.