Blasphemy

I was reading in the Gospel of John this morning, chapter 8. When I got to verse 58, Jesus tells the Pharisees (religious leaders in Jesus' day) that He is I AM. Now, to Jews this is a powerful statement. When Moses encountered the burning bush and asked God what His name was, God replied "I AM". (Exodus 3) So when Jesus said He was I AM to the Pharisees, He was claiming to be God. The Pharisees considered this blasphemy and attempted to stone Jesus. The irony is this: Jesus is God; so the Pharisees actually tried to kill the God they claimed they served. Talk about blasphemy. Which makes me wonder if I have ever been like the Pharisees and didn't recognize Jesus or one of His precious children but instead judged them. The beginning of ch 8 talks about the woman caught in adultery and how people wanted to stone her and tried to trick Jesus. But His reply was " Let he who has no sin cast the first stone". Needless to say no one could stone her. Then Jesus looked at her and told her that He did not condemn but had forgiven her and to go and sin no more. How powerful and profound. Such grace and forgiveness. I have been given the same grace and forgiveness. I am so unworthy and have no grounds on which to judge. Wow!