The more deficient our self-knowledge, the less likely we are to recognize and acknowledge the truer and deeper motives for our decisions and actions. For, although we may not necessarily act with ulterior motives, we often do act with mixed motives. And it is usually the good motives that we are more conscious of, while the less noble ones are deftly hidden from our awareness. This seems to be the case with those wishing to stone Jesus. Accordingly, Jesus tries to have them recognize their deeper and malevolent intentions—intentions that have little to do with defending the Lord’s name against blasphemy. And whereas acting with mixed motives—that include good and bad—is less than desirable, awareness of the evil ones is more likely to neutralize (or at least mitigate), their negative effects. For, waiting until our motives are totally pure and selfless risks paralyzing us into inaction. And, as we work towards acting solely from pure and loving motives, let us take heart in the fact that, unless our hearts are totally closed to God, he can and will use and transform even our evil motives and actions for the good—much like he did with the brothers of Joseph who sold him into slavery because of their malevolence and jealousy.