John 8:1-11 1Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
Here are three takeaways from this text.
Jesus dealt with the accusers.
Jesus’ heart was to forgive, not to condemn.
Jesus’ offer for forgiveness offered an opportunity for a new way of life.
The Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees were hard at work, looking for just the right scenario, and possibly even creating the “perfect storm” so that they could catch a woman in the act of adultery. Have you ever considered that perhaps it was all a set up? That’s my personal opinion. I’ve drawn that conclusion because there is no man brought before Jesus in this story. Last I heard, it takes two to commit adultery, so if the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees were so concerned that the letter of the law was followed, where was the other law breaker?
Jesus didn’t answer them. Instead, He dealt with them. We have no idea what He wrote in the sand when He bent down, but after He did, He stood up and invited anyone without sin to pick up and throw the first stone. Jesus didn’t dismiss what the Law said, but instead, He applied the Law by trapping the trappers. They knew they didn’t have a righteous leg to stand on and didn’t meet the requirements to throw a first stone.
Jesus dealt with the woman’s accusers so that forgiveness, instead of condemnation, could be on the table for the accused. I want you to know that forgiveness, instead of condemnation, is available for us because Jesus has dealt with our accuser. God is greater than our accuser and has rendered his accusations, null and void. Colossians 2:15 says Jesus disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. Satan has been disarmed!
Satan may still try to accuse, but once your sin is covered by the blood you know what those accusations are? Lies, because in Christ, your sin holds no power over you or the way God looks at you. Satan still tries, though, doesn’t he? He wants to throw our sin in our face to make us feel unworthy to be children of God, to make us feel disqualified for the assignments God gives us. Satan wants us to always be conscious of our sinfulness, but God the Father says, instead, be conscious of your Savior! Look to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of your faith, Hebrews 12:2. Satan’s accusations and deceptions mean nothing for those who are covered by the blood of Jesus. When Jesus cried, “It is finished” on the Cross, it wasn’t only that the work of atonement for sin was complete, but it was that Satan was also finished. His fate was sealed, and he no longer has any legal claim to those whose sins are under the blood of Christ.
Jesus dealt with those who accused the woman caught in adultery, and He has dealt with our accuser as well. We have nothing to fear! Jesus’ heart was to forgive, not to condemn. The Bible tells us that Jesus didn’t come into the world to condemn it, but it save it through His sacrifice, John 3:17. In this story, as this woman stood vulnerable and ashamed, caught in her sin, she met grace. Guilt met grace, and grace met her need!
Jesus was condemned in our place. Jesus bore our shame on our behalf. We have been set free from guilt, condemnation, and shame. That is the Word of God. Romans 8:1-2 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you[a] free from the law of sin and death.
Jesus has removed the condemnation from us that Satan would want to cloak us with. Satan wants us defined by our imperfections when the truth is, we are defined by Christ’s perfection! Satan wants us to live under a cloud of guilt to minimize us, to cause us to doubt our value, and to keep us from living the free life for which Christ died.
We are all going to stumble. We will all fall. We will all make mistakes. We will all miss God’s mark and sin, but for believers in Jesus, there is therefore now no condemnation. It’s true…not because I want it to be that way, not because I am trying to make us all feel better, but because God has said it is so. God no longer holds the believer’s sin against them because Christ’s righteousness is credited to our account, and His blood wipes our slate clean.
Whatever you have to do, whatever is required to make it happen, get to Jesus. You don’t have to be afraid of Jesus. Your past isn’t a problem for Jesus. He is the One who won’t condemn you. God doesn’t hate you. He hates your sin, yes, but He doesn’t hate you. He isn’t looking to beat you up, to berate you, or to belittle you because of your sin. He is looking to cleanse you and to cover you. It is a gift to be able to confess our sins to Jesus. It is a gift to be able to come to God any time we sin and to ask for forgiveness, without delay, without denial that we have done wrong, without defenses, without trying to deflect our responsibility and culpability.
We need not be scared or slow to bring our sin to Jesus. The work of forgiveness has already been done. We simply have to confess our need for it and let what happened on Calvary be applied to our hearts in the moment.
We don’t have to wait until we are “caught,” until we are forced to deal with our sin by someone else. We can come to Jesus today and admit what we’ve done and know that when we do, we will fall upon His grace! Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us then (boldly-NKJV) approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” You are never in greater need than when you need forgiveness from sin! Don’t relegate this verse to a simple earthly crisis, to a shocking health diagnosis, to a bad breakup, to a disappointment in the workplace. We need to boldly approach God’s throne when we sin because we believe that is the best place for us to get the help we truly need.
I’m glad for the woman in the story, on one hand, that her sin was brought out into the open, because only then could it be dealt with. Jesus won’t cover what we try to hide, but He will forgive a repentant heart every time. Her greatest need wasn’t for love or money or whatever got her into her predicament; her greatest need was forgiveness from the only One who could grant it. Our greatest need is the same.
Finally, Jesus’ offer for forgiveness included an opportunity for a new way of life.
Jesus basically said to her, “Because you aren’t being condemned, don’t live like a person who is condemned.” Because you aren’t being punished as a sinner; don’t live like one. You see, with forgiveness comes the expectation that we won’t want to live on the same path of disobedience to God. When we experience His love and mercy and grace through the forgiveness of sin, we will want more of His life and less of the life of sin.
Every time we are presented with an opportunity to sin, we are presented with a choice. We CAN say “no” to sin. We CAN say “yes” to the new life in Christ for which Jesus has set us free. Maybe this woman who had been caught in adultery was easy to set up because she was a prostitute. Maybe she thought she had no other choice but to live the way she had been living. Regardless of the backstory, Jesus told her to go and sin no more, and when He did, He was telling her something else, something better, something holy was possible.
Jesus forgave her, and He forgives us. He has dealt with our accuser and rendered him powerless. Satan has no rightful legal claim to a Child of God. Jesus has removed condemnation which has also removed any fear about coming to God to confess our sin. He has provided cleansing through His shed blood as we confess our sin to Him. He offers us a different life through freedom in Christ.
Jesus is still forgiving today. As long as He tarries in Heaven, until He returns, we are under what is called the Dispensation of Grace, the time of grace. As long as you have breath in your lungs and life in your physical body, God’s grace is available to you. Forgiveness is yours for the asking, and new life awaits all who want it.
