John 8:1-11 1 But Jesus 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, “If any one of you is without sin, let him 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.”
Allow me to offer three comments about Jesus’ interaction with the woman in this story.
When Jesus speaks, fear is dispelled.
The woman had to have been terrified. Because of her actions, because of her bad choices, because of her sin, her life was going to be over or at least that is what she believed. But Jesus wasn’t looking to have her executed. He sought to give her an opportunity to evaluate her life in light of His grace. It became obvious that the tone of the trial quickly became the tone of love and compassion. Quickly the woman felt the heat of the moment come off of her as the spotlight was going to be placed first on her accusers. The harsh words she had heard as she was dragged to the Temple Courts were replaced with slow, deliberate and thoughtful words from Jesus.
We read in John 3:17 that Jesus didn’t come into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through His loving sacrifice. His method of operation is still the same. His tone is still the same. God isn’t looking to punish us, but to free us to live a different kind of life than the life of sin. Jesus removed the fear of death from the woman that day.
When Jesus speaks, forgiveness is extended.
So Jesus turned to the woman and said, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, Sir.” When you look into that word, “Sir,” it is literally the word, “Lord.” You know what that four-letter word, “Lord” does? It changes everything. When you decide that Jesus is Lord, when you decide that God’s Word is the last Word over every part of your life and you allow Him to deal with your sin through His grace, you can live forgiven.
While Jesus didn’t actually say to the woman, “Your sins or forgiven” or “I am willing to forgive your sins,” it is definitely implied when He says in verse 11, “Neither do I condemn you.” When the accusers left, her case was thrown out of court. She was “free” to go since the charges against her were dropped. What began with a mob became a personal exchange between this woman and the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
The ministry of forgiveness is personal. You can’t count on the forgiveness your grandparents or parents received for their sin to somehow be passed down to you as if you could inherit it. Right standing with Jesus is an individual and personal experience. Forgiveness is something Jesus offers to each one of us in and through His grace and it deeply reflects the love of God. He would have offered it to any one of the religious leaders had they been willing to confess their need.
When Jesus speaks, freedom is possible.
Jesus wasn’t simply giving the woman a pass on her sin. He never said she hadn’t sinned. She had sinned. The mob knew it. The people in the temple knew it. Jesus knew it. She knew it. She never tried to defend herself. She never said the religious mob was wrong about their accusation. In her silence she admitted her guilt.
Jesus isn’t soft on sin. This passage says a lot about sin. It exposes sin for what it does. Sin is awful. It complicates our lives. It puts us in awkward and at times, painful situations. What this woman went through wasn’t pleasant. The woman’s sin was exposed and also those in the religious mob were forced to be face to face with their sin. Jesus knew that each of them was guilty of the very thing they were trying to condemn her for doing. In addition, the religious gurus had to deal with the sin of self-righteousness for trying to have her held to a standard they weren’t keeping themselves.
No, Jesus didn’t just say to the woman, “You are free to go.” He said, “You are free to go and sin no more.” He was telling her, “This needs to stop, and a new life needs to start. I want you to live free to enjoy the life I can provide for you.” Be encouraged. God would never ask us to stop something, to leave something behind that He wouldn’t give us the power to move away from. Whatever you have gotten entangled in, God can untangle. Whatever has a choke hold on your life, your relationships, your finances, whatever-those ties can be cut, those powers can be subdued in Jesus’ name. The question isn’t can we live free, but do we want to? Do we want to follow the command of Jesus to go and sin no more? Until we do we will find ourselves being “caught” and condemned and controlled by the sinful ways we choose.
As a Christ-follower, I want Jesus and not my sin to have the last word in my life. How about you?
Pastor Melissa
