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God the Son had spent the night talking with God the Father. The following morning He was teaching in the temple when some religious leaders brought a woman to Him whom they had “caught in adultery, in the very act.” Jn 8.3-4. They said, “in the law, Moses commanded us that such should be stoned; but what do You say?” v. 5. These men “were testing Jesus, trying to find something of which they could accuse Him.” v. 6a. The Law of Moses was on their side, adulterers were to be stoned to death. Even the Ten Commandments said, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” They thought they had Jesus over a barrel!
This woman had no defense and by the law, deserved death. She was probably on the ground in a heap trying to cover her naked body—what an utterly horrific moment. The men did not care one iota about her. They were consumed with discrediting and destroying Jesus no matter who got hurt, or killed, in the process.
While “Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger as though He did not hear.” v.6b, these men pressed their point. Then Jesus stood. “He who is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone.” v.7, and He resumed writing on the ground. What did He write? No one knows, but since v.9 says: “those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone with the woman”—one can make a fairly good assumption that what He wrote exposed these men to some un-confessed sin in their life which they did not want revealed.
Remember, Jesus had said, “he who is without sin, let him cast the first stone”? Well, of all people over all of time, Jesus has been the ONLY one without sin. The ONLY one who had the right to stone this woman who had been caught in sin, yet He says, “Has no one condemned you?” and then adds, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more,” v.10-11.
Earlier Jesus had said, “God did not send His Son (Me) into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” Jn 3.17. This woman, in an impossible situation, desperately needed saving. The Law dictated death. The religious leaders did not care; but there stood Jesus and the situation was not impossible for Him. Did He take her sin lightly? No. But He didn’t take HER lightly either. Soon He would be the sacrifice for her sin, and impossible situations deserving death would, through a RELATIONSHIP with Him, turn into Life and that more abundantly! Jn 10.10, for those who trusted and believed Him. Hallelujah!
PRAYER: Jesus, You certainly came as Light into my world. I don’t always see the darkness and sin still present in my life. I want to “sin no more” but, I need Your help. Show me. Teach me and draw me closer and closer to You. Thank you, Lord, for not casting the first stone at me. I certainly deserved it. Thank you for reaching down in Your amazing love and grace and not condemning me. Thank you for utterly washing away my sin, for overcoming Satan’s plan to destroy my life. Please, Lord, strengthen me so I can go and “sin no more.” Thank You, Spirit of God for choosing to dwell in me and with me forever. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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