The story of the adulterous woman… most people have heard this story from the Bible in Sunday School growing up. I’ve always focused in on 2 things in the story: 1) How Jesus showed the Pharisees who’s boss by revealing their sin and teaching them that we are all sinners… not just the adulterous woman. 2) What Jesus was writing in the dirt. What in the world was he writing in that dirt?!! Haha.
Recently when I read this story, God revealed something else great about it to me. Let’s take a look at the scene in John 8…
Right before this, there was major division among people groups as to who Jesus was. The scribes and Pharisees were seeing people follow Jesus and were very upset that this guy who claimed to be as mighty as God was blaspheming and leading people away from their control. So, they thought they’d try to trap him again.
Jesus had just got done praying and was teaching again when the Pharisees brought this woman before the crowd and Jesus. They want Jesus to join them in stoning her b/c of the longstanding custom. Jesus is calm and collected, and just starts writing w/ his finger in the sand/dirt.
He says, “Let he who is without sin, throw the first stone.” Then he bends down and starts writing again. That’s when everybody just walks away in defeat, because they know they have all sinned before. Better luck next time! I LOVE what Jesus does next, and it’s what I wanted to get to in verses 10 & 11…
10 “And straightening up, Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?‘”
Hilarious to me! He’s like, “Oh, where’d they go? That’s weird… did nobody stick around to condemn you Mary?” It’s funny b/c he knew before he straightened up that they’d be gone, AND brilliant b/c of what’s next…
11 “And she said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go your way and sin no more.’”
So check this out…
This woman just committed what most people of that day saw as a really bad sin. People wanted to kill her. But they couldn’t b/c Jesus pointed out the sin in their lives. They had NO RIGHT to condemn this woman. If they did, they would be exposed as hypocrites. Here is where it gets good… Jesus was still in the circle! He had/has no sin! Therefore, He had EVERY RIGHT to condemn this woman. Yet what does he do? He says to her I don’t condemn you! You are forgiven! Run along now.
It is a total, raw picture of Grace and Forgiveness. It is the “good news” of the gospel! That the Son of God, who is blameless and pure, took our guilt and shame upon Him on the cross. He took what we deserve (death) and gave us what we didn’t deserve (life). It doesn’t even make sense! This is the God we serve! Pretty sweet.
#thankful #inawe
