John 8:1-11

John 8:1-11 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 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. 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.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. 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. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

God looks upon the sin of adultery with contempt and judgment: a sin punishable by death under the law, a sin that corrupts families and undermines a society, goes to the heart of God's plan for stability and righteous living because adultery is not merely messing up, making a mistake, or breaking a promise. Adultery destroys a threefold covenant between God and two people: and man, a woman, and their creator. God takes covenants very seriously. When that woman was caught in adultery and the teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought her to face judgment, everyone present, including Jesus, knew she deserved stoning under God's law. Yet her accusers were not so concerned about meting out punishment against one sinful person as they were in trapping this impostor, this teacher who supposedly spoke for God, this man who claimed to fulfill the law, who said, My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me. (John 7:16) Jesus discerned the hearts of those who sought to arrest him and to take his life. Although these religious leaders appeared righteous outwardly, He rightly knew their hearts were far from God when He said: Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. (Matthew 23:27)

In today's verses, we do not know why Jesus paused to write on the ground with his finger. Perhaps God wanted to stop the clock, so to speak, to say, Hold everything for just a moment. Listen to THE ONE I have sent you, the One who now speaks in MY NAME. We can picture Jesus remaining silent as they kept questioning him, hoping to trick him, to embarrass him in this clear cut situation. With simple dignity and all the authority of One whose teaching comes from God (John 7:17), 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.” Now to give them time to ponder, to absorb, and to react to the divine wisdom and power of this amazing revelation from God, again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. This story ends quickly: those who heard his voice go away one at a time, the older ones first. Of course the oldest left first. With the convicting power of the Holy Spirit in their midst, they could not get away fast enough. Asked to look inward rather than outward, no one could lift a stone to take that woman's life, and the older they were, the longer the list of transgressions that trailed behind them. Their hearts testified that w

e all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; we

all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Isaiah 53:6, Romans 3:23)

On that day, one stood beside that woman, the perfect One, who could have taken up stone after stone against her. Jesus the righteous and Beloved Son of God, who was tempted in every way, just as we are — yet was without sin (Hebrews 4:15) had every right to take her life; yet He asked her to notice that her accusers had all fled. He asked, Has no one condemned you? When she gives the obvious answer, He gives her a gloriously simple grace gift from God's heart to hers: Then neither do I condemn you, while adding the challenge He gives every new believer since He walked this earth: Go now and leave your life of sin. Do not reject the grace I have freely given to you. Take up the cross and follow me is the call Christ gave when He walked the dusty roads and when He entered the temple courts. This remains his call today.

So breakfast companions, wherever your heart is today, there is a dish prepared especially for you. If you have been throwing stones, small pebbles or large boulders, stop. You are not perfect and you never will be. Any righteousness you have is not your own. When people hurt you, and many have, forgive them as Christ forgives you. You are not the judge: you do not judge rightly. God is God and you are not. They know we are Christians by our love. If you have sinned, are sinning, or will sin, and that includes all of us: get close to Jesus. This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. (1 John 1:5-10) John wrote this in his nineties to believers. God's Word remains true. (Mom, cooking today because Dad's back is acting up)