The story of the woman caught in adultery found in John 8 is such a remarkable story of forgiveness. And it is such a revealing story of what religion without love and vulnerability can become.
The church leaders brought the woman before Jesus to condemn her and try to trap Him. They had a definite agenda. Have you ever noticed how the "religious"* always have an agenda? (I've always wondered where the dude caught in adultery was too. If they were truly concerned about righteousness, wouldn't they have brought both people to Christ that day?...but that's another issue).
However, I love two very important things in this story: Jesus' response to the people and His response to the woman.
The leaders wanted to get Jesus into a religious argument. He refused. He simply said for those who had not sinned to cast the first stone. He didn't dismiss the Law. He didn't ignore it. He fulfilled it, and He upheld the truest heart of the Law.
I love that each person there, without another word said, was convicted of their own sin. And they walked away. (There is hope for the religious agenda-pushers after all!)
Then, Jesus, simply asks the woman if anyone still accuses her. The One who had the right to throw the stones was still there. Jesus was the only one qualified to judge this woman's sin, and the sin of each person there. And He makes it clear that He does not condemn her.
Why did everyone drop their stones?
Was it because the woman hadn't really sinned? No.
Was it because it was okay to commit adultery? No.
No, it was because then, like now, the only one qualified to throw stones is Jesus.
And He chose then, like now, to forgive instead.
He did not okay what she did. He did not overlook or pretend the sin wasn't real. He did not ignore the Law, the right and wrong. He solved the problem of her sin. He changed her heart. He forgave her sin.
Then, He told her to stop sinning.
I'm afraid, too often, we want to ignore that part. We want the forgiveness, love, and acceptance of Jesus. It is wonderful! It is miraculous! But it calls us to "sin no more." Instead, we want to change the definition of what sin is. We want to pretend that others sin worse than we do, so we are okay. We want to look at the good we do and say how it outweighs the bad we've done, as though righteousness is a scale, not an absolute. We want to pretend that because God is a God of Love, He does not condemn sin. We want to justify our sin by making excuses.
It's hard to stand in front of Jesus, naked, caught in the act, vulnerable and guilty without hope. But that's how we all come to Christ. We all are the woman caught in adultery when we stand before God. Our only hope is the same as hers: Christ's amazing forgiveness.
What's our "takeaway" from this?
#1 - Jesus' forgiveness is complete and life-changing. It does not ignore or discount our sin, but it covers it completely.
#2 - He calls us to righteousness. We are also to "go and sin no more."
#3 - We need to let go of our fear of other people's judgment. Jesus is the only One qualified to judge us. When His Spirit convicts us of sin, we need to repent and follow Christ.
What other takeaways do you have from this story?
How is God speaking to your heart?
*When I refer to religious people, I am not picking on any specific faith or group, but on those who get trapped in the legalistic attitudes of religion that appoints oneself as judge and jury for other people. We truly have to guard our hearts so that we do not fall into this trap. Our enemy would like nothing more than for us to fall into a religious attitude rather than a changed heart in relationship with the Living, Life-Changing God. If you have questions about what I'm talking about, please feel free to ask.
