Day 288/365- John 8:10-11

"No stone to throw"

Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, "Where are your accusers? Didn't even one of them condemn you?"
"No, Lord," she said.
And Jesus said, "Neither do I. Go and sin no more." (John 8:10, 11 NLT)

This women is exposed. She has been caught in the very act of adultery. The punishment for this according to the law of Moses is death. The religious leaders bring her before Jesus, not because they care about her but because they care about regulations. They want to test Jesus at the expense of this woman. Not to excuse this woman's behavior but this is what religion does. Religion doesn't care about people it cares about rules.

And so, here she sits before Jesus, humiliated, alone, & facing death by stoning. Everyone sits on the edge of their seats to see what Jesus will do.

Jesus is different.

He is not concerned about the regulations but about the woman. And, he wants to expose the self-righteousness of the Pharisees. And expose them he does. He asks them to throw stones at her. But there is a catch, you have to be sinless. One by one stones fall to the ground & one by one they walk away. No one throws a stone because no one can honestly say they are without sin. What Jesus is teaching here is that God is serious about his justice but also serious about his love. And his love has come to satisfy the wrath of God for sin. Sin is forgiven & redemption is found in Jesus.

Jesus asks if anyone condemns her & she says no. But notice the one person that stays with her (Jesus), could rightly condemn her & yet doesn't. While the religious don't have a right to condemn her & do. She recognizes Jesus as someone who won't condemn her. Jesus did not come to condemn the world (John 3:17), but to save it. Jesus does not condemn a guilty sinner who was caught in the very act. This is a radical display of the scandalous love of God for sinners. Jesus sees the person, not the regulations & forgives.

Notice also the charge he gives the woman. "Go & sin no more." The forgiveness of Jesus is full but it's not cheap. It cost him his life & his forgiveness also means our holiness. You may have heard the saying, "Jesus loves us just the way we are but he refuses to keep us that way." This is what Jesus shows us here. We are loved, not condemned. And it is this scandalous love that sets us free to be who we are meant to be in Christ.

We are forgiven, let's live like it.