A Word to the Wise

“She said, No man, Lord.  And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go and sin no more.”  John 8:11

Concerning the woman who was caught in the act of adultery by some self-proclaimed arbiters of justice, Jesus told her accusers that it was permissible to cast a stone at her if the accuser had no sins of his own.  They were all sinners so to step forward with stone in hand would make that person a liar.  I wonder if some of their past transgressions began to pass through their minds like a video tape or DVD on fast forward.  None dared to carry out the woman’s sentence of death by stoning, and each one left the scene, one after the other.  For them, that was one more failed attempt to trap Jesus.

After all those men were gone, Jesus asked her where her accusers were and had no one actually condemned her.  She answered, “No man, Lord.”  Jesus told her that neither would He condemn her, but she must leave her sinful practices.  There are some folks who are believers, yet think that it doesn’t matter so much what they do because Jesus has already forgiven them.  How can a truly born again individual live in such a way that brings a reproach upon the Savior whom they serve and think that it’s O.K.?  It is true that all sins, past, present, and future are forgiven for those who have truly repented and placed their faith in Christ.  All of our sins were future when Jesus died on the cross.  Why would we ever desire to continue in those sinful practices for which Christ suffered and died?  Our attitude should be quite the opposite.  We should strive to eliminate as much sin as we can from our lives in honor of the One who died to set us free from the bondage of sin.

One other thing that stands out to me in this passage is the gentle and compassionate way that Jesus handled this situation.  He was not at all like her accusers as they likely berated, embarrassed, and frankly scared her.  It is true that she was guilty of the sin of adultery, but they had no business dragging her before Jesus like they did.  They weren’t really concerned about her and her relationship with God, they were merely using her to trap Jesus into possibly violating the law by either excusing her or deviating from His usual gentle and quiet spirit in condemning her.  She was just a pawn in their little game of “gotcha”.  If they were really concerned about her lifestyle, they likely would have sent some of their wives to talk to her in a loving and nonjudgmental way and try to persuade her to see the error of her ways.  That is how Jesus spoke to her, lovingly, with eyes of compassion, yet insistent that she turn from her sin.  And that is how He will treat anyone who comes to Him in repentance and faith.