John 8:6-11
This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”
She had been caught in an adulterous affair and the scribes and Pharisees wanted to see what Jesus would say about the matter, hoping to trap him. If Jesus said, “Let her go,” then He would seem to break the Law of Moses. If He said, “Execute her for the crime of adultery,” then Jesus would seem harsh and perhaps cruel as the rules for evidence in capital cases under Jewish law were extremely strict. Also, He would break Roman law, because the Romans had taken the right of official execution for religious offenses away from the Jews. He didn’t take the bait.
As he often did, Jesus turned the matter inward, and instead of putting the woman on trial, he put everyone on trial to test their hearts. We won’t know on this side of Heaven what he was writing in the dirt, but perhaps it was a simple list of some of the sins of the accusers. Have you ever pulled up your own “rap sheet” while examining someone else’s? It’s quite easy to point the white-hot spotlight of judgment at someone else, but how often do you have the guts to point it at yourself? Can you say with King David that “your sin is ever before you” (Ps. 51:3)? I’m not suggesting that you beat yourself up, as there is no condemnation (anymore) for a born-again Child of God (Rom. 8:1). However, we are called to have a broken and contrite heart before God (Ps. 51:17), and that should keep us from being too giddy when it comes to “casting the first stone.”
“There is still a place for exposing and rebuking and directly dealing with the sins of others in God’s family, but it must always be done with a heart that recognizes itself as a forgiven sinner. When done right, confronting sin is done more often with tears and a broken heart than with anger and condemnation” (Enduring Word commentary). When it comes to those outside the family of faith, God did not send us into the world to convict it of its sin, but the Holy Spirit (Jn. 16:8). We are called to be Salt & Light, and sometimes that requires us to speak clearly and boldly about sin, but it is never our job to be judge, jury and executioner. This type of condemning spirit breeds self-righteousness, which in turn stalls your sanctification. This is why Jesus described the Pharisees as “white-washed tombs” — clean on the outside, but full of death on the inside.
In the end, Jesus lovingly extended grace and mercy to the woman, and it changed her life. Much of church history has ascribed this story to Mary Magdalene, but that is only speculation and not explicit in the Bible. Whoever she was, one can only imagine the impact that exchange with Jesus had on her life. Is it possible for any of us to be fully known AND fully loved? Not likely. For example, my wife and I are approaching our 32nd wedding anniversary. Let’s say I have sinned against her in word, thought, or deed an average of 3 times/day since we got married. That would amount to 34,944 individual sins. If she knew about all of those on our wedding day, would she have gone through with it? Would you have?
This story reminds me of the great hymn written by John Wilbur Chapman in 1910…Jesus, What a Friend for Sinners:
Jesus! What a friend for sinners!
Jesus! Lover of my soul;
Friends may fail me, foes assail me,
He, my Savior, makes me whole.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Hallelujah! What a friend!
Saving, helping, keeping, loving,
He is with me to the end.
Jesus! What a strength in weakness!
Let me hide myself in Him.
Tempted, tried, and sometimes failing,
He, my strength, my victory wins.
