He Didn’t Condemn—He Redeemed.

Then neither do I condemn you,”  John 8:11

In John 8 we read the story about Jesus sitting, teaching in the temple. With crowds of people around him listening, some teachers of the law and some Pharisees bring a woman to him who has been caught in the act of adultery. They boldly proclaim for all to hear:

“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 are correct in the fact that, under the law of Moses, stoning to death is the punishment for adultery. However, in this case they are being select in who to present to Jesus, because according to the law, the man involved should also be stoned. 

We all know what happened next. Jesus ignored their question and began to write in the dirt. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees continue to question and harass him and finally Jesus stands up, breaks his silence and states: 

“Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 

Jesus goes back to writing in the dirt and one by one everyone leaves. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees all disappear. The gathered crowd disperses and Jesus is left alone with the woman. I cannot image the level of shame and embarrassment this woman was feeling. Not only had her sin been exposed but she was forced to stand in front of a crowd and endure public humiliation for some period of time. After her accusers and the crowd had left Jesus final words to her were:  

“Then neither do I condemn you, Go now and leave your life of sin.”

From this conclusion we may assume that Jesus does not think her sin is very serious at all. Nothing could be farther from the truth. He calls her action a sin and encourages her to leave this life of sin. 

Nobody in attendance that day really understood what was happening. Jesus found a way to disperse the crowd and send her accusers away. Then he looked at this sinful woman and extended mercy to her. He did this because in a few months time, at his crucifixion, he was going to take her sin upon himself. The law required her to be punished for her sin. Jesus fulfilled the requirements of the law by becoming the guilty person so the woman could be set free. 

As disciple-makers go forth this is our message. No one needs to pay the penalty for their own sin. Jesus has already done it. Forgiveness is as easy as acknowledging his sacrifice on the cross for each of us. HIs act of kindness toward the woman and to every human being everywhere is a message that everyone needs to hear and we have the privilege of being commissioned to go tell this good news everywhere.