Go and Sin No More

1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.2 At dawn He went to the temple complex again, and all the people were coming to Him. He sat down and began to teach them. 3 Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, making her stand in the center. 4 "Teacher," they said to Him, "this woman was caught in the act of committing adultery. 5 In the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do You say?" 6 They asked this to trap Him, in order that they might have evidence to accuse Him. Jesus stooped down and started writing on the ground with His finger. 7When they persisted in questioning Him, He stood up and said to them, "The one without sin among you should be the first to throw a stone at her." 8 Then He stooped down again and continued writing on the ground. 9 When they heard this, they left one by one, starting with the older men. Only He was left, with the woman in the center. 10 When Jesus stood up, He said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" 11 "No one, Lord," she answered. "Neither do I condemn you," said Jesus. "Go, and from now on do not sin any more."John 8:1-11

I love this picture.  A picture of brokenness, at the very feet of Christ.  If you've not been here, I pray that someday you are.  It is here where life begins.  It is here where you realize nothing matters but the Savior. It is here that you shed tears of regret, pain, and sorrow.  It is here where you feel hopeless.  Then, you look up and see Jesus without a hint of resistance in his eyes reaching for your hand to lift you up. Have you been here?  Have you been broken over who you are without Jesus?  

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One of my favorite stories in the Bible lies in John Chapter 8.  Here we find the Great Teacher instructing  yet another crowd of people. It was dawn and all the people were coming to Him.  He sat down to teach a crowd filled with pilgrims, women and poor people, all the while being watched and scoffed by the scribes and Pharisees.  They drug a woman to the center of His circle accusing her of adultery.

The chances that they actually found a couple caught in the very act of adultery right at that very moment isn't very realistic so maybe it happened the night before.  But where was the man?  The law required that both the man and the woman caught in adultery be stoned, so it seems a little suspicious that the man went free.  This would be a new low for the Pharisees.  And look at the way they interrupted our Lord's teaching!  Like they had something better to say.  They were brutal, loud, arrogant, and demanding.  They were cruel and pious.  

They sought to ruin the reputation of Jesus, and they didn't care who they hurt along the way.  If Jesus said yes, stone her!--then what would happen to his reputation as a friend of sinners?  How would these people ever believe His message of grace and forgiveness? But if He didn't have her stoned, then He was openly breaking the law and putting Himself in the position of being arrested.  

Jesus leveled the playing field for us all that day.  He gave us a place where we can be broken but not destroyed--because He took the focus off of the one being judged and placed it on the ones doing the judging.  

Don't you wonder what He wrote on the ground?  Was He just allowing time to pass, and anger to diminish?  Was He reminding the people that the Law was written by the finger of God, and that He was God?  We don't know. 

Then, the beauty of verse 7.  It was required by Jewish law that the accusers cast the first stones.  The sin they were accusing her of can be committed in the heart as well as the body.  If that was true, weren't they guilty as well? 

Can you imagine how she must have felt that day?  Hunched over, holding her breath, waiting for the first rock to hit, hoping she would go numb quickly.  Instead, she heard the rocks hit the ground as her accusers began to walk away knowing they too were guilty.  

This story does not prove that Jesus takes sin lightly.  The Pharisees wanted to apply the law to her, but not themselves--I think we have a few Pharisees walking around today!  

The law was given to reveal sin, and we must be condemned by the law before we can be cleansed by God's grace.  The law and God's grace do not compete with one another, they compliment one another.  

We may not stone people these days, but we most certainly throw rocks of accusation.  Speaking out of turn, saying things that may or may not be true, assuming things, accusing people of things that we ourselves are guilty of.  It happens all the time.  

Christ forgave, and then He said "Go and sin no more."  She was broken at His feet, without hope.  He forgave. Certainly this experience of gracious forgiveness would motivate her to move on and live a holy and obedient life to the glory of God the best she could for the rest of her days.

What are people throwing stones at you for?  Take courage.  Listen as their rocks hit the ground and go and sin no more.  Brokenness can be used for His glory.