A Series on New Testament Stories
A Woman caught in Adultery
(Click on the link below to read the
verses.)
John 7:53-8:11
[The Bible is mostly made up of stories.
Stories about people’s lives, the struggles they faced and their faith, or lack
of it. In this series we will be looking at some of those people in the Gospel
of John. We’ll try to learn from their stories about who God is, how he worked
in their life and how that applies to us today.]
There are two kinds of people in this world – those who keep their desk organized and those who don’t. I fall into the first category. An organized desk not only helps me to be organized, but also to stay focused. Everything has a place. It’s perfection in an otherwise imperfect world.
In today’s story, Jesus
was in the temple where he had been teaching a crowd since dawn. Suddenly, the self-righteous,
status-quo seeking religious leaders dragged in a woman who had been caught in the
act of adultery. They put her before Jesus to find out if he thought she should
be stoned to death according to the Law of Moses.
There was a great deal of drama. The tension must have been palpable. Imagine how it would have felt to be the woman? To be dragged into such a public arena with men gawking at you; judging you; condemning you; calling for your death?
With tensions
running high, Jesus turned the tables on the religious leaders when he said to
them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at
her.”
At this point,
something amazing happened. One by one, they all left until it was only Jesus
and the woman.
10 Then
Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers?
Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”
11 “No,
Lord,” she said.
And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and
sin no more.” NLT
We know very
little about the woman. Whether she attended synagogue; if she had children; was
she well respected in her circle of friends; what led her to the adulterous
relationship.
But we do know
that she wasn’t perfect.
What if you were
in her shoes? What if the crowd knew about the worst sin that you ever
committed? What if your friends saw you at your worst moment? What if people
knew your innermost thoughts and feelings? Nobody wants that much transparency.
Perfection may be possible with a desk, but it’s impossible for you and me.
The Good News is that
Jesus forgives us of all our sins. He doesn’t judge or condemn us to death but promises us life. Then, despite our imperfection, he sends us into the world to
share this Good News.
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