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When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman,
John 8:10-11 (New King James Version)
He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours?
Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.”
And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”
Jesus went to the temple to teach people. While he was teaching, the Pharisees and the scribes brought to Him a woman who was allegedly caught in adultery. They explained the woman’s offense to Jesus and sought His opinion on the matter. They also made reference to the law of Moses in Leviticus 20:10 which says “The man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress, shall surely be put to death”.
The attitude of the Pharisees and the scribes was a bit intriguing. Why were they interested in the opinion of Jesus knowing well the punishment for adultery which they made reference to in Leviticus 20:10? It can be clearly deduced from their actions that they wanted to see if Jesus would approve their condemnation of the woman or would defend the woman. But, Jesus showed that He knew better than them. He saw the trap and skillfully escaped it, doing the right thing.
Who is without sin?
They had the shock of their lives when Jesus spoke in response to their question. He didn’t answer their question directly. Instead, Jesus said to them “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first” (John 8:7 NKJV). None of them had the audacity to throw the stone at the woman. They had their own problems with sin, yet they wanted to stone another sinner because she had been caught.
By the time the theatrics were over, none of the accusers of the woman could stand before Jesus. He didn’t condemn the woman by passing judgment on her, rather, He showed her mercy and gave her the opportunity to repent. The Pharisees and the scribes were amazed when Jesus chose mercy. The fact that Jesus didn’t condemn her does not necessarily mean that He was in support of her offense, not at all. It was to give her the chance to live and to make things right in her life. Had it not been for Jesus, that woman couldn’t have defended herself and would have died with her sins.
Go and sin no more
The significant thing about this story is that Jesus told her to “go and sin no more”. Jesus preached repentance to her and asked her to turn away from adultery. Thus, He instructed her not to continue in the life of adultery. Jesus ministered hope to her and I strongly believe that she never went back to the life of adultery.
As believers, we must bear in mind that Jesus will never condemn us. He understands our weaknesses and frailties in life. This is why Paul said “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses” (Hebrews 4:15 NKJV). What matters is that we must be seen to be working on our salvation. So, Paul said “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12 NKJV). We must have the willingness to stay away from sin when we are redeemed. Our redemption comes with a price and we must value the price that was paid for it. Just as Jesus had to put His life on the line for the redemption of the adulterous woman, He did the same by offering His life on the cross for us.
Let’s keep the fire burning until the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ!