John 7:53-8:11 New International Version
53 Then they all went home,
1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them.
3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group
4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery.
5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?”
6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.
7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”
8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.
10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
11 “No one, sir,” she said.
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
Grace over Judgement
John 7:53-8:11
In this passage, we read how the Jews brought a woman caught in the act of adultery to Jesus to catch him. If Jesus forgave her, then he was ignoring the Mosaic Law, if he gave into them, then his message of mercy was meaningless.
This was not about the woman being guilty of sin, it was about proving Jesus was not a prophet. Jesus does not condemn the woman. He also does not answer the many questions being presented to him. Jesus, instead looks at the ground and starts to write in ground. He later States this.
John 8:7 ESV
[7] 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.”
This passage is not about who should judge or not judge but reminds us that we are all sinners.
Jesus treated the pharisees differently than those who knew they were sinners. To Jesus and God, all people were sinners. The pharisees were arrogant and confident in their righteousness. This is why Jesus was so harsh with the pharisees. With sinners who were aware and honest about their sins, Jesus could save them.
Grace forces us to see how great a sinner we are. When we see how terrible we are, it can be troubling to us. Yet, justifying our sins or poor character makes us like Pharisees.
We are all like that woman standing in front of Jesus. Guilty and undeserving of forgiveness.
When we admit that we are sinners and need his grace, that is when Jesus can save us. We have to come to Jesus as who we are.
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