JOHN 8:2-11 – “Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and placing her in the midst they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 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.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.””
THEME OF THE DAY: SHE RESPRESENTS ALL OF US. The story of the woman caught in adultery is one of the most moving that happened in the earthly life of Jesus. Let’s imagine we are in the crowd as it unfolds. We watch a woman dragged into a public arena, likely scantily clad as she was caught in the act of adultery. The scribes and Pharisees are not showing compassion. It was hardened condemnation that she heard and felt from them. As we watch the dialogue, we keep our eyes on the woman. She is publicly shamed. Humiliated because the accusations are not that. They are facts. She is guilty. She has violated God’s seventh commandment and knows it – “Thou shalt not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14). She has nowhere to hide. We cannot help but wonder about her background. Maybe she has never felt love and put herself in a position of being wanted, nevertheless in a seriously wrong context. We must feel pity for her. Jesus did.
There is something else about the woman. This sinner, yes, sinner, isn’t alone. She represents everyone in the crowd except Jesus but including us. We might immediately get defensive and think, “I am not an adulterer. I have not broken God’s seventh commandment.” Don’t be so quick. All throughout scripture we find God indicting His people with the sin of spiritual adultery. Read the Old Testament prophetic books (major and minor) and we will discover God calls His people adulterers who place anyone or anything above Him in their lives. Such a truth should cause us serious reflection with the question – Am I a spiritual adulterer? The 17th century evangelist, George Whitefield once said, “Every time we place our affections upon anything more than Christ, we do undoubtedly commit spiritual adultery.”
As we are humbled over our awareness that the woman of John 8 truly does represent us, don’t despair. The story with her and us ends with Jesus saying, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”
PRAYER: Father, show me the depth of my sin that I might experience the depth of Your forgiving love.
REFLECTION: Only as we see the gravity of our depravity will we know the unfathomable depth of God’s love.