Breaking News - Jesus has not Condemed You

John 7:53-8:11

As I read these verses I wondered, what would it have been like walking with Jesus on planet earth in His physical body?  The people have gone home from the feast of Booths and it is the next morning and as it is His practice, Jesus gets up early and goes to the Mount of Olives to hang out with His Father.  It is still early morning and Jesus is back at the temple and the people come to Him and sit down and He teaches them. 

Now picking up the story in John 8:3-5, “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 woman.  So what do you say?”  Well what can He say, it’s in the Law and they have every right to kill her for her act of adultery, but it is not about the Law of Moses, and it is not about adultery, they are looking for an opportunity to bring charges against Jesus. It is reported that Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.  Verses 7-11 of John 8, gives this account; “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.”  Did you see what happen to this woman who was caught in the act of adultery; her life was changed, she went from adultery to placing her faith in Jesus, that day He became her Lord.

Many who teach or preach on this wonder aloud, what did Jesus write, but I wonder what happen to the so-called listeners of Jesus, why did they leave?  Being good Jews who had come to temple early in the morning, many of them were there most of last week and would have been, you would think, followers of the Law of Moses, just like the scribes and Pharisees.  It’s important to understand that the crowd was listeners of Jesus, most had not put their trust in Him as Messiah, but they were believers in the Law of Moses.  There is a similarity to the church of today; church members, small groups members, listeners, but not trusting Jesus to do it all for you, to be your life.  Many read and even put to memory Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ.  It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.  And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” 

Jesus had this to say about our tradition and His commandments, to a group of religious folks in Jerusalem in Matthew 15:7-9, “⁷You pretenders (hypocrites)! Admirably and truly did Isaiah prophesy of you when he said:  These people draw near Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts hold off and are far away from Me.  Uselessly do they worship Me, for they teach as doctrines the commands of men.^” (Amplified Bible)  Two thoughts come to mind, would I have been one of the pretenders in that group of listeners?  And are the words of Isaiah true about my life today?

From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice