John 7:53-8:11
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.” [1]
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There’s so much in this little passage. But what struck me today was that the Pharisees intended this as a trap. How could it be a trap? Because they didn’t think He would accuse her, so then it would show that He was not keeping the law. But why didn’t they think He would accuse her? Simply because Jesus had already developed a reputation for forgiveness and grace. Jesus’ forgiving character was becoming known. Not only did this bother the Pharisees, the popularity of someone so apparently soft on sin, it gave them the chance to expose Him as unfaithful to the Law.
Do I have a reputation for forgiveness and grace? Does our church? Does the church at large? How do those outside of the Christian church view Christ’s followers? Would they expect us to forgive the adulterer or condemn the adulterer? The book unChristian by Dave Kinnamon and Gabe Lyons makes the point that much of the non-Christian world, especially younger people, sees Christians as being more like the Pharisees than Jesus.
The problem is that too often we look at non-Christians as sinners whose behavior needs to be corrected rather than fellow strugglers who need to be loved. Does their behavior need to be corrected? Yes, as does mine. Jesus, did tell the woman to leave her life of sin. But that was after He had stood with her, put His life on the line for her, and forgiven her. The higher priority was demonstrating love with actions before ever addressing her life or lifestyle.
This passage reminds me that the sin that really gets Jesus’ goat is hypocrisy regarding grace. The crowd around Jesus and the woman was not made up of morally superior people. They were sinners as much as the woman. Perhaps different sins, but still sinners. Whenever we Christians begin to take pride in our supposed moral superiority, we have thoroughly left the path of Christ behind, and will only do damage to His name, and that of His followers and His mission.
I’m thankful for this passage for what it reminds me. I need this reminder as much as anyone. So my prayer is for a heart like Jesus, that is moved first to compassion before condemnation. I’m praying today that my life is such that I develop a reputation like Jesus, for forgiveness and compassion.
[1] The New International Version. 2011 (Jn 7:53–8:11). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
