She was guilty. She was afraid. She was alone. There was no denying these facts. She stood before the Holy Man and listened as the charges were read against her. She looked around the circle for one, just one friendly face. There was none. She couldn’t bear to look at the Holy Man. Then, he knelt down and began to write in the sand. The accusations and questions continued. These men were determined that she be condemned.
The Holy Man stood and faced the men in the circle. She heard him say, “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.” Her heart sank. The men in the circle around her were surely innocent. THEY were the religious elite. They were the ones that held her life, her future in their hands. Again he knelt and wrote in the sand.
How could she have allowed herself to be in this position? She knew better. She’d seen many people stoned to death for adultery. Why didn’t she learn from all that? Why didn’t the pain of shattered or shallow relationships teach her a lesson?
She closed her eyes and hung her head. She braced herself for the first stone to be thrown. The wait was agonizing and long. The silence was deafening. Then a voice spoke.
“Woman, where are your accusers? Has no one condemned you?” She slowly looked up and realized that she was alone. The circle of men had disappeared.
Her voice was barely audible, “No one sir.” Then she looked at the Holy Man for the first time and saw something that she had never seen before. In those eyes she saw acceptance, love and understanding. There was no condemnation. There was no ridicule.
Jesus looked into her eyes. “Then neither do I condemn thee. Go…and sin no more.”
The woman left that day with a new outlook on life. She left with hope for a new tomorrow and a second chance.
The story about the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11) isn’t about adultery. It’s about bad choices. It’s about not living up to your potential. It’s about failing. But more than that, this story is about GRACE. Jesus offers each of us the same release he gave to the woman.
We are NOT condemned. We are guilty. But through Him we can receive forgiveness and a new life.
