Jesus Meets: The Adulterous Woman

John 8:10 (NIV) —

‘Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

I’ve often wondered why the man wasn’t dragged into the temple courts along with the woman. The Pharisees are trying to catch Jesus out, and this poor woman has become a reluctant participant in their cruel trap. She becomes the victim of their misogyny and judgment and Jesus wastes no time catching them out. ‘Whoever is without sin, cast the first stone.’ I can only imagine how haunting the sound of those falling stones must have been.

Jesus is left with this broken, humiliated woman and in two simple lines, he offers her freedom from the past (‘neither do I condemn you’) and freedom for the future (‘Go now and leave your life of sin.’).

I remember the moment in my early 20s when I asked God to forgive me and made the decision to follow him whole-heartedly. I'd been carrying the shame of sexual sin and I was done with trying to be ‘free’ without God (it wasn’t working). In that moment I knew I was forgiven. The shame lifted and I felt God’s unconditional love being poured into my heart. Despite this fresh start, some of the shame lingered. Even though I knew God had set me free from my past, I didn’t really believe that he would want to use me in the future. I thought I was damaged goods. I think this is one of the enemy’s worst lies when it comes to sexual sin. We allow ourselves to believe the past is forgiven but we think the consequence of our sin is that we’re of limited use to God going forward.

Micah 7:8-9 was an antidote for me: ‘Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen I will rise.’

God longs to lead us into true liberation where we can acknowledge and repent of our sin, and at the same time experience the depths (and the height and the breadth…) of his extraordinary grace.

Prayer - Lord Jesus thank you that you want me to know true freedom. Help me to walk in it today.