Monday, April 7th
Allan Cooper
“…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.” John 8:1-11 (NIV)
I think John selected this event to add to his contrast of the life and teachings of Jesus to that of the Jewish leaders of his day. Those Pharisees were trying to use this woman as a pawn in their attempt to discredit Jesus and formulate a charge against him of violating either the law of Moses or the law of Rome.
But Jesus saw two things which the Pharisees did not see. First, he saw the Pharisees’ hypocrisy, which he pointed out with “let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” Notice that it was the older men who left the mob first. Second, unlike the Pharisees, Jesus could see deeply into the woman’s heart. He saw an opportunity for a new life for this woman.
Jesus seemed to know about the lives of many of the people with whom he had direct interactions and knew their true needs. Zacchaeus, the tax collector, (Luke 19) “I’m coming to your house today”. Zacchaeus started a new life. Two other women come to mind, one being his conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4:5-26. She was shocked that Jesus knew about her current man and her five previous husbands and Jesus knew what she truly needed wasn’t just the water from the well and offered her the water of eternal life.
Another similar interaction was with the prostitute in Luke 7:36-50 who came to the Pharisee’s home when Jesus visited and washed the feet of Jesus with her tears and perfume and Jesus forgave her sins. On that occasion he said to the crowd “her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little loves little.” Forgiveness was what she truly needed for a new life.
John doesn’t tell us anything about this adulteress. We don’t know her circumstances, her life story leading up to this occasion, but Jesus knew. Jesus appears to have seen in this adulteress someone who didn’t need his condemnation. He knew what this adulteress truly needed, so he offered her a new life through repentance, the 180 degree turn we have been taught, as the doorway to a new life. “Go and leave your life of sin.”
What do you and I truly need from Jesus today?
Two Prayers – I expect this adulteress prayed two of the most well-known and well-used prayers of history, and although she didn’t realize that deity stood before her, we can pray the same (I have many times). The first prayer is “Help me! Help me! Help me!” and the second is like unto it “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”
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