The city of Jerusalem was very busy.  Jesus wanted to spend time alone with God. He went out of the city to find a quiet place among the many olive trees. [John 8:1]

Early the next morning Jesus went back to the temple. The people came to Him, so He sat down to teach them. [John 8:2]

Jesus was not teaching very long when a group of Pharisees and scribes came. They were bringing a woman with them. This woman was very scared. These men were filled with anger. They said the woman had broken the 7^th commandment. That is the commandment that says, we should not commit adultery. That is, you are not to sleep with someone else that you are not married to [Exodus 20:14]. [John 8:3]

These men pushed the woman to where Jesus was. They pretended to have respect for Jesus. They said to Jesus that Moses wrote in the law that they were to stone the woman because of her sin. The law said she should be punished with death. So they asked Jesus what He thought should be done. [John 8:4-5]

In their hearts they were planning to get Jesus to say something wrong so that they could tell the people and the government bad things about Him. They thought that whatever Jesus will say now would get Him into trouble. [John 8:6]

If Jesus said that the woman should be let go without being punished, they would say that Jesus did not respect the law of Moses. If He said that the woman was guilty and should be stoned, he would get into trouble with the Roman government. Only the Roman government could decide who is guilty and who should be punished.

Jesus looked at the woman who was shaking out of fear. He looked at the group of men who clearly seemed to have no kind feelings for another person. Jesus was pure in heart and He was sad to see this. He knew the plans of these men. Jesus could read their hearts. He knew the character of these men. He also knew everything they had done in their lives.

These men were supposed to be the leaders of the people. They were supposed to teach the people what was right and what was wrong. But they had caused this woman to commit adultery. They had planned everything so that they could catch Jesus.

Jesus said nothing and bent down towards the ground. As He looked at the ground He started writing in the sand with His finger. [John 8:7]

These men became impatient because Jesus was not answering them fast enough. They came closer to Jesus trying to get Him to answer them. [John 8:8]

They looked at Jesus and then they looked at what Jesus was writing in the sand. They started to look sick in their faces. Written in the sand was the secret sins of each one of them.

The people saw how these men quickly looked sick. The people also wanted to see what Jesus wrote. They wanted to know what these men were so ashamed of.

The Pharisees and scribes always said that they obeyed the law. But when they brought this woman to Jesus so that she could be stoned, they broke the law themselves.

The law of Moses said that it was the woman’s husband that had to bring her to be punished for her adultery. The law also said that not only was the woman to be punished but also the man that she had committed adultery with. Both the man and woman were to be punished in the same way. [Deuteronomy 22:22; Leviticus 20:10]

These men were not allowed to do what they did. The law also said that anyone who saw the woman sleep with another man, should be the one to throw the first stone at her. [Deuteronomy 17:7]

Jesus stood up and looked at the Pharisees and the scribes. He said to them that if anyone of them had no sins, they should be the first one to throw the stone at her. [John 8:8]

He then bent down to the ground again and continued to write in the sand with His finger. By doing this Jesus did not break the law given by Moses and He also did not take the place of the Roman Government. He destroyed the plans of these men. They were not as holy as they pretended to be. [John 8:9]

Now these men were standing with their sins in front of Jesus who did not have any sins. They were now the guilty ones before God. They were shaking and scared that everyone will know their secret sins. One by one these men walked away leaving the woman with Jesus. [John 8:10]

 Jesus stood up. He saw that all the men were gone. He looked at the woman and He asked her where the men were that said that she was guilty and needed to be stoned.

Jesus asked if any of the men had condemned her, meaning had any of them made a decision against her that she should be stoned. The woman said to Jesus, “No man, Lord”. So Jesus said to her that He also will not condemn her but that she has to go and not sin any more. [John 8:11]

When the woman was standing before Jesus, with fear in her heart, and not looking up to Him, she heard Him say: “The one that is without sin, he should be the first to throw a stone at her”. She thought that now she would die. [John 8:7]

She did not want to look at Jesus. She was just waiting to die. But then to her surprise she saw the group of men leaving, one by one, without saying anything. Then she heard the words of hope coming from Jesus when He said. “Go and sin no more”. [John 8:11]

Her heart was so happy. She fell at Jesus’ feet. She cried and was so thankful. She was filled with love for Jesus and with tears in her eyes she confessed her sins to Him.

For this woman it was the beginning of a new life. A new life of peace and obeying God. A life where she will serve God and live for Him. By helping this woman out of her sin, Jesus was doing a bigger miracle than the miracles where He healed the sick people.

He cured her of the spiritual sickness which leads to everlasting death. This repentant woman became one of Jesus’ strongest followers. She paid Jesus back for His mercy and forgiveness, not with money, but with true love. Jesus is willing and ready to forgive you and me of our sins as well.

By forgiving this woman of her sin and telling her to live a better life without sin, we can see that Jesus’ character is one of perfect obedience.

Jesus does not make excuses for sin and He will not make someone less guilty of their sins. He doesn’t want to punish a person but instead save them from their sins. The world pushed this woman down because of her sin, but Jesus gave her hope.

Jesus, the one without sin, feels sorry for the weakness of the sinner. He gives to her a hand to help her. The Pharisees and scribes who pretended to be holy, did not feel sorry for the woman, they just wanted her to be punished. Jesus on the other hand, had mercy on the woman and told her not to keep sinning.

If we see someone living in sin and we do not try to help them in love as did Jesus, then we are showing that we are not really a follower of Jesus. We must be careful that we do not just try to find fault with people, and want them to be punished, when we also might have even more sins in our lives than they do.

People often hate the sinner and love the sin. But Jesus hates the sin although He loves the sinner. That is why He wants to save the sinner from sin. He wants to help us to stop sinning.

Here is the Spirit that all the followers of Jesus will have. Christian love will always be ready to forgive. It will always be ready to help people onto the right path.

(c) Light in Darkness