Jesus will never endorse a spirit of hypocritical condemnation.
We can’t condemn someone because we are sinners ourselves. We are all sinners saved by grace. It’s not something we can gain by anything we do.
But, what motivates us to continue to try? We think we are so above others because it makes us look taller. We build ourselves up by putting others down.
Case in point;
But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 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. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her. Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
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. 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.”
John 8:1-11
Jesus is teaching in the temple and they interrupted his teaching to ask his judgment on a woman they have drug in front of him. Where is the man? It takes two. She likely doesn’t have much on if they’ve dragged her away. Maybe she was set up for the very reason to trick Jesus. Is she the only sinner in the area? This is a double standard since there is no man to condemn. Why this sin? To set an example – to set a trap in an attempt to discredit Jesus. There were likely others in the crowd guilty of the same sin.
Why didn’t they take her to the proper authorities? Jesus was not their judicial system. It wasn’t about justice at all. It was only about setting Jesus up. It was about humiliation!
They have an agenda and they think they have Jesus right where they want him, but Jesus hangs with the sinners and the down trodden. He’s about forgiveness and grace. They really didn’t understand who they were dealing with.
He draws in the dirt with his finger. They press him, but beware of asking a question you don’t know the answer to. They keep questioning, but he doesn’t judge. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
Jesus sees you. He treats us with compassion and mercy.
We can’t do this on our own. We need Jesus. You’re not who they say you are.
Take the next right step. The law reveals guilt, but Jesus is the Light.
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”
John 8:12
The light reveals what’s hidden in darkness. Jesus guides us. If we don’t follow him we’ll run into what we can’t see.
His light reveals our hope.
Lord, show me the things in my life that are not of you!
This blog post is based on a sermon given by Jon Porter on 4/21/24. This is part of a series on the I Am statements made by Jesus. I love digging a little deeper into the scriptures to see what God will reveal to me that I didn’t see before.
Where God Leads 