Grace, Not Judgement

Jesus went to the Temple early in the morning

and a crowd soon gathered.

He sat down and began to teach them.

However, the session was soon interrupted

by the teachers of the religious law and the Pharisees.

They had found a woman caught right in the middle

of an affair and either she, her partner, or both, were married.

They dragged the woman in front of the crowd,

(probably barely dressed, if at all) to publicly humiliate her

and trap Jesus at the same time.

“The law of Moses says stone her. What do you say?”

Jesus stooped down and began writing

in the dust of the Temple stone.

What did He write?

The Bible doesn’t say, but here are some thoughts.

This is not the first time Jesus had written in stone.

Remember the Ten Commandments? Jesus wrote those.

And now He was being lectured about the very law

He had written some 2,000 years earlier.

Students lecturing the master is hardly new.

People have been arguing with God for a very long time.

But I love the response of Jesus. He says (paraphrase)

“Alright fine. You can stone her, but here’s the deal.

You who have never lied, cheated, cursed,

had a lustful thought, or any other sin, you be the first one to throw.”

Then, He went back to writing in the dust,

and slowly, one by one, they all left.

Now, the religious elite were the ones being publicly humiliated.

But, check out what Jesus does next.

He turns to the woman and asks “Where are your accusers?”

“They’ve all left”, she said.

Don’t miss this now.

Jesus then said “Neither do I (condemn you), go and sin no more.”

Unfortunately, in the church we all too often say,

“Go, don’t sin anymore and we won’t condemn you”.

But that’s not Jesus.

Jesus is fully aware the law condemns.

He wrote the law.

Jesus is fully aware the laws brings judgement.

He wrote the law.

Jesus is fully aware the law brings death.

He wrote the law.

But we are no longer under the law.

We are under grace. Romans 6:14

“So now there is no condemnation for those

who belong to Christ Jesus” Romans 8:1 NLT.

Satan is your only accuser.

You are forgiven in Christ and have been freed

from the penalty of sin by what Jesus did on the cross.

Worship Jesus knowing we stand before a

Throne of Grace and not a Throne of Judgement.

RP