Daily Bread John 8
Daily Bread John 8
1But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" 6They 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. 7When 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." 8Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9At 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. 10Jesus 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."
Observation:
This is one of the classic stories in the bible. Jesus continues to teach people what God is like through the way in interacts with people. In this case, the teachers of the law and Pharisees bring in a woman who is caught in adultery. Again they are trying to trap Jesus, but instead of trapping Him, Jesus uses the encounter to teach them the truth.
You can sense the drama. The Pharisees ask Jesus for his verdict, as he is bent over on the ground writing with his finger. Many people conjecture what he might be doing. Maybe he is making list of their sins on the ground. But the real point comes when he asks the accusers if they are without sin, and then continues to write on the ground. One by one they leave starting with the oldest, those who would be well aware of their sins!
You can only imagine what the woman must have been feeling when it is only she and Jesus left. Will he now condemn me? Then, Jesus addresses her and asks if anyone yet has condemned her. She answers, “no”. Jesus, the only one who could have condemned her because he was the only one without sin in his life, says “Then, neither do I”.
But then the next line is of paramount importance to the whole story. It is a line that is often forgotten in the church. It is a line that nullifies the whole idea of “cheap grace”. Jesus says, “Go and leave your life of sin!” It is only as this woman receives the grace of God in Christ Jesus that she didn’t deserve, can she be empowered to become the woman of God she was created to be.
Application:
Who do you identify with most in the story, the Pharisees and teachers, or the woman caught in sin? I can identify with both. When I catch others in sin, I want them to pay the price for their wrongdoing. Yet, when I am caught in sin, I want to receive the grace the woman received from our Lord.
If Jesus truly shows us what God is like. He spends the rest of the chapter saying “He is only doing what God has sent him to do!” If this is what God is truly like, this is what the church needs to communicate to our world today. There are many people, like the woman, who think if they come to church they will be stoned to death for their sinful lives. That is one of the reasons they don’t come. Somehow if the church wants to reach lost sinners, it will have to convince the world that we are more like Jesus in the story, then the Pharisees and teachers of the law.
But equally true our message is not just “you are forgiven”, but also “go and sin no more”. We are saved from the power of sin, not to go back into slavery, but to be “free indeed”. Jesus set this woman, who was in slavery to a sinful lifestyle, free by his unconditional love. But then in love, he also told her to leave behind her sinful lifestyle. Many feel she was Mary Magdalene, one of the first faithful disciples to discover the empty tomb on Easter morn.
May we be people who embrace people in this world like the woman caught in adultery. We have all been caught in some kind of sin at some time in our lives. May we proclaim that there is no condemnation for those who believe in Jesus. And may we be a model of those that are saved from sin to live a life of service to the One who set us free!
Prayer: Jesus thank you for coming to us when we were deserving of condemnation. You said to each of us, “Do they condemn you, then neither do I!” As we receive this precious promise today, may we go forward to live a life of freedom from our past to show the world that we are sons and daughters of God!
1But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" 6They 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. 7When 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." 8Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9At 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. 10Jesus 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."
Observation:
This is one of the classic stories in the bible. Jesus continues to teach people what God is like through the way in interacts with people. In this case, the teachers of the law and Pharisees bring in a woman who is caught in adultery. Again they are trying to trap Jesus, but instead of trapping Him, Jesus uses the encounter to teach them the truth.
You can sense the drama. The Pharisees ask Jesus for his verdict, as he is bent over on the ground writing with his finger. Many people conjecture what he might be doing. Maybe he is making list of their sins on the ground. But the real point comes when he asks the accusers if they are without sin, and then continues to write on the ground. One by one they leave starting with the oldest, those who would be well aware of their sins!
You can only imagine what the woman must have been feeling when it is only she and Jesus left. Will he now condemn me? Then, Jesus addresses her and asks if anyone yet has condemned her. She answers, “no”. Jesus, the only one who could have condemned her because he was the only one without sin in his life, says “Then, neither do I”.
But then the next line is of paramount importance to the whole story. It is a line that is often forgotten in the church. It is a line that nullifies the whole idea of “cheap grace”. Jesus says, “Go and leave your life of sin!” It is only as this woman receives the grace of God in Christ Jesus that she didn’t deserve, can she be empowered to become the woman of God she was created to be.
Application:
Who do you identify with most in the story, the Pharisees and teachers, or the woman caught in sin? I can identify with both. When I catch others in sin, I want them to pay the price for their wrongdoing. Yet, when I am caught in sin, I want to receive the grace the woman received from our Lord.
If Jesus truly shows us what God is like. He spends the rest of the chapter saying “He is only doing what God has sent him to do!” If this is what God is truly like, this is what the church needs to communicate to our world today. There are many people, like the woman, who think if they come to church they will be stoned to death for their sinful lives. That is one of the reasons they don’t come. Somehow if the church wants to reach lost sinners, it will have to convince the world that we are more like Jesus in the story, then the Pharisees and teachers of the law.
But equally true our message is not just “you are forgiven”, but also “go and sin no more”. We are saved from the power of sin, not to go back into slavery, but to be “free indeed”. Jesus set this woman, who was in slavery to a sinful lifestyle, free by his unconditional love. But then in love, he also told her to leave behind her sinful lifestyle. Many feel she was Mary Magdalene, one of the first faithful disciples to discover the empty tomb on Easter morn.
May we be people who embrace people in this world like the woman caught in adultery. We have all been caught in some kind of sin at some time in our lives. May we proclaim that there is no condemnation for those who believe in Jesus. And may we be a model of those that are saved from sin to live a life of service to the One who set us free!
Prayer: Jesus thank you for coming to us when we were deserving of condemnation. You said to each of us, “Do they condemn you, then neither do I!” As we receive this precious promise today, may we go forward to live a life of freedom from our past to show the world that we are sons and daughters of God!
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