New Beginnings - Relating With Women of the Bible Part 3Isampula

THE WOMAN CAUGHT IN ADULTERY—WHO IS IMMORAL?

Have you ever been caught in a situation wherein the justice served was biased? I know I have, many times, especially before I encountered Jesus. After each divorce, I lost family and friends who pointed fingers at me and accused me of immorality. Oh, I was such an adulterous woman! And they were right. But aren’t they, also?

A nameless woman caught in the very act of adultery was brought to Jesus. Judging by appearance, she had sinned. But if the judgment was to be served righteously, where was her lover? Why wasn’t he in tow? The Mosaic Law prescribed death for both. 

Jesus, knowing that it was just a trap by the “pretentiously righteous” religious leaders to destroy Him, didn’t say a word. He knew their hearts’ motives. As though He didn’t hear, He stooped down and started writing on the ground. As they pressed on for Jesus’ judgment, He replied, raising the issue of universal guilt: “He who is without sin among you, cast the first stone at her.” 

Then Jesus continued writing on the ground. Scholars suggest it was the accusers’ sins Jesus jotted down. Whatever He wrote, He pierced their consciences as each of them left one at a time, starting with the oldest. Jesus’ response cuts to the heart of the problem that no person is without sin, and therefore, no one can pass judgment on others except God. 

So, who’s immoral now—the accuser or the accused?

Left alone with the woman, Jesus asked her where her accusers were and if anyone has condemned her. Seeing that no one was there but Jesus, she heard the judgment of ‘no condemnation’ and was told to sin no more. Oh, what an encounter! And what a new beginning she received!

The Bible is silent as to where this woman was after that encounter, but if you ask me, I’ll tell you to look at me! Her story is my story and of the countless sinners who have had an encounter with the Lord.

Man’s moral standards accuse some and excuse others. But in God’s eyes, every person is adulterous because of sin. Yet God’s judgment is just. And He offers the same mercy and grace to every sinner who repents and comes to Him through Christ with the verdict of ‘no condemnation.’ Have you encountered Jesus this way?