So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”(John 8:7‭-‬11 NKJV)

From Jesus’ reaction to this scenario, we learn 8 things:

1.Judge yourself before you judge anyone else. The hypocritical religious leaders who brought this woman to be judged did not judge themselves. They did not care about their setting her up for the trap, watching her in the act, or dragging her into a public mob for what should have been a private matter.

2. Put your rock down. The religious leaders wanted to have this woman stoned to death for her sin. But, Jesus made them put their rock down because He alone is without sin and qualified to throw any stones.

3. When all is said and done, it will just be you and Jesus. As the religious leaders walked away from the scandalous scene, all that was left was Jesus and the sinner. So it will be for every one of us sinners at the end of time.

4. Jesus does not punish you, but was punished for you. Jesus could have put the woman to death, but instead He forgave her and took her place on the cross to die for her sin.

5. Jesus forgives sin. While we tend to deny our sin, diminish our sin, or blame others for our sin Jesus simply forgives it.

6. Jesus lifts condemnation. Jesus tells this woman that He does not condemn her. Like her, you can live without condemnation for your past sin because as Romans 8:1 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

7. Jesus gives dignity. Not only does Jesus forgive her, but he calls the adulterous lady “woman” as he had referred to His mother Mary earlier in John 2:4.

8. Jesus calls us to an alternative lifestyle of holiness to “go, and from now on sin no more”.

Erick Bouwmeester