Day 8 | January 13 | John 8 & Psalm 27

By Pastor Robby

Right at the start of chapter 8, we read an interesting story about Jesus and a woman caught in adultery. The men drag this poor woman before Jesus and ask what should be done with her. According to the Law of Moses, she was to be stoned, but according to Roman law, which the Israelites lived under at the time, adultery was not a capital offense. Stoning this woman to death would have been considered unlawful and murder. Moreover, the law commanded that the man be stoned as well. Since he is not present in the story, we can assume he was let go.

Jesus recognizes this for the trap that it is. If he says that the woman should be let go, in accordance to Roman law, then he would be seen submitting to Israel’s oppressors and lose credibility with his Jewish followers. If he said that she should be stoned, then he could find himself in trouble with Rome for committing this extra-judicial killing. Jesus, instead, flips the script and embarrasses the men who try to trap him. He answers, “The person who is without sin should cast the first stone.” Of course, no one standing there, apart from Jesus himself, is without sin and is therefore in no position to judge another for their sin. One by one, the men drop their stones and leave. Once they have all gone, Jesus turns to the woman and asks her who is left to accuse her. She answers that no one is left. Jesus then tells her that he also does not condemn her and commands her to go and sin no longer.

This is a powerful story that can teach us about judgment and justice. I find it shockingly easy for me to look at those whose sin is so easy to judge and to look on them with a sort of smug self-righteousness. The drug addicts and alcoholic deserve the pain and misery of a life enslaved to addiction. Sex workers and exotic dancers deserve the ridicule and abuse that they receive for the life they have chosen. Criminals and felons deserve to be villainized and live as social outcasts. But, please, let’s not talk about what I deserve. That’s the issue. Like the men in this story, we don’t always apply God’s laws equally and often beg for mercy for ourselves while praying for others to be punished for their sins.

In this story, Jesus reminds us that the beauty of the gospel is we don’t receive what we deserve. Thank God for that because we all deserve death for our sins. Jesus, instead, offers us forgiveness and life. Do I go to those who are suffering in the consequences of their decisions and offer them forgiveness and life, or do I simply offer them more judgment and condemnation? Let’s pray that the Lord will open our eyes to the hurting and look past the fallout from their sin to bring them relief instead of judgment.

Father, I have sinned. The ways that I fall short of your standard is more than I can possibly count. Yet, in the darkness of my sin, you have shown your light. In Jesus, I have found forgiveness instead of judgment. Through your amazing grace, you have redeemed my sinfulness and made me righteous. Even though I didn’t deserve it, Christ was sacrificed for me, and you paid the price and purchased my soul. Lord, help me to bring that same relief, that same forgiveness to others that you have shown me. Remove from me a spirit of judgment or false, self-serving piety, and replace it with a spirit that loves the broken, like you have loved me in my brokenness. Amen.