Being Forgiven and Sinning No More

“The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They 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. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

At 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. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”’ (John 8:3-11, NIV)

We’ve all done it– we’ve all looked at the sin of someone else and judged it to be greater than our own. Maybe, in our own pride, we’ve even wished that God would pour out justice on that sin.

In John 8, we see a woman who is brought before Jesus to judge for her sin. John writes that she was brought to the temple and presented to Jesus as an adulteress and was caught in the very act– the punishment for which was to be stoned to death. The aim for these religious leaders was to put Jesus in a catch-22: condemn the woman for her sin thus painting Jesus as a strict, cruel judge, or for Jesus to condone the adultery which would make him wantonly lax on unrighteous, immoral sin.

What we don’t necessarily see in this passage, is that according to the Law, bringing someone up on charges of adultery was specific and arduous. The evidence had to be airtight and in order. The adultery had to be witnessed by two or more and those witnesses had to have seen the actual adultery firsthand. It was not enough for both parties to leave the same room, or for them to be caught lying together in the dark– the actual physical act of adultery had to be caught and witnessed by more than one witness.

As you can imagine, that would be difficult to just happen upon, since adultery was often committed in secret and with only the two guilty parties involved. In many cases, this meant that for the appropriate evidence to be confirmed, a trap had to be laid. It’s not explicitly said that this is what happened to the woman brought before Jesus in John 8, but seeing as the religious leaders were desperate to undermine Jesus’ authority and credibility in any way they could, the odds are high that there was some coordination on the Pharisees part to catch this woman in her adultery. It is even possible that the man this woman was caught with was in on this plan too, as his identity is kept conveniently out of the ordeal. Only the woman is brought in public judgment to the temple.

So when the Pharisees demand a judgment from Jesus on how to deal with this woman, instead of reacting in righteous anger or indignation, Jesus stoops and begins writing on the ground. It’s not known what it is that Jesus wrote or drew, but whatever He did, it was enough to defuse the situation and make the Pharisees pause. Jesus then said, “Let anyone of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”

While Jesus went back to His writing on the ground, and one by one, the religious leaders all left until it was just Jesus and this woman standing alone. He asked her if any more of her accusers were left to condemn her. She answered that no one was left. 

Then Jesus stood up and forgave her. “Then neither to condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin.”

What the Pharisees plotted to entrap Jesus in ended up being a powerful testimony in forgiveness and lovingly correcting those in sin. 

When we see others in their sin, we need to recognize first that we are also just as dead in our sin without the forgiveness of God. We need to remember that we would also have to stand judgment for that sin just like anyone else if it weren’t for God’s grace to us. So, correction of sin in others should happen amongst believers who have realized the depth of that mercy, seen that they are not faultless, and who expose that sin in the same gentleness and humility that Jesus confronted that adultery.

And while the Pharisees tried to get amusement out of publicly humiliating this woman and trying to punish her for her sin; Jesus did not seek retribution, but forgiveness. Jesus was pleased to extend to that woman mercy, to forgive her of her sins if it meant that she would feel the freedom from it and turn from her sin.

That woman could have died that way if she was dealt with the way the Law dictates. But instead, she was met with the grace of Jesus. Instead, she was cleansed of her sins and shown the freedom of not living under those sins. She was given a new lease on her life, one where she didn’t have to feel the condemnation and shame of what she had done.

As Christians, that should be our aim. We should look to expose sin, not because we wish to judge others or throw stones at them. We should look to expose sin because it allows Jesus to come in and free someone up from the spiritual death they live crushed under their unrighteousness.

We have been forgiven. Our sins, schemes, and rebellion against God have been expunged, never to be held against us. We were forgiven with so much care, love, and kindness. How could we not extend that sort of pardon to someone else? Why would we want someone else to be crushed under the weight of their sin when they could be set free from it and know the only God able to forgive it?

And a quick word for anyone that knows the shame of the adultress in this story: Jesus forgave her but left her with hope. He told her He would not condemn her, but also that she should go and sin no more. Because she was free from condemnation, she should leave her life of sin. There was no question of whether or not she could do it. There was no deliberation over whether she was worthy of that gift of redemption. Christ extended it for her to walk in and live by. 

Those words no doubt echoed to her as she went forward into the rest of her life: leave your life of sin. Lay down what you know and where you’ve been. Live according to the salvation and the new life in Christ. Leave sin and walk in righteousness. The world may have been there at every turn, reminding her of who she used to be. But when Christ forgave her, he also gave her hope that she could go and leave her sin behind. That His forgiveness was something she could walk in continually, and He thought her worthy of it.

It is the same for us in our own sins. God forgives all who believe and who turn away from their sin to put their faith in Jesus. Those He calls to Himself, He also empowers to walk in His righteousness and conform to His Son.