GOD WOULD RATHER FORGIVE us than condemn us.
Jesus went to the Mount of Olives, one of His favorite places to pray and recharge. At dawn He walked to the temple court, where He sat to teach His growing audience. In mid-sentence, the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery and stood her in front of Him, greatly pleased to present Him with an impossible situation. “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?” (John 8:4-5).
When I read this my first question is, “Where’s the guy? Doesn’t it take two to tango?” The accusers really didn’t care anything about justice; they just wanted to trap Jesus and put Him to death. And on that day, they thought they finally had him. Instead of stepping into their trap, however, Jesus stooped to write something on the ground. Scholars have long debated what Jesus wrote that day, and we really have no way of knowing. We do know, however, that His words convicted the accusers and the crowd. The words formed by His finger somehow pointed a finger at each and every one of them.
When 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” (John 8:7).
Again Jesus stooped and wrote on the ground. I’d love to know what it was. If I had been there, I’ll bet my curiosity would have been followed closely by conviction. One by one, oldest to youngest, the people began to put down their stones and walk away in silence, until only Jesus and the woman were left. 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 8:10-11).
This story brings back to me the words Jesus spoke to Nicodemus late one night: “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him …Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light…” (John 3:17, 19). Jesus is the light of the world, but I see Him as more like a lamp in a lighthouse than like a policeman’s spotlight that catches a wrong-doer in the act. His light doesn’t judge, it reveals and invites us into His life.
Life Question: Can you think of one secret thing Jesus could write about your life that would cause you to let go of criticism and be more compassionate?
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