John 8: 7-11
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." 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."
--NIV
In the name of the One Who does not condemn us, amen.
Whenever I read this account in Scripture, I always wonder what Jesus was writing on the ground. Certainly that is not an important point, or it would have been recorded for us. And, while we should not get caught up in endless speculation about it, we can offer of few guesses. What ever Jesus wrote, it had the effect of showing the woman's accusers that they were not without sin. Jesus had done just that a number of times and in a number of different ways during His ministry.
Perhaps what Jesus wrote was the Law given through Moses--especially the part about both the woman and the man being put to death when they were caught in adultery (Leviticus 20:10). The woman was faced with her sin. Jesus was not belittling the seriousness of it. He cautions her to leave her life of sin. But Jesus did not come to condemn the world; He came to save it (John 3:17). The lesson for us is that we should always seek a person's repentance in love. Whether it is our children, our parents, a teacher, an employer, our pastor, a friend, or the president of the United States, we should not act toward them in a self righteous manner, but in love.
The beauty of this account is that Jesus emphasizes forgiveness for everyone, even for those who had evil motives in condemning the woman. That forgiveness is our motivation to be forgiving. It is also our strength to leave our sinful life and live for Christ. May the Power of forgiveness work great wonders in and through you. Amen.
Prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus, we often are not concerned about those who are caught up in sin. We tend to be self-righteous. At other times we are too accepting of sin and we deny the seriousness of it. Help us to be balanced--showing love for others by confronting their sin in a loving manner and not ever suggesting that their sin is OK. Forgive us for all our sins. Fill us with the power of forgiveness which comes from Your Holy Spirit working through the Gospel and sacraments. We ask this to the glory of Your holy name, amen.