Go and sin no more

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"And Jesus said to her, 'Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.' "  John 8:11 NKJV

In John 8:3-12, we read about a woman who had been caught in adultery and the Pharisees, knowing this was a capital offence, punished by stoning to death, brought her to Jesus to see what His opinion of this was. This was really a trap. If Jesus had said, 'Stone her,' they would have said He was not as caring, as He preached. If He were to say, 'Let her go,' He would be going against Jewish Law. A diabolical position to be in.

They informed Jesus that she had been caught in the very act of adultery. Jewish Law was very strict on this matter. The act had to be witnessed by at least two other people. They were to be precise about what they saw and they would have had to have seen physical movements related to sex in order to make the charge stand. And it was almost a rare occurrence for this to happen. Execution therefore, especially in Jesus' time, rarely took place.

Where was the man? It takes two to commit adultery and he would have been just as guilty. However, he was nowhere to be seen. This really appeared to be a set up and the Pharisees probably had something against the woman to bring this charge.

Jesus stooped down, almost beside the woman and wrote in the dust. Over the years, there has been many deliberations about what He was doing - was He stalling for time? Was He wondering how to handle this situation? The questions have been many. It may have been that He was stooping down to be at her level and offering her non-threatening reassurance. Whatever, He finally said to the Pharisees, 'He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone first.' (verse 7). This cleared the place. The Pharisees knew they were sinners; they knew that they had been born into sin and this pricked their conscience. When they had left, Jesus spoke to the woman, 'Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you? She replied that no one had condemned her. Jesus replied, 'Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.'

This shows the heart of Jesus. This woman, even though what she had done was wrong, had been publicly humiliated and accused, alone. Jesus is a fair God and, though He doesn't condone sin, He is against corrupt accusations against us. This woman had suffered a shock, but she had met and witnessed the love of God. She would never be the same again and it is very doubtful that she ever committed adultery again. She had learned her lesson.

There are always lessons to be learned. Jesus is patience and kind, loving and faithful. However, He will not tolerate hypocrisy. We're either for Him or against Him. We cannot continue to pretend to live for Jesus and do things sinful in secret, thinking, 'no one will know.' Someone will know and His Name is Jesus. It really is time to stand up and be counted. It really is time to stop living two lives. We're either with Jesus or against Him. We cannot serve two masters (Matthew 6:24)

I would love to hear from you.   dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com