Not Judged, but Saved!

Jesus is sitting in the temple.  People have begun to gather, asking Him questions, listening to His teaching.  They hear a commotion, and turning, they see their church leaders dragging a half dressed woman whom they shove in front of Jesus.  She is embarrassed.  She pulls her clothes around her and tries to straighten her bed-mussed hair.  She has been caught in the very act of adultery.  “Jesus, the law commands us to stone her.  What do you say?” 

Jesus stoops, writing on the ground, eyes firmly down.  The religious men persist, demanding an answer.  Finally he straightens up, and replies.  “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”  (John 8:7)  He stoops down again, and one by one they leave, until only Jesus and the woman are left.  Why is she still there?  Perhaps she knows that her fate still rests in this man’s hands.  He was, after all, the only man qualified to throw the first stone.  He straightens up again, and she looks him, her judge, waiting. 

“I don’t condemn you.  Go your way, and sin no more.”

“There is therefore now no condemnation

for those who are in Christ Jesus.”  Romans 8:1

This is the essence of the good news of the gospel.  We have sinned.  Like this woman there is no question of our guilt.  We stand before Jesus, the only person qualified to condemn us.  We look into our judge’s eyes and find instead a savior.  We, who are so completely devoid of anything deserving mercy, find hope in Jesus alone.  This is good news indeed.

Unfortunately, some of us have forgotten from where we came.  Too often when faced with sin we respond like the religious leaders of Jesus’ day.  We condemn because we feel it is our right, our duty to protect the purity of the Church.  We forget that each one of us comes to Jesus equally guilty.  We forget that the good news is that we don’t have to face condemnation.  Jesus our judge would rather save us.

Too often we play the part of the church leaders who brought the woman before Jesus. We seek to judge, or we seek to test Jesus. We judge based on contrived evidence, or on partial facts. Where was the man this woman was in adultery with? Why was only the woman condemned? Was it a set up? We often see things in people that we expect or want to see. We condemn the poor without addressing the wealthy who exploit them. We condemn the fallen without removing whatever it was they fell over. We judge quickly. We judge based on surface facts. We judge to make ourselves feel better. Jesus didn’t judge. He came to save us instead.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. John 3:16-17

When someone looks into our faces, what do they see?  If we are reflecting the nature of Jesus, they will see the good news of hope and compassion rather than condemnation. May we never forget what we were and what but for the grace of God we would still be; lost and hopeless.