3The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst 4they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” 6This they said to test Him, that they might have some charge to bring against Him. Jesus bent down and wrote with His finger on the ground.
7And as they continued to ask Him, He stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8And once more He bent down and wrote on the ground. 9But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before Him. 10Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” ~ John 8:3-11
We’re always so quick to be on the defense when people correct us when we’re sinning. We usually bring up this verse…. but what we don’t realize is that Jesus doesn’t just say this because we’re not supposed to “judge” each other; He said this because we normally don’t see our own sin but are so quick to point out and condemn others. So it’s not the “judging” part that is the problem; it’s how they were doing it. Correction isn’t the problem. Hypocrisy is.
And when Jesus said, “neither do I condemn you,” He didn’t just stop there; He didn’t just allow her to continue in her sin, which is what a lot of us think. We think that oh Jesus loves me, He’s not gonna condemn me, but Jesus said to turn away and sin no more. That’s the part we always seem to miss because we don’t want to admit that we are in the wrong. See, once we admit we are in the wrong, then we have to change, which means denying our flesh, which we as humans don’t want to do. So the next time we get corrected, we should accept that and look at our faults because it could be a life or death situation.
And if we’re the one who is correcting another, let us check ourselves first. Let’s live as Jesus did, not as the Pharisees did. Instead, let us be an example to the world by showing mercy, love, forgiveness, and always leaving those we meet with the hope Jesus gave to this young woman.
Peace. Love. Go Forth and Strive To Give Hope.
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