13. "Neither do I Condemn You."

It was early morning. The sun was rising, and the city was coming to life as people moved into the temple area for prayer and meditation.  Suddenly, shouts and the sound of a mob broke the quiet of the dawn.  They were angry and entered the court with bluster and intent,  throwing a woman at Jesus’ feet. Only clothed in a bedsheet, she hid her face from the prying eyes. The men picked up stones and kept shouting at Jesus. “We caught her committing adultery. In the very act.  Moses commanded that we should stone her to death. What do you  say?” The tranquillity of the moment was broken, and this woman’s guilt and shame were laid bare for all to see. The religious leaders relished this opportunity to expose her sin and challenge Jesus.

Throughout the Gospels, we see the religious leaders repeatedly looking for opportunities to condemn Jesus for what He did or said. They were not interested in this woman. She was simply an opportunity to catch Him out.  The Law of Moses demanded that the people stone adulterers to death. The occupying Roman forces, however, had reserved this right for themselves.  They had forbidden the Jews from applying capital punishment. Here was their chance to trap Jesus. If He complied with the Roman law, the Jews would brand Him as a traitor, but if Jesus carried out the Jewish law, they would turn Him over to the Romans as a rebel.

I love the way Jesus was never taken by surprise. Through the ministry of the  Holy Spirit, He always spoke words of wisdom and life and used every situation to bring a deeper understanding of God’s heart and principles. The mob thought they had Jesus in a no-win position, but He turned it around by inviting anyone without sin to cast the first stone. This shocked the crowd. With this simple statement, He challenged their self-righteous condemnation of this woman.  And brought home the reality that they were all sinners in need of forgiveness.  They were not expecting this, and one by one, starting with the oldest, they dropped their stones and moved away, leaving Jesus and the woman alone. 

Once they had left, Jesus asked her, “Where are your accusers? Has no one  condemned you?” To which she replied, “No one Lord.” Then amazingly,  thrillingly, Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no  more.”

There is much we could say about this incident concerning the relationship between God’s grace and His justice. He never compromises with sin, but always offers forgiveness to all who turn to Him. We will focus on this balance in a later chapter. Our point here, however, is that Jesus represented the  Father in all He did and said. Therefore, if Jesus did not condemn this woman,  we recognise too; that the Father was not condemning her. Jesus was speaking on His behalf. Pause right now and let this settle into your heart. The Father was not condemning her. 

Just as Jesus offered her grace and urged her to change her lifestyle, so too did the Father. He knew all about her sin, her rebellion and compromise, and yet He too was not denouncing her. Jesus did not come to save us from an angry Father. Instead, He came to show the Father’s love and forgiveness.

You may remember that when we talked about the story of the prodigal son,  we discovered that somewhere inside of us, we are all looking for the approval of our fathers. We recognise that in life, it is not OK until it is OK with dad. Here, in this incident, we see the beautiful truth that it is not just OK with Jesus, but it is also OK with our Father in heaven. He knows all about us. Our failings. Our weaknesses. Our sin. Nothing is hidden from Him, and yet if we come to Him,  He offers grace and forgiveness and does not condemn us. 

Then amazingly,  thrillingly, Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no  more.”

Further reading: Jn 8:2-11

Spend a moment to reflect on the truth that the Father does not condemn you. Just as Jesus accepts and forgives you, so too does the Father.

This is an extract from my free book Knowing God as Father, which is available for download at Knowing God as Father.