They shoved her down at His feet. Dragged her shaking, helpless, hopeless body from her bed in broad daylight. Onlookers hurled insults at her, shook their fingers in her tear-stained face, spat on her, called her a whore and a slut.
Wadded up in a shivering, quaking lump at His feet, deathly afraid of her fate, her judges condemned her. “We caught this whore in adultery, Jesus.She deserves stoning. What are you going to do?”
Jesus bent down and wrote in the dust. She and her judges waited.
Finally, Jesus responded. “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.” No one in the crowd was without sin, so, one-by-one, they all walked away. Probably disappointed that they were going to miss a good stoning.
What did Jesus do in the face of man’s law that a woman caught in adultery would be stoned? He just loved her. He forgave her. He just loved her.
This story packs a bunch of applications. I want to focus on two. Confronted with this prostitute’s 10-commandment breach, and man’s response to her sin, Jesus just loved her. He encouraged her to repent and change the way she was living.
Have you been in her shoes? Maybe not in the throws of adultery, but hopelessly downtrodden? Thinking your life was over? No plan B? No positive outcome? What does Jesus do? He just loves us. He shows us His way out. His plan for us. His love for us.
Have you been in the Jews’ shoes? Passing legalistic judgment on someone? Not knowing their back story? Not caring to? Looking down on someone? Showing our best “holier-than-thou” self?
What does Jesus do? He shows us His way out. His plan for us. His love for us.
He just always loves us.
For His Glory 