God's Mission

John 8:1-11

Has no one condemned you?”
“No one, sir,” she said.
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared.
“Go now and leave your life of sin.”
~ John 8:10-11

1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

11 “No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

Pondering Point

As you read about this woman from John 8 caught in adultery, look at the difference in approach between Jesus and the Pharisees. Because of this, the Pharisees see a prime opportunity, not to HELP her, but to USE her as a pawn in a grander scheme. Their mission? Entrap Jesus. Thus she is thrust into Jesus’ world during a teaching session with the temple crowd.

Jesus continues to teach the people before Him, only now He is focused on the newly-arrived Pharisees and this woman caught in the act. His mission? Same as before: Bring the Kingdom of God to bear in the lives of any and all who would receive it (John 1:10-13).

While the Pharisees seem deaf to His teaching due to their self-driven agenda, this adulterous woman finds a compassionate man – or better yet a compassionate God – reaching out in mercy. “Neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

In light of this, pause and consider how you view people in your world. Are you like Jesus in approach or more comparable in attitude to these self-driven Pharisees?