"... but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, 'Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?' 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. 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.' Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
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. Jesus straightened up and asked her, 'Woman, where are they? 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 8:1-11 gets me every time.
I read it, and I try to put myself in her shoes.
I wonder about the range of emotions that had to be swirling through her head and her heart.
She stood there, caught in her shame. No hiding place. Nowhere to pass the blame. No getting away from her sin.
Caught.
Her captors meant business.
But as I read this today, I realized something:
So did He.
See, He already knew her. He knew her ugly habits and shameful past. He knew her dreams, too. The secret longings she whispered in the night. The ache that must have been present in her heart to feel beautiful, to BE beautiful. To know she was loved.
See, He knew everything about her.
... and He still loved her.
Try placing yourself in that situation. I can tell you that she probably felt deep humiliation and fear. I imagine her eyes darting from stone to jagged stone held in the hands of the men, waiting to be condemned. I can hear the hissing and spitting and calls of disgust in the large crowd. I weep at the thought of life closing in around her, unable to escape. Caught.
But amidst the horror, there was HOPE. There's always hope.
There was a man standing next to her.
Simple, but majestic. Fierce, yet serene.
Jealous. He was jealous for her.
Then the voice: "Abba!! We caught her. She was having sex! With a woman who was NOT her husband. You know the law. According to Moses, she deserves to be stoned." I imagine that he threw a furtive smile at his friends before challenging Christ, "Well, what's it gonna be, LORD?"
Silence.
I'm sure there were several chucklers and a few sneers.
She groaned. Winced. Waited.
Oh, they had Him now. Everyone knew the truth about her. She was a whore. A slut. A good-for-absolutely-nothing piece of trash who sold her body for scraps of day-old bread and measly pennies.
Grace doesn't change the truth... right?
Then, quietly, confidently, He stooped down. And He wrote.
If I were here, in this place, I would probably be closing my eyes right about now, waiting for the impact of that first stone.
But His voice shattered the quiet: "Yes. She has sinned. BUT. Let the one without sin throw the first stone."
Eyes still closed, the tears would've started flowing now.
Thud.
The first stone hits the ground with shocking finality. Shoulders slumped, stone dropped, the man walks away.
Thud.
Another one hits the ground. Another man turning his back on the scene.
Thud. Thud. THUD.
One by one, those stones fell to the ground. One by one, the men disappeared. Left.
Oh my goodness, can you imagine the woman? Was there complete amazement and awe? Or did she even have the strength to stand under the weight of such perfect forgiveness?
All the men are gone. Except One.
"Where are your accusers? Your captors? Did no one throw their stone?"
Perhaps her response was a humble whisper: "No, Abba."
I can picture Jesus smiling, replying: "Well, neither do I. Go and sin no more."
Oh, the emotion in that moment.
With that resounding thunder of grace ringing in her ears... did she sing her praises back to Him? Or did she dance?
Or perhaps she clung to His hand. Did she feel beautiful? Loved? Did she see her worth as far more than rubies and jewels? Did she rest her head on His shoulders as He so gently wiped the tears from her cheek?
I don't know what she did. Or how she felt. And I'm not claiming to know.
But I like to think that she did a little bit of all of these. I like to think that she was so overwhelmed that she fell humbly at His feet and wept bittersweet tears of redemption and thankfulness.
I like to think that when they parted ways, she knew what it felt like to be forgiven.
To be free.
He loves you,
Lyss
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