Sin And Compassion

The Woman Caught In Adultery

“But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. 3 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, 4 they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. 5 Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?” 6 This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.

7 So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” 8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 10 When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.”

And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

John 8:1-12 NKJV

Verse 7 – “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”

Jesus addressed their sin through one statement. It is not men’s condemnation that convicts, it is God’s spoken word (which was recorded in what we have today as the Bible) when each and every scribe and Pharisee walked away.

Verse 11 – “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

Her adultery got her to that point and she knew it. She put herself in that position. Jesus didn’t have to say anything to her. It was also at her brush with death, where she had a profound encounter with Jesus Christ that changed her life.

Jesus’ compassion did not deny the fact that she was guilty. After all, He told her to leave her life of sin, “sin no more”. SIN was indeed addressed. The process of restoration cannot take place unless a person acknowledges they are guilty.

The depth of compassion is gauged by the severity of sin that is present – Jesus died for you and me.

Do not settle for the world’s surface definition of compassion. Real compassion addresses the core of the problem (sin) and works toward healing and restoration.

While all of us are guilty before God, our calling as Christians is to lead people to the knowledge of Christ, whose atoning death cleanses each and every one of us (1 John 4:10). As much as we want to believe everybody already knows about Jesus, only those who have had a genuine encounter with Him understands who He really is, as seen in John 15:15 when He says to his disciples, “Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.“

We don’t first “clean ourselves” to come to Christ, we acknowledge our filth and that without Him, no amount of self help will ever be enough. Cleansing simply becomes the effect. It no longer becomes your burden (Matthew 11:28). It becomes the Holy Spirit’s continuing work of sanctification in us (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24).

“What’s wrong with you? You used to laugh at these things before.”

Have you heard one of your friends say that to you after you decided (and I mean truly meant it) you want to live a life pleasing to the Lord? That’s evidence that your inner man is renewed (2 Corinthians 5:17). That’s what happens when you have a real encounter with Christ. You no longer think the same.

Don’t resist it. Work with it. It’s grace calling you to your destiny, to be a legitimate son/daughter of the Living God.