UBF Daily Bread

THE COMPASSION AND MERCY OF CHRIST

Passage: John 7:53~8:11

Key verse: 8:11b

[The earliest manuscripts and many other ancient witnesses do not have John 7:53—8:11. A few manuscripts include these verses, wholly or in part, after John 7:36, John 21:25, Luke 21:38 or Luke 24:53.]

⁵³Then they all went home, 8 ¹but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.^(A)

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

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. ⁷When 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^(F) at her.”^(G) ⁸Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

⁹At 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. ¹⁰Jesus 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,”^(H) Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”^(I)

1. The trap (7:53-8:6a)

Does your heart go out to this woman who was caught in adultery? Mine does, because I am a sinner as well. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees were ruthless, bringing the woman before Jesus and demanding that he declare whether or not she should be stoned. It was a horrible trap. They knew of his compassion for sinners and thought he might incriminate himself by disregarding the Law of Moses. On the other hand, if he consented to her being stoned, he would be violating Roman law. The tension was palpable and all eyes were on Jesus. One wonders what the woman was thinking during all of this. Did she know of Jesus and his love?

2. "Neither do I condemn you" (6b-11)

At first, Jesus didn't say anything. The religious leaders persisted and finally Jesus straightened up and said, "Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." Christ, in his wonderful wisdom, exposed their hypocrisy. All of them had sinned and deserved the punishment they sought to inflict on the woman. After a few moments, Jesus was the only one left with the woman. He was the only one who had any right to cast a stone, but he didn't. Instead, he forgave her and commanded her to leave her life of sin.

Prayer: Thank you, Jesus, for your mercy and compassion.

One Word: Neither do I condemn you