Jesus Christ loves everyone the same. Always has, and always will. Even those of us that think we are terrible people, even the ones that think they are great. He loves us all.
Before we even had a chance to sin, he already knew we would and forgave us. That is a pretty amazing thing. He did it for free too. So maybe you don’t think sinning is a big deal. You may be the type that says, “okay Jesus forgave my sins, so what?” or maybe, “I don’t even know what sin is, nor do I care.”
Well, I urge you to care. Sin is not only the thing that ruins every relationship, but it ruins us as human beings. The evil dirty things, the drama, the pain, the suffering. All “bad things”, are a side-effect of sin.
In John 8 we see Jesus faced with a group of people who wan’t to trick him in to saying that basically sin is not a big deal. That would be bad for Jesus since the point of him even being on earth is to do away with sin. Especially as a guy who claims to be God, it would be a bad idea to say the law itself is useless or that the commandments don’t matter.
Well they go in to trick him and they fail, horribly. Check it out (John 8):
But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees *brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, they *said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?” They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court. Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.”
First things first for Jesus. Write some stuff down. Actually it’s weird we don’t know what we wrote, and we never see him do this elsewhere. However, it would be spooky if he was writing all the guys names down, or a statement that informs them that he knows they are trying to set him up. Either way we simply don’t know.
Following that and all of these guys questions, Jesus burns them real good, “He who is without sin, cast the first stone”. He is giving them permission, if they are sinless of course, to stone this woman.
They immediately look to themselves, and filled with guilt from Jesus’ bold statement, they turn and walk away. You’ll notice they young dudes take a little longer to realize their sin. Those naive little twerps.
When nobody is left to condemn her to death, Jesus lets her know that he forgives her as well, and sends her on her way. But not without first saying that she shouldn’t sin anymore.
This is where it gets really interesting. Why should she quit sinning? Why should anyone who is forgiven of their sins then decide that they should quit? If we are forgiven should we not just then continue to sin like crazy, knowing we are safe and secure? No. Not at all.
You see, God’s grace is a strong motivator. Jesus knew that this woman, in her heart, chose to repent, or rather she chose to change. She chose to no longer sin the way she has been doing and accept Jesus’ grace, right there on the spot. With this kind of motivation Christ gave her some direction as well. What he was basically saying was, “hey lady, now that you are forgiven you ought to start living differently.”
Sin itself is very damaging. We try and feel good, and we think we know the things that will make us feel good, so of course we indulge. Quickly we are met with how temporary these feelings are and are quickly let down. Sin is so habit-forming that time after time even though we know we will be let down we turn right back to the same thing. Full of regrets and pain, we are alienated from people that matter because either “they won’t understand”, or,“ they will just judge me”. Simply, sin is bad and because God forgives us of it, we don’t have to live as if we are slaves to sin. We can be free. Just as this lady was set free so we too can escape the prison sin holds us in.
Romans 6:14
For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
Jesus loved this woman and saved her life. He does the same for us even when we too are sinners. These guys were sinners as well, and they knew that. Nobody spoke up at all. Some were probably more sinful then this lady.
Also, if this lady was such a bad adulteress, and they caught her in the act, where is the dude?