In The Word
Read: John 7:53-8:29
53 And everyone went to his home.
The Adulterous Woman
8 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 And early in the morning He came again into the temple area, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and began teaching them. 3 Now the scribes and the Pharisees *brought a woman caught in the act of adultery, and after placing her in the center of the courtyard, 4 they *said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the very act of committing adultery. 5 Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?” 6 Now they were saying this to test Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. 7 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.” 8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.9 Now when they heard this, they began leaving, one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman where she was, in the center of the courtyard. 10 And straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on do not sin any longer.”]]
Jesus Is the Light of the World
12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; the one who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” 13 So the Pharisees said to Him, “You are testifying about Yourself; Your testimony is not true.” 14 Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I am testifying about Myself, My testimony is true, because I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. 15 You judge according to the flesh; I am not judging anyone. 16 But even if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me. 17 Even in your Law it has been written that the testimony of two people is true. 18 I am He who testifies about Myself, and the Father who sent Me testifies about Me.” 19 So they were saying to Him, “Where is Your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also.”20 These words He spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple area; and no one arrested Him, because His hour had not yet come.
21 Then He said again to them, “I am going away, and you will look for Me, and will die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come.” 22 So the Jews were saying, “Surely He will not kill Himself, will He, since He says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” 23 And He was saying to them, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. 24 Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins.”25 Then they were saying to Him, “Who are You?” Jesus said to them, “What have I even been saying to you from the beginning? 26 I have many things to say and to judge regarding you, but He who sent Me is true; and the things which I heard from Him, these I say to the world.” 27 They did not realize that He was speaking to them about the Father. 28 So Jesus said, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am, and I do nothing on My own, but I say these things as the Father instructed Me. 29 And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.”
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
Jesus was teaching in the temple when the religious leaders brought Him a woman, whom they wanted to kill by stoning, because she was caught in the act of adultery. They were testing Jesus to see if He would agree with the punishment of death, as stated in the Law written by Moses. Jesus did not respond with His mouth, but instead wrote words on the ground. Wouldn’t you like to know what Jesus wrote? While many have speculated what it was, we are not told. However, it certainly was persuasive as the religious leaders who were ready to kill the sinful woman in accordance with the Law were silenced and walked away. When Jesus spoke to the woman He did not condemn her for her sin but simply told her, “From now on, sin no more.”
The reality is, we were just like the woman who was caught in adultery. God’s Law revealed that we were sinners and deserved death. Thank God, He sent His Son Jesus to rescue us from both sin and the punishment required by the Law, and silenced the accuser, Satan. Now, we are not just to hate the consequences of sin, but we are to hate sin itself. Thus, our freedom that was purchased by Jesus was not for us to continue committing sin as we did before, but to leave that old life and walk in righteousness. Sin should have no place in your life, and like the woman caught in adultery, you should, “From now on, sin no more.”