John 8:1-11
"'No one, sir,' she said. 'Then neither do I condemn you,' Jesus declared. 'Go now and leave your life of sin.'"
(JOHN 8:11)
I'm fascinated by books and stories that tell how someone lived his or her life. In the Bible we read hundreds of mini biographies, some only a verse or two long. In 2 Samuel we read about Benaiah. One of King David's chief men, he "was a valiant fighter...who performed great exploits. He struck down two of Moab's best men. He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion" (2 Samuel 23:20). The lives of most of the kings of Judah and Israel are summarized with the words, "and he did evil in the sight of the Lord."
In John 8 we get another brief life story. Jewish leaders brought a woman caught in adultery to Jesus. By Jewish Law she was to be stoned, but what would this Teacher say? Jesus did not condemn her, but He did write her biography when He summed up her life as a "life of sin." A good doctor shows the disease then dispenses the medicine. People don't need condemnation, but they do need to be shown their honest condition before God, and then the Savior He sent to save them.
INSIGHT
WHAT BETTER BIOGRAPHY IS THERE THAN OF A LIFE CHANGED BY JESUS? DOES YOUR LIFE TELL THAT STORY?
READ THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
Isaiah 6-8
Psalm 75
John 16
8 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 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. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9 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. 10 Jesus 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,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
GRACE ACHIEVED [PART 5]
with Max Lucado
Grace is what God has done. Grace is what God has accomplished through His Son. Jesus declared it from the cross when he said, "It is finished."
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