“I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.”

John 8:1-20 (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible (link on links page)

The Adulterous Woman

8 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. ² 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. ³ The scribes and the Pharisees *brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, ⁴ they *said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. ⁵ Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?” ⁶ 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. ⁷ 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.” ⁸ Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. ⁹ 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. ¹⁰ 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 sin no more.”

Jesus Is the Light of the World

¹² Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he 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 testify about Myself, My testimony is true, for 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 men 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; and no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come.

“I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.” Jesus did not condone sin, embrace sin or look the other way at the sins of the people around Him. It is a misconception to believe that if Jesus were here as a man in our time He would embrace or look away from some of the things our society and even parts of the church have tolerated, accepted or ignored.

There are a few different things we can see about the sins involved in today's text. The first thing we are made aware of is the hearts or motives of this woman's accusers.  “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. ⁵ Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?” ⁶ They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him.    The motive of the accusers was not righteousness. They were not concerned with the offense against God's law. They sought to test and trap Jesus. The text says that the woman was caught in the very act of adultry. As far as I know to be caught in the act, there would have had to be another guilty party. In Deuteronomy 22:22 we see what the law actually says about adultry:      “If a man is found lying with a married woman, then both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman; thus you shall purge the evil from Israel. The intent of the law was to purge evil from Israel.      So where was the man involved in this act of adultry? Could it be that he was actually one of them? Was he a co-conspiriter in this attempt to test Jesus? Or is it just that there really was no motive of righteousness on the part of these religious hypocrites and they simply used this woman as a pawn, an expendable piece in their game?  There is no end to the speculation we can have concerning the facts of this incident. If it was critical for us to know scripture would reveal it. What we do know is that Jesus saw through the hypocrissy and first confronted the spirit of judgment and condemnation in the accusers as opposed to the woman.

Jesus has an interesting way of confronting the sin of the accusers. The text continues:      Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. ⁷ 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.” ⁸ Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. ⁹ 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.     Again we can speculate at length just what it was that Jesus wrote in the ground. Perhaps it was dates and times that others in this crowd had been with this very woman. Maybe it was other secret sins that they had in their lives. What we know is what Jesus said, he who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her. Jesus says:  “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. ² For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. ³ Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?    Whatever it was that Jesus wrote on the ground it was enough to convince them of the sin in their own lives. Jesus action was a Holy Spirit inspired work. Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit's role in convicting the world of sin in John 16:8.

"And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment;

With the accusers now having been convicted of the sin in their own lives Jesus is left with the woman.     He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court. ¹⁰ 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 sin no more.”     Jesus does not condemn the woman. Neither though does He dismiss or condone her sin. This woman is given a revelation of who Jesus is and what He came for. Jesus stepped between the woman and her accusers. He stood in her place. Just as He did for all of us on the cross.     But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.(Romans 5:8) Jesus Himself says:  I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”(Luke 5:32) and  For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.(John 3:17)

This woman received the revelation that Christ was her savior. She acknowledges Him also as her Lord. Jesus did not condemn the woman, but His words to her:  " Go. From now on sin no more.”  were a call to repentance. Repenting of our sin is what the revelation of Christ in our lives should cause. Repenting is more than just acknowledging, as the scribes and Pharisees did, that their is sin in our lives. Repenting is to change the direction of our lives, to the extent that we are able it is to follow Jesus words to the woman that day, to Go and from now on sin no more.

Jesus would not simply judge and condemn sinners today in our society and culture. But, neither sin nor righteousness has changed since that day when Jesus stood with the woman. He did not tolerate, condone or dismiss her sin and He would not tolerate, condone or dismiss sin today. Jesus came then and now  to call sinners to repentance . 

Jesus says:   “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”  That is Jesus approach to the darkness of sin in the world, to expose it to the light. Light dispels darkness. As Jesus wrote on the ground in today's text it says:  they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones. Darkness can not remain in the presence of light.

Jesus interacted with the sinners in the world not to perticipate in or condone and tolerate their sin, but that the darkness in their lives would be dispelled, overcome by the Light.

In Matthew 5:14-16  Jesus says:   “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; ¹⁵ nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. ¹⁶ Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. 

That's what Jesus did and that's what He calls His church to do. We are not to judge and condemn the world. Jesus alone is the judge and the Holy Spirit is the one to convict the world of sin. We are also not to embrace or condone the world's sin.  Neither are we though to  stay within the walls of our churches living our righteousness only before other believers. We are to shine the Light of Christ to the world. In the darkest corners. We are to as Jesus says:

 Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.   That through the revelation of the Light of Christ, not our words of condemnation, sinners will be called to repentance.