He who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.

John 8:1-20 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

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.”

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.

In Matthew 7:1-5 Jesus says:  “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. 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? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”    Many today, even those outside of the church frequently quote the first verse of these words of Jesus: “Do not judge so that you will not be judged.” Often they simply stop at do not judge. In today’s text we see a true application of Jesus words and His meaning. It says:    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.    My first question, even before we look at the outcome of this account, is what of the man? If the woman was caught in the very act of adultery, then there must have been another person who also should have received the same judgment according to the law. Whether then or now, as far as I know, it takes two.  In some ways that same bias still exists even in the church today. Men and women are judged differently concerning sexual sins. Often times, women are even blamed for the sins of men. They accused of  tempting them by the way they act or dress. If we are going to judge sexual sins today, we should at least judge them equally. There should be no bias for or against anyone. As we will see later, the standard of Jesus is righteousness, not doing what we consider normal or acceptable for a particular gender.

Going back to the account in the text, perhaps Jesus did see through their motive, that it wasn’t even really the sin they were concerned with, but rather as it says:  They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him.    In Matthew 7 it says:  “In the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.”  In today’s text it says:   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.  I don’t normally like to speculate about what is not written in scripture, but in this case we are not told what it was that Jesus wrote on the ground. Perhaps though, it was a listing of the sins of those who were accusing, judging and condemning the woman. Perhaps it was the dates and times that they themselves had committed adultery, possibly even with this same woman. If their purpose had been to test Jesus, they would have known where to find the woman. Regardless of exactly what it was that Jesus wrote on the ground, He needed to say no more words than: “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”  Which also says:  “In the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.”   In condemning her, they would also condemn themselves.

The result of Jesus words was:  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.”  Many today want only to see and teach that the scribes and the Pharisees, the religious hypocrites were put in their place. Many today want to end the words of Matthew 7 after the instruction not to judge. We need though to look at, hear, learn and apply all that Jesus said and did. In today’s text we should not overlook, ignore or eliminate Jesus words to the woman:   “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.”    It is as important that Jesus told the woman to sin no more as it is that He did not condemn her. Jesus didn’t spare the woman from the judgment, condemnation and punishment of her accusers only to leave her to continue on a path that would lead to judgment, condemnation and death. He called her to repent, to sin no more. He wanted her to know His compassion and His love, demonstrated in His act of interceding on her behalf. But He also wanted her to know His righteousness. The text, Jesus continues 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.”    In Matthew 7, Jesus says:   “first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”    When helping someone else to remove something from their eye, we need to have light to see clearly. We would not attempt to remove something form someone’s eye in the dark. If we follow Jesus, we will not walk in darkness, but rather in His light. If we will follow Jesus we should not judge or condemn others. But following Jesus, walking in His light, we should help them to see clearly. Jesus says:    “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 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. 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.” (Matthew 5:14-16)  

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit that You do not condemn us, but You want us to know Your love and compassion. You want us to know Your love that was demonstrated on the cross. You do not condemn, but You call us to repent that we would know Your redemption and walk in Your light. Thank You.   Amen.