Go Now and Leave Your Life of Sin

John 7:53-8:11

Key verses 10-11

[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."

Through today’s passage we see Jesus’ grace and truth in action. Grace, in that he saved the woman and gave her a second chance. Truth, in that he told her, “Go now and leave your life of sin.” Let’s look at each part in the passage. I pray we may learn of his grace and truth and apply it to our lives in action like Jesus.

Jesus’ grace (7:53-8:11a)

 Look at 7:53-8:2. 

 53 Then each went to his own home. 1 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. 

The Feast from chapter 7 had just finished. Everyone went home, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. He didn’t have a home like the others did, but he did not go to the Mount of Olives just to sleep or take a rest. He often went there to pray. He was preparing to keep doing God’s work. Specifically, he appeared again at dawn in the temple courts and taught the people. The Feast was meant to teach the people. It was a time to remind them of what God had done in bringing the Israelites out of Egypt, how he provided for them and how he worked his power and salvation among them. But as we can see, two people were committing adultery right after the Feast! Jesus knows peoples condition. He came to teach and lead people to God and he prayed and worked diligently. 

Our Bible conference is like the feast, where we came together specially to learn about following Jesus. It is now the third week after the conference. We worked hard to prepare, but now is the time to work diligently to teach the Bible following Jesus’ example and not take a rest. We don’t want to get too relaxed, going back to our homes, and sin, or even not be prepared to help those who are caught in their sin. Jesus’ example was to pray and keep working for God’s flock, being prepared. Considering what happens in the rest of the passage, Jesus was the good shepherd prepared and ready to receive this woman who was caught in the act of adultery and help her.

Let’s look at verses 3-6a.

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.

Here we see two groups of people bringing in this woman caught in the act of adultery, “teachers of the law and Pharisees.” What a contrast between them and Jesus! Jesus came to that place at dawn to teach the people God’s word. He went to help them. But they came only to use the law to do evil and accuse Jesus by some trap. They were useless teachers and bullies. Despite the woman’s guilt, look how they treated her. They dragged her around. They made her stand before the group although the matter was between them and Jesus. They crushed her.

Now their trap seemed clever. It was based on the Law, Moses’ command. Jesus had preached the good news of God’s kingdom. He preached forgiveness of sins and the love of God and repentance. Now, in a situation with an actual sinner, caught in the act, before them, what would Jesus do? Would he keep the commands? Would he really approve to stone this woman?

They were right in that Moses did command to stone such women. Through the command we can see what adultery really is from God’s eyes. Consider the following verses.

Leviticus 20:10

If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.

Deuteronomy 22:21-24

21 she shall be brought to the door of her father’s house and there the men of her town shall stone her to death. She has done a disgraceful thing in Israel by being promiscuous while still in her father’s house. You must purge the evil from among you.  22 If a man is found sleeping with another man’s wife, both the man who slept with her and the woman must die. You must purge the evil from Israel.

 23 If a man happens to meet in a town a virgin pledged to be married and he sleeps with her, 24 you shall take both of them to the gate of that town and stone them to death—the girl because she was in a town and did not scream for help, and the man because he violated another man’s wife. You must purge the evil from among you.

The severity of the punishment shows how valued marriage is, and adultery attacks the marriage. The book of Genesis tells us that marriage was established by God. He made the first man and the first woman, and he is the one that brought them together and called it a marriage. Their marriage was the finishing touch on the paradise called the Garden of Eden and it was through their marriage that the Lord designed to bless them and make them a blessing. Marriage came from God, was designed by God, and is for God, for God made the man to do his work and the woman to be his suitable helper. 

But adultery is the direct assault on the only institution or vessel by which God designed to pour all his blessings he has in mind for good, as he said, “fill the earth and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28). God even gave one family the vision of being a blessing to the whole earth, filling the earth with the Lord’s goodness. Adultery is like a man and woman blowing up the one vessel the Lord made to bless. It is like making a pitcher to hold water, only to blow up the pitcher and the water spill everywhere. Adultery is selfish, for the adulterers do not think about others, such as spouses, children, children’s children, etc. But it is a sin against God. By adultery, the devil causes an adulterer to lose everything, including the kingdom of God. 

Proverbs 2:16-19,

16 It will save you also from the adulteress, 

   from the wayward wife with her seductive words, 

17 who has left the partner of her youth 

   and ignored the covenant she made before God.[a] 

18 For her house leads down to death 

   and her paths to the spirits of the dead. 

19 None who go to her return 

   or attain the paths of life.

1 Corinthians 6:9

Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders

Adultery is one of the 10 commandments. Jesus even included thinking of another woman lustfully as adultery (Matthew 5:28). Now this woman indeed committed adultery. She was caught in the act. We don’t know why or how it came to be. We don’t even know her name. There was no excuse for her sin. Now what would Jesus say? (that was their repeated question) Would he really keep the law? If he said, Yes, wouldn’t he violate Roman law because only Roman governments could pass a death sentence? Wouldn’t he violate his own teachings? But if he said, No, wouldn’t he violate the Law from Moses? 

How did Jesus answer them? He didn’t. Look at verse 6b.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 

He acted as if he didn’t even hear them. 

Look at verses 7-8.

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. 

Here Jesus admitted that the law was right. Such a sin is worthy of death. But he also implied that God alone is the only one who can judge. “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” He did not say, “If any one of you is without the sin of adultery,” but merely, “If anyone one of you is without sin...” meaning any sin. 

The problem they had, and it is our own problem, is being relative in regards to sin. Usually, others sins are very bad, but we make excuses or are even blind to our own terrible sins. Adultery is bad. But Jesus’ words mean here that sin is sin. And one sinner cannot judge (the stoning) another sinner. So he admitted that the law was right and at the same time he helped them to see themselves in a right way. As much as these two groups knew the law, they did not apply it to themselves. They did not see God who gave the law. 

Sin is sin. And God alone is the judge of all people. As Romans 14:10 says, “You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.” 

But this does not mean that we ignore sinful behavior, for Jesus asks us to correct and rebuke and even forgive our brother if he repents, as Romans 14:13 says, “Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way.”

Therefore it is very important that we learn to look at ourselves and apply God’s words, especially not to make excuses for our sins. Also, we may help others and not judge them. 

Look at verses 9-11a.

 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.

What do these verses tell us about Jesus? As a good shepherd, Jesus protected the woman from the wolves. He effectively made them all leave one at a time. 

Look at 11b.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. Jesus was the only left standing there. He is the only one without sin. He alone was qualified to condemn her, and yet he chose not to condemn her. In humility, he put himself on their level, although he was different from them because he never sinned. And based on putting himself on their level, he choose not to condemn her. Jesus humbly lowered himself to our level to help us.

Also note that he said the word “condemn.” This is different from ‘innocent’; she was proven guilty, yet Jesus did not condemn. He did not excuse her sin, yet he also did not condemn her. He “declared” this. So, she could not be condemned for her adultery anymore, because the judge did not condemn her. Later, he paid for her sin and for the sin of the world when he died on the cross. 

Condemnation of sin crushes in utter despair. It makes us powerless. If you read the psalms, for example, Psalms 38,42,102, we see how defeating condemnation of sin is. Psalm 38:3-4,6 read, “Because of your wrath there is no health in my body; my bones have no soundness because of my sin. My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy...I am bowed down and brought very low; all day long I go about mourning” and so on. This is what condemnation of sins does to us. And no amount of yoga, pills, or self-help is going to help. Only Jesus, the one without sin, can save us from condemnation. In fact, it is God’s will and love. Jesus wants to save sinners. He saves all who come to him! Thank God that even the Pharisees and teachers of the law brought this sinful woman to Jesus who saved her!

Jesus’ truth (11c)

Look at verse 11 again. He gave her a direction. “Go now and leave your life of sin.” This direction comes at the very end and tells us the purpose that Jesus saved her. What he did was building up to this: He saved her from her life of sin so that she would be free and leave her life of sin. Jesus does not condemn, but saves so that sinners can be set free and leave their life of sin. 

Let’s think about this. First, Jesus said, “Go now...” This was not for later, but "now." He gave her a second chance. Now is the time to make a new beginning. ‘Now’ does not mean ‘tomorrow’ or ‘later.’ 

Next, he said, “Leave your life of sin.” Even this command is graceful because it assumes that she is capable of doing it. It was not, "Please try to do your best," but "go now” and “leave your life of sin.” What did it mean for her to leave her life of sin? He calls her life to this point as a life of “sin.” There is another life she can live now. Before she did not live by faith in Jesus. Now she is free from the life of sin and has to leave it. Jesus undid the chains and let her go. But she also had to make her own decision at this point to leave it behind and stop. She had to accept Jesus’ words, “Neither do I condemn,” and even leave the guilt and shame behind and now live according to Jesus’ grace by faith in him, to live in obedience to God for God’s glory. When her sinful desires bothered her again, she could remember Jesus’ grace and his truth, the command to leave the life of sin. Jesus’ grace could be her strength and teacher. 

We may experience this. We know that Jesus does not condemn but saves. But we often have an excuse, saying, “but my sin is too strong” or “Jesus forgives” or “nobodies perfect.” and the devil uses condemnation and guilt to bring us down to hell. At those times, we have to remember Jesus’ grace and words, accept them, and live by faith in him. His grace sets us free and it makes us strong. Titus 2:11-12 say, “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.” Who loved us like Jesus? Who laid down their lives for us, but Jesus? Who did not condemn although he was qualified to? Jesus has been gracious to us. Now we have to live by his grace and leave the life of sin. 

Today’s passage teaches us Jesus’ grace and truth – the grace of giving a sinner like you and me a second chance, and the truth that commands you and me to ‘leave’ the life of my sin and your sin. 

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