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Interrogate Your Soul
And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” — John 8:7-11
As we mentioned yesterday, these men have come to interrogate Jesus. And they come up with what they think is a well-conceived plan. But you'll notice that Jesus never plays into their plan. He never answers their question. Instead, in response, he interrogates them. Or, even more accurately, he invites them to interrogate themselves, which is a surgical legal move. And is precisely what the Law was designed to do. It was designed to expose the sin within a man. It was provided to show us we cannot govern the wickedness of our hearts. Which they proved they could not do.
And then, one by one, they walk away. The silence was probably deafening. Till only Jesus and the woman are left.
The only person capable of throwing a stone is present. It's Jesus. Only he is without sin. But when he stands up, he does so without reaching for a stone from the ground. He turns to this naked and ashamed woman and says the words we all want to hear.
I, the man who can condemn you, do not. Go, and sin no more.
Now that is power. The best and most judicial use of it. It's called grace.
And it's available to those willing to interrogate their souls, evaluate their sins, bring them to Jesus, and leave to sin no more. Do you need that today?
If so, bring it to Jesus.
ASK THIS: Have you interrogated your soul?
DO THIS: Bring your sinful soul to Jesus. He still saves.
PRAY THIS: God, interrogate and cleanse my soul.
PLAY THIS: Give Me Jesus.
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Whether the woman was naked or not, probably scantily clad at best, being caught in the act of adultery, the fact remains that only Jesus COULD have thrown the first stone and He chose grace and truth, not just The Law as the metric to judge sinners. Let’s not throw stones at one person’s interpretation of the characters in this story in the Bible. I think this woman and Barrabas were both ready to die when brought to the public, but Jesus prevented BOTH executions with grace. I believe the speculation that Jesus was not just writing in the sand, but writing the sins of the crowd in the sand, which is why they went away, one by one. They realized, oh, I have that sin, I can’t throw the first stone, so they left one by one, probably oldest to youngest, if I had to infer, being older means you have statistically sinned more.
Vince – I cannot thank you enough for your great devotionals. They get my day started in the right direction which is always digging into scripture and being relational with the Lord.
Thank you!
Is there more powerful scripture on not judging other people?
It is my default when I find myself being critical of others and find myself convicted by own sins.
Vince,
I am a faithful reader of your devotional, and yesterday and today you “added” a very descriptive adjective to God’s word. Could you tell us where in any of the Gospels the woman is described as “NAKED”? you can’t because it is not there! Your use of that word creates an image and sensationalized the event in a disgraceful way. Really, you think the woman stood there Naked?? I doubt it, that image is a stretch of your imagination. You write good stuff, please keep to the truth of Scripture! Thank you!
Just curious if Vince responded to you.
Vince I am so grateful to have a God like Jesus long suffering, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. GIVE ME JESUS.
I think it can be inferred that the woman was naked. She was caught in the act of adultery. She may have been set up since the man wasn’t with her. If she was caught “in the act” she would have been naked.
I wonder if the hearts of any of these men were changed by the interaction Jesus had with the woman??
Create in me a clean heart, Oh God. Renew a right spirit within me.