Grace and Truth (Part 1) - The Adulteress's Story
/Have you ever been so utterly guilty that you knew you had no way out? Have you ever felt the sting of truth penetrate your heart, without the cushion of grace surrounding it? Or have you ever become complacent in the grace of God, that His whispers of truth have fallen on deaf ears? Read about a woman who was caught red-handed, and had an encounter with One who spoke words of grace and truth into her desperate plight.
The door burst open and early morning light instantly flooded the room. Men shouted accusations. One walked over to her and yanked her from the bed of her lover. She managed to wrap a sheet clumsily around herself before she was hastily pushed out the door. The air was still cool and she shivered now both from fear and from cold. Her mind was whirling. I’ve been found out. Someone has reported me to the religious leaders and now I am at their mercy. Mercy? There will be no mercy for me.
As they dragged her toward the temple court, her captors loudly recited the Law of Moses. “If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death…” And what of her lover? Where was the adulterer? This was no surprise. It had become common for the penalty of adultery to only descend upon the woman. As the dirt road scraped at her bare feet, they began to bleed. Everything happened so suddenly, it seemed to be surreal. Although she could feel their fingers digging into her arms and could hear their shouts, she felt as though she were a spectator, watching herself be dragged away to her own execution. Their voices seemed distant. “You shall bring them out of the city and shall stone them to death with stones…” A mob began to form as the scribes and Pharisees made their way through the city streets heralding the crime of this guilty sinner. She saw men picking up large stones in their hands. Some jeered. Others spat in her direction. She wondered if she would be questioned by the Sanhedrin, if she would even have a trial. It wouldn’t matter. The outcome would be the same - death by stoning.
As they approached the temple, she could see a crowd already gathered there. They sat peacefully around the edges of the courtyard, listening to a Teacher. Her captors thrust her into their midst. She stood shame-faced, wrapping the sheet more tightly around her shoulders, and pushing her disheveled hair behind her ears. One of the Pharisees turned toward the Teacher and shouted, “This woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act! Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” The tone of the question seemed as if he were baiting Him in a trap. The Teacher glanced in her direction. In that split second, she thought she saw a look of compassion in His eyes. With remarkable calmness, he bent toward the ground and began to write with his fingers in the dirt. The Scribes and Pharisees pressed Him. They wanted an answer. They seemed as thirsty for His blood, as they were for hers. His silence infuriated them. Their voices rose and pierced the morning air. The woman stood frozen in place, waiting. Slowly, he straightened and stood. He looked around. The religious leaders shouted. The spectators craned their necks, eager for blood. His pupils had fled the courtyard. The woman wept with her head down. As the Teacher surveyed the crowd, a hush came over them. His lips parted and He said simply, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to cast a stone at her.” Then He bent, and again began to write in the dirt.
The woman braced herself. Surely there would be one proud witness to step forward and begin the horrific process. She closed her eyes and waited for the initial blow... Moments passed. After several agonizing minutes, she heard a thud, and then another. The stones were dropping. She opened her eyes for just a moment. A number of the older men were walking away, shaking their heads. Slowly, and then in quicker succession, she heard more stones hit the ground, and the sound of feet shuffling away. And then, silence. Her eyes opened as Jesus straightened and stood before her. They were alone. “Woman, where are your accusers? Has no one condemned you?”
Her lips barely cracked open as she uttered through tears, “No one, Lord.”
He looked straight into her eyes, and his gaze penetrated her soul, “Neither do I condemn you; go and from now on, sin no more.” With that, she was set free. The last thing she had expected that day was an encounter with Mercy. Yet, there He stood.
The day she thought would be the day of her death, actually became the day her life began. She was a guilty woman spared a just punishment. “Neither do I condemn you.” That was grace. Jesus’ words shone a light into her dark soul that she hadn’t dared to hope for. “Go, and from now on, sin no more.” That was truth. How would she have known that Jesus had the power to save her, body and soul? She was given hope for a new way of life. No longer did she have to be a slave to the sin that had held her. She could walk in light, rather than darkness, could choose honesty over deception, purity over immorality, righteousness over sinfulness.
Yet again I am awed by the tender mercy of Jesus. I want every one of us to walk away from this story with the fresh water of His grace washing over our souls. John described Jesus as “The one sent from the Father, full of grace and truth”. I cannot think of a better story to illustrate this point. The grace is evident. It spills all over the pages as we read of Jesus pardoning a guilty adulteress, who, like us, had no excuse, no recourse, and no means of saving herself.
This woman came to Jesus as good as dead. She was brought before God and put on trial. The evidence was clear: GUILTY! When Jesus stood and spoke, He extended what no one expected and what the woman did not deserve: Mercy. Grace. Life. In just a few short months He would hang on a cross, bearing the penalty for her sin. Therefore, He had the power and the authority to set her free. She didn’t earn it; she didn’t deserve it. That’s why it’s called grace.
Read Part 2 of this post to be challenged by the transforming truth of Jesus as well!