Five Words
2 Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. 3 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, 4 they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. 5 Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?” 6 This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.
7 So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” 8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 10 When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”
11 She said, “No one, Lord.”
And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”
12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
Do you ever wonder about this encounter of Jesus and this woman at the beginning of John 8? Though Jesus had been teaching now for some two and a half years, my guess is she had not been around Jesus much, if at all, before this morning. One would suppose that she has been dealing with life, life burdened with the tangle of webs woven with sin. It is evident that she, over the course of her years, has become entwined with the complexities of earth.
Upon receiving her liberty from bondage, after being freed from the punishment of the sin of which she is clearly guilty, her Savior gives her brief and clear instruction in five words, “Go and sin no more.” We talk so much. In our world today, such instruction would be inadequate, incomplete, and insufficient. These five words do not take into consideration any analysis or psychology; there are no lengthy discussions or question and answer periods to encourage or excuse this woman.
The Temple, the center of religious activity for God’s holy nation, was full of visitors from all parts of the world preparing for sacrificial offerings and the water and illumination ceremonies that took place each day during this time. While the great Sanhedrin, the Supreme Court of the land, was not in session during the days of feast and festivals, they were actively interacting with the pilgrims who had made their way to the most righteous and exalted Jerusalem, answering questions concerning the law and righteousness.
It was early one morning at the time of the Feast of Tabernacles that this woman was put on public display. The understanding, under the old law, is that she is facing death. It is the encounter with our Lord, on this morning, that offers a chance to change the trajectory of her life.
We know not one detail of her life before or after these hours that we meet her in the Temple. We don’t know how old she was, we don’t know whether she was married – ever, once, twice? We don’t know if she had children- we don’t know where she was raised. We are not told if she had “reasons” that led her to this place – maybe she had been orphaned, or maybe she had been abused, or maybe she was raised in the luxury of one of the homes in Jerusalem where the Law was established and taught but where unrealistic expectations were made for her each day. We don’t know if she was mistreated and taken advantage of or if she might have seduced the one with whom she sinned. We don’t know if she was pretty, if she was smart, if she worked or was cared for by others.
We are not given the end of this story. I suppose she could have left Jesus’s presence on that day to make all kinds of excuses for her behavior before and after she met the one who had come from heaven. I suppose she could have felt so ashamed and sorry for herself that she could not bring herself to a synagogue to serve the one who had saved her from death. Perhaps she became so consumed in herself and all that had happened to her that she dismissed the command to change her life…. after all, what would this man know of what she had experienced and all she had done?
Jesus did not sit down with this woman to analyze all that had happened and get all the details of the last months or years with this woman – because it did not matter. All the things we talk about, all the reasons we give to not serve – all the excuses we make to not do better, are not even reasonable conversation. When we are asked to be transformed, there is no reason in logic to not do it. He did not assume her to be innocent, and He did not ask for an explanation of her life. He gave her the opportunity to become a new person who lived and acted differently than before….and He hoped that she would take that opportunity and do something profitable with it.
You know, her past would never ever go away – she would always, until the day she died in the flesh, be the woman who was tried by the Sanhedrin during the days of the Feast of Tabernacles. She would be remembered by many as the woman dragged out into public display having her sins exposed to thousands. She would always be that woman. She would go home, yes, free from stoning and death but still that woman. And her family ties and relationships that no doubt had been damaged or dissolved forever, would remain in the same state. Jesus did not free her of the consequences that came due to her actions and behavior before she met Him. But He freed her from the burden of the sin. She was an underdog for sure; she would have to completely overcome pride, shame, embarrassment. She would perhaps lose those she loved – to include by the way, quite possibly, the one she committed adultery with – you know, that was real, and he was real. She would have to return, humbled and ashamed, to a community and Jewish synagogue that would know all she had done.
I can’t imagine that she would not have had to force herself still to mingle and attend the Sabbath and other services. Our Lord’s instruction to her would require her to commit. Jesus did not offer to do this for her – actually, He didn’t even offer to stay there to be her support. He did not offer for one of His disciples to stay and teach her. How would she - in the reality of her situation – go and sin no more? There is no way that Jesus would give such an instruction if He thought that it was not fair, or too hard or unreasonable. He had intervened and saved her life and His instruction, it seems to me, reflects His sentiment – it was entirely reasonable that she would be changed because of that.
If we think our lives are too complicated to live a righteous life, then just think of this woman. If we think that it is not reasonable to expect that we are among the most faithful because of all the circumstances of our lives, then think of this woman. If we think that we have good reasons and excuses to not be among those who are diligent in their study and in their service, then think of this woman. Our Lord did not give her choices, He did not give her opportunity to tell Him why she would just not be able to be among the faithful. Not to sin anymore would require a total dedication and immersion into the world or our Lord – a spiritual world – it would require her to learn more, to meditate on spiritual things continually – it would require habits and associations to change. To sin no more would require a commitment to learn more of God’s Law and the expectations for His people.
To walk in the light and to be fruitful requires diligence, and it is a reasonable expectation (1 Peter 2:5-11). If this woman left our Lord on that day to enter back into a world that had consumed and controlled both her heart and mind, then sin was just around the corner. But if she, knowing all that she had escaped, entered the spiritual world of our Lord, deciding that this commitment was worth giving up past habits and ways and diligently and with great determination setting her sights on the virtue of life in the gospel message, then she would be successful in his requirement.
Five life changing words – reasonable and attainable. What a glorious day for this woman, may it be so for us also!