Be Compassionate To The Fallen Series

In Romans 2:4, the apostle Paul declared that “God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance” (NIV). If showing forth the kindness of God can lead a person to repentance, then on the opposite side, sharing judgment and condemnation will lead an individual to hardening his heart against the Lord. All too often, however, when we see someone living in sin - including a brother or sister in Christ - we criticize and talk about that person behind their back; and perhaps some of us are course enough to tell them directly what a terrible person we think they are.

As Christians, we know that we’re supposed to serve the Lord simply because He is God; and so, we expect a lost person to come to Him simply because He is God – but the lost don’t have this understanding. In fact, most of us did not arrive at this understanding before we became a Christian. If we’re honest, we weren’t drawn into a relationship with the Lord simply because of who He is. We were drawn to Him because of something He did for us. So, what exactly did He do? Jesus loved us enough to die on the cross for our sins, so that we could be forgiven of our sins and have eternal life through Him. The Bible says, “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

If our intention, when we see someone living in sin, is to lead that person to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, then I want to caution you, and let you know that it cannot be accomplished through criticism, shame or correction. Remember, “God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance” (Romans 2:4, NIV), not His condemnation. If you want to lead someone to faith and repentance then it starts with the kindness of God, as you show forth the compassion and forgiveness of Jesus Christ; and this is the message from our passage of Scripture that I believe Jesus wants us to grasp and apply.

Jesus Ignored Condemning Statements (vv. 1-6)

1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 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.

The first thing we read is that “Jesus went to the Mount of Olives” (v. 1). The Mount of Olives is where the Garden of Gethsemane was located, and Jesus often retreated there to pray. For example, Mark said, “They went out to the Mount of Olives . . . Then they came to a place which was named Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples, ‘Sit here while I pray’” (Mark 14:26, 32).

Luke testified, “And in the daytime He was teaching in the temple, but at night He went out and stayed on the mountain called Olivet” (Luke 21:37). The word “stay” implies that Jesus spent a great deal of time in prayer and devotion. He went there to slow down and catch His breath. He also sought serenity so He could better hear from the Father and find spiritual renewal. Jesus, thereby, was ready to teach the people, and prepared for the Pharisees’ difficult questions.

We too need to spend time with the Lord if we’re going to hear Him clearly, and be able to communicate the truth during difficult situations. Paul admonished, “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching” (2 Timothy 4:2). If our hearts are not prepared, we could respond from our own fallible human understanding instead of God’s infinite wisdom. We might also respond from legalism, judgment and condemnation instead of mercy, compassion and grace.

We read that when Jesus sat down the next day to teach in the temple, that the scribes and Pharisees brought before Him a woman caught in the very act of adultery (vv. 2-4). It seems strange that this woman was even allowed inside the temple, because sexual contact would have made her ritually unclean (Leviticus 15:18), and anyone unclean was not permitted to enter the temple (2 Chronicles 23:19). The scribes and Pharisees, in their haste to judge, actually committed what was unlawful by bringing this woman into the temple. They were looking at the sin in someone else, while failing to recognize their own.