God Loves To Extend Mercy And Forgiveness

In Matthew 9:13, Jesus says, “I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

Mercy is a word that many Christians fail to truly understand its depth and significance and how the withholding of it can impact a person’s life. In the Greek, it’s the word eleos and means “to show mercy, to show compassion, extend help for the consequence of sin.”

Mercy is an issue of the heart and we see this in Micah 6:8.

"He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?"

The word “require” does not mean “to demand.” It has more of a “relationship flavor” to it. The Hebrew word is darash. It means “to seek, to inquire of, to examine.” We could read “and what doth the LORD require of thee” this way: “and what is it that the Lord is asking of you.”

Micah 6:8 identifies three ways of living that the Lord asks of those who choose to follow Him: be just, love mercy, and walk in humility with Him. Notice the verse says the Lord asks us “to love mercy.” He just doesn’t want us to extend mercy. He wants us to love doing it!

Today, we’re going to see that mercy is both withheld and extended in John 8, the story of the woman caught in adultery. I pray the narrative approach blesses you and helps you see how the Lord can bring Scripture to life when we spend time thinking about what we have read. Let’s begin with verse 2.

I refer to the story as "The Great Set Up."

Let's begin with verse 2.

(2) And early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came unto Him; and He sat down, and taught them.

(3) And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto Him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, … (verses 2-3)

It’s early in the morning and the sun is beginning to peak over the horizon. Jesus is back in the temple, just as He had been the previous day, and people are around Him listening to His teaching. Some are sitting. Some are standing. Suddenly, He pauses and turns His head towards the entryway to the temple. So do the people.

In the distance, He hears a woman shrieking and crying. She’s begging for mercy. “Please! Please! I’m sorry! Let me go! I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die! Please!” The temple guards, who are dragging her, are cussing and yelling at her. “What in the world is going on,” Jesus wonders.

And then He sees them.

The scribes and Pharisees are walking toward Him. Some have their arms by their sides and others have their arms crossed. Their faces are not hiding the disdain and utter contempt that they have for Jesus as they walk toward Him at the slow and deliberate pace that has become symbolic of their authority, and their arrogance. The people acknowledge the presence of the religious aristocracy and move aside as they bow their heads and pay homage. The religious leaders revel in this display of respect.

Then Jesus sees the woman.

Temple guards are walking behind the religious leaders. They are dragging a half-naked woman, who is struggling violently to free herself. Her arms are bruised from the way the guards are handling her and her feet are bleeding from the small rocks and pebbles that were on the street.

They sling her to the ground, and she lands awkwardly in front of Jesus. She looks up at Him as she slowly grabs her badly torn clothing and pulls them up around her shoulders. Her tears are flowing. Her eyes are pleading. Her body is shaking uncontrollably.

Let's pick up the record with verse 4 and the first part of verse 5.

(4) They (the religious leaders) say unto Him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.

(5) Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: (verses 4-5a)

What was the penalty for committing adultery and how was it determined?

Let’s turn to Deuteronomy 22 for the answer.

(22) If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put away evil from Israel.

(23) If a damsel that is a virgin be betrothed unto an husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her;

(24) Then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them with stones that they die; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city; and the man, because he hath humbled his neighbour’s wife: so thou shalt put away evil from among you.