"Neither Do I Condemn You"

1. Jesus didn’t give an immediate answer. Instead, he bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.

It is impossible to tell, and therefore pointless to ask, what he wrote on the ground.

The content of whatever he wrote on the ground doesn’t matter. If it did, we would know.

However, we see the effect of it.

The scribes and Pharisees came storming up with a head of steam in a manner clearly calculated to put Jesus on the defensive.

You don’t shove Jesus into a corner.

Jesus transferred control of the moment from the Pharisees to himself. He was in control of all that happened from the instant he appeared to ignore their question.

Jesus took no notice of their false fervor for knowing and doing the right thing.

It was camouflage for the trap.

A sign I noticed some time back in a store window:

“You don’t have to attend every argument you’re invited to.”

In a few words, this sign goes a long way toward understanding this story.

Jesus didn’t participate in their kabuki dance and condemn the woman just to pass their test.

He dealt with them on the basis of what was REALLY going on, not on the stage play they offered him.

Luke 7:31-32 "To what then shall I compare the men of this generation, and what are they like? "They are like children who sit in the market place and call to one another, and they say, 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.'

They thought they could manipulate Jesus, like a jig doll, believing if he didn’t act the way they wanted, he would be exposed as a failure and a fraud.

2. Pressed by the scribes and Pharisees, he answered,

"Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her."

These words have been used to excuse every kind of sin by every kind of sinner.

They have been used to argue that sin is commonplace and is therefore unremarkable and uncondemnable.

Did we listen to Jesus? He didn’t tell them to disregard or disobey the law, but to obey it.

Jesus did not say she didn’t deserve to be stoned.

Jesus did not tell them not to impose the law’s requirements.

He merely suggested who should be the first to throw a stone, reminding them of their own sinful condition.

Convicted by their own sins, they went away rather than claiming to be without sin.

They were not sent away by Jesus, but by their own shame.

The Pharisees departed, leaving the woman and Jesus - the only one present who could have cast the first stone.

That stone was never cast...

…and that Jesus’ stone was uncast has profound significance.

By the standard Jesus gave, he could have executed the law’s penalty, AND HE DIDN’T!

Think of what that means to our souls’ salvation.

3. He asks, “Has no one condemned you?” She answers, “No one, Lord.”

4. Jesus says “Neither do I condemn you.”

That’s the most jaw-dropping statement in this story!

Why did he not?!

The weight of that statement is:

“The Pharisees didn’t condemn you, and I don’t condemn you either.”

Odd as it might seem, the scribes and Pharisees end up on the same side as Jesus.