Welcome to Day 22 of our 40 Day challenge! John 8:1-20

(Catch up with us, with our reading list March, reading list for April,  and Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11, Day 12, Day 13, Day 14, Day 15, Day 16, Day 17, Day 18, Day 19, Day 20, Day 21)

Today we are reading John 8:1-20:

John 8:1-20

¹ but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

² At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. ³ The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group⁴ and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. ⁵ In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women.Now what do you say?” ⁶ They were using this question as a trap,in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. ⁷ When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stoneat her.” ⁸ Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

⁹ At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. ¹⁰ Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

¹¹ “No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,”Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

Dispute Over Jesus’ Testimony

¹² When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

¹³ The Pharisees challenged him, “Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.”

¹⁴ Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. ¹⁵ You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. ¹⁶ But if I do judge, my decisions are true, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. ¹⁷ In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true. ¹⁸ I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.”

¹⁹ Then they asked him, “Where is your father?”

“You do not know me or my Father,” Jesus replied. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”²⁰ He spoke these words while teaching in the temple courts near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come.

I’m continually amazed at the kindness of Jesus. I keep noticing that those who are suspicious of Him present Him with two options, hoping to get Him to say something they can use against Him. They want Him trapped between the Law and the people. But Jesus shows us there are not only two choices. He isn’t stuck between the Law and the people, He fulfills the one while redeeming the other. He shows us another Way.

And in His mercy, He points out another issue. According to the Law, she was condemned. According to the Law, she deserved to die. And Jesus didn’t deny this. But He did point out the condition of those there who set her up: did they deserve to kill her? Jesus continually pointed out the hypocrisy of the religious leaders, and here is another. They conspired to hurt Him by bringing a woman’s closed-door sin into the public. And, according to the Law, they had that right. But Jesus sees beyond the Law to the hearts involved. Jack thought Jesus began writing on the ground the secret closed-door sins of the men who brought her before Him—exposing their secret sins just as they had done to her.

We see the setup as well in that they only brought the woman. Why didn’t they bring them both? If they had been “caught,” the man was there too. The likely answer is how little they valued the life of a woman. They presumably didn’t mind if she died in order to trap Jesus. Either way, they thought they would win. But, the life of a man to them, that’s a different thing altogether.

And that makes it even more beautiful how Jesus took her public shaming and death sentence and fully redeemed it, redeemed her, with His grace.

This is also what is missing from debates today on issues. Imagine if we were back in this day, debating whether this woman should be stoned or not. The Law is clear, we cannot be soft on sin. Would we have seen our own sin and hypocrisy before condemning another? Would we have first looked at the motives of our own hearts? Walking with the love and mercy of Jesus toward others is a holy responsibility we tend to take too casually. It also shows us how critical a moment-by-moment walk with Christ is in our lives today.

Father, help me to see the log in my eye clearly, and help me bring your Grace and redemption to tricky situations, especially those the enemy uses to trap us.

Options for further  journaling or discussion throughout the challenge:

• Choose a part of the passage to write out by hand. Writing by hand helps us slow down and focus on what the Lord might highlight for us in the passage. Our brains can focus and remember better by writing than just reading alone.
• Journal about what the passage brings to mind. Does the passage tell us anything about God? Does it tell us anything about our response to Him?
• Does your heart respond in gratitude to any part of the passage? Write or pray your gratitude to the Lord.

We’ll see you next time, for Day 23 and Mark 10:32-45

♥ Samantha