The following is an excerpt from Partners In Grace
... Jesus’ response is both revealing and instructive. Remarkably, rather than respond to their question, He chose instead to stoop and begin writing in the sand. His silent indifference spoke eloquently and powerfully to those gathered. “I’ve no time for your accusations,” Jesus seemed to say. Though He was always alert to those in need, toward those seeking Him, Jesus now fell suddenly deaf to those eager to reveal another’s sin. Finally rising, He silenced the accusers, undoing their scheme by merely exposing their own humanity; their own human frailty. “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her”.
Challenging them to self-examination, Jesus confronted them with their hypocrisy. Now urged to publicly acknowledge their own fallen and conflicted states, forced to confront the reality of their own humanity, the woman’s accusers began to vanish one by one, leaving her at last alone with Jesus.
The manner in which He deals with the woman speaks volumes to us today. Jesus said simply, “Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?” Imagine her stunned surprise; the relief and gratefulness which must have washed over her as Jesus spoke. This unexpected turn of events appeared to offer her a reprieve and hope.
As Jesus spoke, shame - that haunting specter of her sin - began to lose its hold. No longer able to define her by her sin (and forge stronger still the chains binding her to her faults), shame gave way to a powerful new reality and context within which her life could be redefined.
The effort to define her by her behavior had lost its sway. In its place, Jesus offered a new narrative; one centered in a reality shaped by redemption, and by His love and compassion. Jesus offered more than a stay of execution. He offered freedom from her sin; liberation from her weakness. “Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin nor more”.
The One whose opinion mattered most signaled His power over sin. Was He merely admonishing her to abandon the practice of adultery? Or was He offering strength to resist and forsake the practice. Was He offering a new identity? I fear we often read in this remark only a reproving command; however, much more was at work here than is at first apparent.
The words of Jesus expressed more than meaning; they conveyed power. When He spoke to those demonically tormented, they were freed. When He addressed disease, healing came. Even the elements obeyed His word. Consequently, His words “Go and sin no more” were more than an admonition. Though, to be certain, they offered correction, they were also life.
He announced emancipation. As He spoke, a liberating dynamic infused her life. She undoubtedly experienced what Paul, the Apostle, would later describe as, “God . . . working in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Phil 2:13). What had once defined her, no longer held her captive.
In the space of a single encounter, Jesus revolutionized our understanding of sin, the human condition, and redemption. He not only laid bare the hypocrisy of self-righteousness but lovingly embraced human frailty and offered with assurance, a way forward.
