Sunday sermon: "Jesus Meets a Trapped Woman"

As we deal with this passage as it has come to us, we find one of the more powerful stories of Jesus' gracious dealing with sinners. The setup of the story is the trap set for Jesus, by men whose motives were obviously suspect. Why only the woman if she was caught in the act? Why ask Jesus, who had no particular authority to deal with the matter? Why mention a form of punishment Rome would most likely have issues with if it was carried out? The text is clear that this was designed to be a no-win situation for Jesus.

The picture of Jesus stooping to write on the ground is memorable. For a passage so many scholars question, there is certainly a lot of speculation about what Jesus wrote. While many of the speculations are  plausible, none of them make any difference. I believe what Jesus was doing was buying time to think-not for Himself, but for the accusers.

So we have the famous statement, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." I think Jesus wasn't referring to someone being sinless in general, but to their innocence in this matter. He was challenging these religious leaders: "If you are pure in your motivations in accusing this woman, go ahead and throw a stone." From oldest to youngest, they depart, leaving no accuser.

At this point, with no witness and no accuser present, Jesus is perfectly within the Law to dismiss the case. But it is important to remember two things. (1) There was someone present who could, under Jesus' strictures, cast the first stone-Jesus Himself. (2) Although the woman was the victim of the religious leaders' setup, she was actually guilty of the sin of which they accused her. Yet Jesus shows mercy, and lets her go free.

However, it was not an unconditional freedom. "Go now and leave your life of sin." Jesus does not condone her sin, nor does He excuse it. He expects that the result of His mercy will be a change in her life, a desire to do what is righteous. It is vital to keep these two in the proper order. Righteousness is the response to grace; it is not the condition of grace. The grace of God precedes our righteousness. We cannot buy or earn grace; if we could, it would not be grace. The grace of God is given freely, so that we receive what we do not deserve. Our response then is to live in a way that honors the God who showed us grace,

It is also vital to remember that when Jesus forgave this woman, He could do so because He knew the price for her sin would be paid by Him. In grace, we do get what we do not deserve, but it is because Jesus got what He did not deserve. He paid the price so our debt could be paid. Nothing you or I can do can pay Jesus back for the cross.

As we encounter "sinners," we need to remember that we ourselves are sinners saved by grace. We are to be instruments of the grace of God, showing the love of Jesus to those we encounter so that they might see Him through us.