The Grace of God

Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. 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. And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. John 8:1-5, 10-11

In our text today, we have a woman in a very embarrassing predicament. She is not there because of a rumor or suspicion. She was brought to the Jewish temple because she had been caught in the act of committing adultery. This is not a sermon about adultery so I don’t want some of you tensing up and the rest of you relaxing and thinking that the message is about someone else. This is a message about sin and grace. All of us are included in today’s message. But we have this woman who has been caught in the act of a shameful situation and she has been brought to the religious house and her business has now been made public. I won’t even share with you some of the things that run through my mind when I think about this situation. Let’s take a look at the scene here.

I. The Holy Temple
A. Place of Worship
B. The Major Religious Attraction in all of Judea
C. Jesus was there Teaching Bible Study
D. The Non-religious were Probably uncomfortable There

II. The Guilty Woman
A. Brought there by the Religious Leaders (scribes and Pharisees)
B. Her shameful Act was Exposed to Everyone There
C. She did not have a Leg to stand On

III. The Unambiguous Law
A. The Legal Facts are Clearly established by Two or Three Witnesses
B. The Law Clearly defined Her Act as a Violation
C. The Law Clearly defined Her Punishment as Death by Stoning

From a legal standpoint, this was an open and shut case. Since the accused was brought by those willing to witness against her, there was no need for deliberations. Two thousand years later even I can tell you that she was guilty. The witnesses against her established that. If the scribes and Pharisees had taken her outside the city gate and stoned her, it would have been within their right according to the Jewish judicial system and the Law of Moses. They could have had some issues with the Roman government since the Romans reserved capital punishment or the death penalty as an exclusive right of Rome and not Jewish citizens. But, within the Holy Law, the religious leaders could have justified their actions. But I believe they made a mistake. Their mistake was not in accusing her. They made a mistake when they took the woman to Jesus. Jesus was asked his opinion concerning what should happen to the woman. The architect of the universe who gave the law to Moses saw two things that are not obvious to the unaided eye. Jesus saw a guilty woman and he also saw her accusers as being worse people than she was. He saw a woman with no defense for her actions and he also saw that her accusers had committed the same thing they wanted to condemn her for doing. He saw a person who had been caught at a spiritual low and now embarrassed publicly; but he also saw spiritually destitute people using other people’s shame to cover up their own shortcomings. There is only one remedy that could cure this ailment. That remedy is the grace of God. Divine justice demands that the law be upheld to its fullest extent. Divine mercy can prevent the accused from receiving what they deserve under the penalty of the law. But grace brings in something totally different. Grace gives a person what they do not deserve. Jesus told her, Neither do I condemn you. And he gave her the option to avoid the same mistake again. When he said to go and sin no more, then it suggests that she would be able to do just that. And that’s only possible if Jesus was going to give her both the will and the ability to do accordingly. God’s grace is a remedy for our sin situations. Jesus knew that soon he would be on his way to Calvary and carrying her sins and the sins of the whole world with him. God’s grace was made available to her in her time of need and even today, it is still made available to us in our time of need. We don’t have to wait for wrongful acts to be exposed, we can come to Jesus just as we are. Jesus is still the only one able to impart the grace of God to all that call upon his name. Are you willing to call upon him for the grace you need?


Robert C. Hudson
July 19, 2009