AN ENCOUNTER WITH LOVE
"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin." John 8:11, N.I.V.
She was humiliated. Dragged into the dusty street to stand in front of a Man she knew to be of utmost quality, she felt frighteningly exposed and defeated. A lifetime of heartache welled up inside her as she realized that she had been deliberately trapped and used by the men who now spelled out her sin so explicitly. Waiting for the first crushing blows of the stones she knew would end her miserable life, she was startled when the Master stooped down and started to write on the ground with His finger.
We know the story. As the crowd slowly dispersed, one by one, leaving the obviously guilty woman alone with the Man among men, "Jesus straightened up and asked her, 'Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" 'No one, sir, ' she said. 'Then neither do I condemn you,' Jesus declared. 'Go now and leave your life of sin' " (John 8:10, 11, N.I.V.).
Amazing! The guilty not condemned! Why? Before we take up theological jargon and begin to analyze the scripturally legal implications, let us stop and witness a miracle--the miracle of His healing love! Jesus was not one to delve into intricate profundities. His focus was on people. And at that moment His focus was on this poor woman who had been stripped of her self-worth. She needed to experience the genuineness of unconditional love.
She needed to know that no one on earth had the right to condemn her and that no one in heaven wanted to; that God does not use condemnation to force us to contrition, because rejection never heals. She also needed to grasp that acceptance does not condone misbehavior, though it puts an unqualified value on the individual involved. Jesus expressed these two vital realities in His brief discourse with her.
By Jesus' noncondemning posture, He allowed this emotionally scarred individual to regain a measure of dignity. And in His gentle capacity to live within the nurturing power of His acceptance of her. Sin--the word used to describe the quality of life lived apart from the reality of God--need never bind her again. She had come face-to-face with God, in the person of His Son, and He had told her plainly how He felt about her!
"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin." John 8:11, N.I.V.
She was humiliated. Dragged into the dusty street to stand in front of a Man she knew to be of utmost quality, she felt frighteningly exposed and defeated. A lifetime of heartache welled up inside her as she realized that she had been deliberately trapped and used by the men who now spelled out her sin so explicitly. Waiting for the first crushing blows of the stones she knew would end her miserable life, she was startled when the Master stooped down and started to write on the ground with His finger.
We know the story. As the crowd slowly dispersed, one by one, leaving the obviously guilty woman alone with the Man among men, "Jesus straightened up and asked her, 'Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" 'No one, sir, ' she said. 'Then neither do I condemn you,' Jesus declared. 'Go now and leave your life of sin' " (John 8:10, 11, N.I.V.).
Amazing! The guilty not condemned! Why? Before we take up theological jargon and begin to analyze the scripturally legal implications, let us stop and witness a miracle--the miracle of His healing love! Jesus was not one to delve into intricate profundities. His focus was on people. And at that moment His focus was on this poor woman who had been stripped of her self-worth. She needed to experience the genuineness of unconditional love.
She needed to know that no one on earth had the right to condemn her and that no one in heaven wanted to; that God does not use condemnation to force us to contrition, because rejection never heals. She also needed to grasp that acceptance does not condone misbehavior, though it puts an unqualified value on the individual involved. Jesus expressed these two vital realities in His brief discourse with her.
By Jesus' noncondemning posture, He allowed this emotionally scarred individual to regain a measure of dignity. And in His gentle capacity to live within the nurturing power of His acceptance of her. Sin--the word used to describe the quality of life lived apart from the reality of God--need never bind her again. She had come face-to-face with God, in the person of His Son, and He had told her plainly how He felt about her!
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