John 8:10
“Jesus straightened up and asked her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’”
When I fall into sin. When I mess up. When I miss the mark, I’ll immediately feel like the woman who was drug to the feet of Jesus at the temple courts. The adulterous women who should have been stoned in the eyes of her accusers, but was presented before Jesus.
Imagine the scrapes and bruises, the embarrassment, the pain this woman felt. She was drug and tossed at the feet of the Lord, fully convinced she would be stoned, beaten to death. Imagine the fear she felt. Imagine the inner turmoil. I can’t even comprehend the guilt and shame that burdened her. Her sin, at that moment, was suffocating. It was enough to end her, take her life. Satan, with his mission to kill, steal, and destroy, was almost victorious. Think of that. Her sin had the power to end her.
But there, in the dirt, where this woman lay, feeling utterly defeated, grace poured out like honey. The sweet thick truth of Jesus’ grace seeped into her heart, her life, her purpose, and stuck, healed, and renewed her.
Grace, forgiveness, the unrelenting love of a good good God who sent His one and only son stops Satan dead in his tracks, it gives us a second chance, it reaches down and grabs our shakey, frail, weak hands, and says, “It’s ok. I’m here.”
What if when Jesus wrote in the dirt that day in front of this woman’s accusers, something none of us has an answer for, grace-filled the scene. What if the power of His grace became tangible at that moment? What if the stench of sin was cleansed with the sweet aroma of honey? What is the atmosphere changed and there was a thickness that enveloped the people who had gathered, their hearts filling and overflowing with grace? Who can say? Something extremely powerful may have happened. I mean to my understanding, and I’m no theologian, but this was the first big grace moment/lesson Jesus had presented to anyone yet in his ministry. Jesus was making a statement, and if I know anything about Jesus, He knew how to make a statement, knew how to change hearts, knew how to display his holiness in impeccable ways.
When the woman stood, accusers gone and the blameless son of God before her, Jesus said, “Go and sin no more.”
Sin no more.
And then she went. Do I think she sinned again? Well, I can’t say and I don’t know if I’ll ever know, but she was human, so my guess is, yes. She probably slipped up here and there, but I hope with everything in me she went back to the day when she looked into the beauty of her King and saw the rawest, sweetest, purest gift of honey grace in His eyes. I hope she got on her knees, tear-stained face, heart aching, and confessed her sins, asked for forgiveness, and repented.
I might sit hurt and upset, tears in my eyes and frustration swelling inside after I’ve sinned. But I can’t stay there. That’s when we’re our weakest. Am I really going to let the enemy sneak in when I’m weak and proceed to steal, kill, and destroy the goodness Jesus has laid out before me? No, I have to imagine being the adulterous woman from the story. I have to picture Jesus, my good Savior, who loves me unconditionally pouring out His grace and in the tenderest voice, with love in every word, saying, “Go and sin no more.”
Because that is what He does. Because that is the truth. Because for the rest of my life I will forever be in awe of the good grace he lavishes so freely on us like sticky sweet honey.