Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” John 8:10 NIVShe'd been dragged before Him, a test. She knew her guilt, knew their accusations were true. She was everything they said- can you imagine her reaction to those words? As she looked around- and found, no one. Her accusers had all left, disappeared convicted of their own blemishes, their own sins glaring and unignorable leaving her at her Savior's feet.
“No one, sir,” she said. John 8:11a NIVThe voices of accusation, rejection, and condemnation all were silenced, in His presence. Every sin marked in bold, all the masks ripped away to show the dirt beneath, the things they tried so hard to hide.
“Then neither do I condemn you,”Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.” John 8:11 NIVSix words, twenty-four letters, with those words he wiped it all away, swept it clean - removed the bruised, worn, broken places- and set her free.
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People are quick to judge, the slightest hint of a blemish and they gather like hungry vultures. They draw up battle lines and prepare to destroy - all in the name of the preserved blight, never mind mercy, never mind whether it's true or not. He knew her sins, knew her guilt in bold brush strokes nothing was hidden from him. He saw every tear, every choice, every place she had fallen, every alley she'd stumbled through- but He also saw theirs.
As they stood their stones of judgment clutched tightly in their hands, they came face to face with their own sin, the spots they hadn't turned over to Him. They saw just how dirty their own hands were. They became uncomfortably aware that they were just like this woman, their whitewashed lives were filled with just as much dirt and grime.
There is one striking difference between them though, the woman they had brought to stone and their Instagram fake lives. When the others found their reflection, they left. The rocks ready to be thrown in judgment now abandoned. And so she found herself at her Savior's feet, not accused, not condemned - But met by grace and mercy.
Forget the world, your would be accusers and fall at your Savior's feet. Fall into His grace and mercy, let Him wipe it all away, sweep clean your slate, remove the bruised and broken places and set you free. Let Him close the chapter with Himself, and open a fresh page. A new beginning.
Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
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