“The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery…’Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?’…But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with His finger. When they kept on questioning Him, He straightened up and said to them, ‘If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.’…At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 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 8:3-11)
“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” (John 3:17)
As we meditate on the sacrifices of Jesus during the lenten season, we tend to focus on the physical sufferings that He endured for us. There is another aspect of sacrifice that isn’t as obvious but even more important. When a person sacrifices their rightful privileges for the good of another. This is clearly illustrated in the familiar story above of the woman caught in the act of adultery. First, bad motives or not, the Pharisees were right about the law. The punishment for her crime was death by stoning. So, by law they had the right to condemn her. Jesus then said, “whoever is without sin” has the right. They all left except the One without sin…Jesus Himself. So, by His own words, Jesus had the right to condemn her. And, as we have established earlier, Jesus was God in the flesh. So, by His position of Righteous Judge He had the right to condemn her. By law…by His holiness…by His divinity she should be condemned.
But Jesus, though He had the right, sacrificed that right and did not condemn. Why? Jesus gave the answer to Nicodemus in John 3. “God so loved the world…” that He sent Me, not to condemn it but to save it. We love the story of this woman who experiences first hand the sacrificial mercy and grace of Jesus.
Today, may I offer you this thought, what Jesus did for this sinful woman He does for you. We have all been caught in the act! We are guilty and, by all rights, we stand condemned. But God, though He has the right, has sacrificed that right and has chosen to save you “through” the Son according to the Scripture above. Therefore, today we can rejoice with the psalmist:
“Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him…” (Psalm 32:1, 2)