But For Your Grace…

But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and
said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to
throw a stone at her.” John 8:7

In the above verse, Jesus turns away the Pharisees and the teachers of religious law with a
single-pointed reminder! In the same breath, he pours mercy on a woman who
was guilty as charged. She knew it. Her accusers knew it. And Jesus knew it. Jesus
forgave her sins and instructed her to sin no more.

What’s our part in this story?

The Pharisees and the teachers of religious law are “the bad guys”. Where is the man who must
have been caught with the woman? He was just as guilty and was nowhere to
be seen. Did they put him up to entrapping this woman purely to ensnare
Jesus in their trap? We don’t know. They were proud of their knowledge of
the law and their plan. They thought they had Jesus in a tight corner. Their opportunity to finally crush him and disenchant his followers has come.

The woman was obviously embarrassed, guilt-ridden and distressed because by law she deserves to be stoned to death and is surrounded by a crowd that has
already mentally passed judgement on her and is ready to carry out her
sentence of death without mercy. There was no escape. She must have been confused by the
involvement of the Rabbi. She may not even be aware of Who He is.

The reality is that we are all this woman – the guilty sinner who is shown mercy. Our penalty is well
deserved yet commuted by the Lamb who was sent to pay the price for our sin.

If we read a little further we see that each one of the accusers, from the
oldest to the youngest, drops the stones they had planned to use and left
without disputing with Jesus. They had been shown their place. They were
unworthy to pass judgement. Not only were their motives horribly suspect, but the men also were not without sin even looking only at this event.

Like the Pharisees and the teachers of religious law, it is easy to fool ourselves claiming that we have grown so much spiritually and have thus earned the right to condemn others.

Jesus didn’t even condemn the Pharisees and the teachers of religious law, rather, He let their hearts show them their failings. The truth is that we can be just as needy and just as proud.

This passage, therefore, reveals the immeasurable mercy of God available to
all of us. The same mercy is given to the accused, the accusers and to us. But for His Grace, we would all be condemned!