Read: John 8:1-11
Neither do I condemn you. (v. 11)
“Our sins they are many; His mercy is more,” is repeated throughout the hymn “His Mercy is More,” written by Keith and Kristyn Getty. Often, we know that our sins are many. Maybe you are like me and don’t want to acknowledge the greatness of your sin or your need for forgiveness. It’s easier to tuck our sins away in some dark corner of our heart, where no one will see them, and hope that God won’t expose them.
The religious leaders in our passage today expose a woman caught in adultery. This passage is somewhat mysterious—the earliest manuscripts of John don’t include this passage. Yet, this story is consistent with the gospel accounts about Jesus. We find religious leaders trying to trap him. Would Jesus follow Moses’s law and have this woman stoned as the law requires? Jesus does not cast this woman away. He remains with her and writes in the sand. He says, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her” (v. 7). We don’t know what he wrote in the sand, but slowly, the leaders left until only Jesus and the woman remained. Jesus, the only one qualified to condemn her, told her, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more” (v. 11).
Our sins are many; but his mercy is more. Don’t let others condemn you in your sins. Go to Jesus and ask for his forgiveness. Receive his mercy, and go and sin no more.
As you pray, ask for forgiveness.
Nancy Boote, an ordained minister in the Reformed Church in America, lives in Holland, Michigan, with her husband. She serves in a variety of leadership positions within the denomination. Besides being a wife, mother, and grandmother, Nancy enjoys taking prayer walks, hiking in nature, mentoring, and has a heart for justice matters.
