John 8

Have you ever been caught?

Maybe you were caught cheating on a test, in a lie, what ever it is, what did that feel like?

John 8:1–2 ESV

but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them.

Jesus just first spent time praying, but second I love that He spent time with the people where they were at

John 8:3–5 ESV

The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?”

This woman did it. There are a lot of questions I have as to why and what happened to lead up to this, but we are thrown here in this moment where this woman is now caught in her sin. More than that, her sin has become public information. The whole town knows, and more than likely that is going to spread

John 8:6–8 ESV

This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground.

Jesus’s response was different than the people expected. They thought him to be righteous, and yes, based on what she did, the law does say that she should be stoned, but really only Jesus should be the one that is allowed to stone her

Matthew 7:1–2 ESV

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.

Jesus points this out, and you can see, uses the same logic here that He told the people about when he had taught them on the sermon on the mount.

We do not have a right to condemn people, only Jesus does

John 8:9 ESV

But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.

The people realized this, and left

John 8:9–11 ESV

But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

This is Jesus’s words

John 8:11 ESV

She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

Here are Jesus’s words.

What does it feel like to be caught in sin?

Why do we try to hide our sin?

Why do we try to hide our sin from God?

How do we keep from hiding our sin?

What does it mean to you that Jesus did not condemn this woman?

What does it mean to “go and sin no more”?

What things need to change in your life to make this happen?