The Righteous Love of God

John 8:1–11 NKJV

1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. 3 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, 4 they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. 5 Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?” 6 This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. 7 So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” 8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 10 When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

In this story, we see the righteous love of God. This has always been a point of contention for the Christian faith. The argument states, “If God is all loving, how can He be perfectly righteous and judge sin? If God is perfectly righteous, how can He forgive sin and not judge?” It’s what we would call “Catch 22”, or a moral dilemma.

God is perfectly righteous, just, and Holy, but God is also the embodiment of love, forgiveness, and mercy. How can we reconcile these two seemingly contradictive expressions of God’s nature?

In this text, the religious leaders lay a trap. We know that it is a trap, because verse 6 tells us that they brought this woman before Jesus, “testing Him”. We also know that this a trap because they did not bring the man before Jesus. The Mosaic Law they are referring to actually says that the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

So they bring this woman before Jesus and they say, “Moses said she should be stoned, but what do you say?”

If He says stone her, then He is not forgiving. If He says to let her go, then He is not upholding the Law.

What did Jesus do? He responded by saying, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” In other words, He said, “Who among you is worthy to cast forth this judgment you seek?”

Once they realized what Jesus meant, it says that one by one, they dropped their stones and walked away.

He then turned to the woman who had been brought before Him and said, “Where are your accusers? Has no one condemned you?.… Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

He acknowledges that what she has done is sin, and He tells her not to do it anymore. This is righteous love. In love, He gives her another chance, but in righteousness He acknowledges that her sin is sin and compels her to quit doing it.

God loves all of humanity, but He does hate sin. He hates sin because it separates us from Him. If He is just and righteous, then it goes without saying that anything sinful in our lives will only cause us to be even further removed from Him as our natures grow even further further apart.

The worst part is, we are naturally sinful and driven to this behavior even from birth, and we have no way of overcoming that sinful nature in our own strength. So God made a way for that sin to be conquered in Jesus. When Jesus came, God poured out all of His wrath on Him. Jesus took the punishment of our sin as He died upon the cross, and this provided a covering for our sin. Those who place their faith in Christ are forgiven of their sins, because the punishment of their sin has already been accounted for in Him.

That is how one is saved. We are saved from our own sinful nature and we are saved from the wrath of God against that sin. And this salvation allows us to live a new life in Christ, one that is compelled to walk in righteousness.

I heard this illustration the other day:

There was a king over a land. He was known all around as being the most loving and just king that had ever ruled.

They found out that money had been missing from the king’s treasury, so that king announced that if whoever was responsible for stealing the money would simply bring it back, all would be forgiven.

No one brought the money back, and they found that more money was missing. So the king then decreed that the perpetrator would be found, and punished with 40 lashes, which was a death sentence.

After some investigation was done, they found out that the one responsible for stealing the money was none other than the king’s own daughter.

Once this news was made public, a ripple started to happen all throughout the land. If the king is just, there is no way he can let his daughter go… he must carry out the sentence. If the king is truly loving, there is no way he can kill his own daughter. Everyone wondered what would happen.

On the day the sentence was to be carried out, they brought the accused before the king at the whipping post. The one responsible for giving the lashes, asked what the king’s sentence was, and he responded, the sentence will be carried out.

The tied her to the whipping post, ripped open her clothes to expose her bare back, and then the soldier raised his hand to lay the first lash. At that moment, the king jumped up from his chair and yelled “STOP”!!!

The crowd was astonished that the king would go back on his word, but as they all watched, the king slowly moved down to where his daughter was tied. He removed the clothes from his won back, laid across his daughter, and said to the soldier, “Now whip her”.

At first the soldier refused, and said, “Sir, I can’t. If I hit her now, I will hit you.” The king repeated, “Hit her now, the sentence must be rendered.”

The king took all 40 lashes, giving his life for his daughter.

That is righteous love. That is the attitude of our Father.

My prayer is that each of you will come to know this righteous love, sooner rather than later.

Let’s pray!