John
8:10-12 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?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.” Then
Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of
the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of
life.” NKJV
Despite the many rationalizations we hear in the
news media and our American society at large, sin equals darkness. We human
beings seem to understand what darkness is but it is impossible for the
unregenerate heart to equate it with sin. We define darkness in the following
manner: 1) Absence of light or illumination. 2) Absence of moral or spiritual
values. 3) An unenlightened state. It would appear from these definitions of
darkness that man should realize that sin proceeds from and is produced by the
state or condition of darkness in the soul. However, the pull of sin that comes
from within each one of us human beings is so powerful and strong that left to
ourselves we would never seek a remedy for our sinful hearts.
The Apostle John documents for us this dramatic
encounter our Lord Jesus Christ had with a sinful woman caught in the very act
of committing adultery. Now I do not want to focus on the hypocrites who
brought this woman to our Lord Jesus only for the purpose of finding something
to accuse our Lord by saying He did not honor the Law of Moses. How absurd
because it was Him that gave Moses the Law and certainly He would never
dishonor His own Word. These hypocrites knew nothing of this truth and proved
it by even attempting to get Him to dishonor His own Word. It also has always
bothered me that they would leave the man and not bring him before our Lord for
he was just as guilty of the sin of adultery or fornication if he were single.
Despite all of that I desire to focus on our Lord and this woman and how He
transformed her entire being with this encounter.
As I said from the beginning sin equals darkness and
this woman was doing only what came natural to what resided in her inner woman.
She like many woman today use sex in two ways and the first way is to control
or manipulate men to get something from them i.e. money, clothes, jewelry,
cars, or some other earthly things. The second way women use sex is a coping
tool like alcohol or drugs sex gives them a temporary high or fix and makes
them forget the problems and stresses that come with this life of woe we all
have to live down here on the earth. Now the Scripture only tells us that this
woman was an adulterer, but it is certain she was one because of one or both of
these reasons (John 8:34). When she
was discovered by these gang of men and brought against her will of course to
the feet of our Lord Jesus (that’s how every sinner comes to our Lord), it
surely never dawned on her that He would be any different of a man than the one
she was having sex with or with the gang that drug her to our Lord Jesus
Christ. She had to be terrified surely thinking that her life was about to end
at this very moment. What must have been going through her mind at this time?
If she had kids she would never see them again and
she surely could not be confident as to where she was going after her death for
her conscience must have been continually accusing her over and over as she
lived in this sexually immoral lifestyle most if not all of her adult life (Romans 2:15-16). She was not ready to
face death and she quietly knew it, but here she was and it was her sin that
she worked so hard to keep secret now it is being broadcast all over the
streets of Jerusalem (John 8:24). I
can see her now with her head bowed down to the ground in her shame and guilt
wondering why this man that they brought her to was silent and not responding
to their questions of what must be done with her. Surely she was too afraid to
look up at our Lord thinking her face might incense deeper rage, wrath, and
anger toward her seeing that He was a Rabbi bound to the keeping and honoring
of the Law.
But to her great and utter shock she heard Him
(Jesus) say to this gang of bloodthirsty men, “He who
is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” Her mind
must have been racing 100 miles per hour as her heart pounded thump, thump,
thump, thump waiting to hear what would happen next as again our Lord Jesus was
silent. And surely the sweetest sound she heard that whole day and maybe her
whole life was rock after rock falling out of the men’s hands until she heard
the last one fall to the ground and there she was all alone with only our Lord
Jesus Christ before her. His face must have shone like the Sun to her and
radiated the very warmth of love as the Sun shining at high noon. Her heart
racing from fear earlier now races with love and gratitude for this Man who was
not her judge or condemner, but He was her advocate before her accusers. This
was no ordinary Rabbi she surely thought this was a face that radiated heaven
as she heard our Lord say, “Woman, where are those
accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” She recognized that this man
was from heaven (John 8:23). Her
response surely was soaked in her tears as she said, “No one, Lord.”
When she recognized Jesus as Lord this was revealed
to her as it was to Peter when he said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the
living God” and immediately our Lord said to Peter, “Blessed
are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to
you, but My Father who is in heaven.” So it was with this woman the
Father revealed to her the Lord Jesus Christ and she worshipped Him by calling
Him Lord and in that very moment she was granted the gift of repentance to life
by the Father. Her encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ initially was fearful
for her as it must be with every sinner that is confronted with the magnitude
of their sin in the face of a holy, pure, and righteous God. But it went from
terrifying fear to brokenness over her sin as she saw her depravity clearly for
the first time in her life as her sin in all of its ugliness was manifested to
her. When our Lord said these words to her, “Neither do
I condemn you; go and sin no more” she could feel the darkness, the
heaviness, and the uncleanness of her sin being lifted as her soul was brought
out of darkness into light that shown in her heart brighter than the strongest
rays of the sun. For the first time in her entire life she was free to live as
she ought to live but was unable to because of her enslavement (John 8:31-32). This woman had an
encounter with the Light of the World Jesus Christ and she was not seeking Him
she was busy living in her sin until her sin lead her straight to the source of
True Light that would lift her from the darkness of sin forever.
Psalms
18:28 For You will light my lamp; The LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.
NKJV
Psalms
19:8 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The
commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. NKJV
Psalms
107:14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, And broke their
chains in pieces. NKJV
Ephesians
5:8-10 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.
Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all
goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the
Lord. NKJV
“The issue is now clear. It is between light and darkness and everyone must choose
his side.” G. K. Chesterton
“To the one who delights in the Sovereignty of God
the clouds not only have a ‘silver lining’ but they are silvern all through,
the darkness only serving
to offset the light!” A. W. Pink
“Now, as always, God discloses Himself to ‘babes’
and hides Himself in thick darkness from
the wise and the prudent. We must simplify our approach to Him. We must strip
down to essentials (and they will be found to be blessedly few). We must put
away all effort to impress, and come with the guileless candor of childhood. If
we do this, without doubt God will quickly respond.” A. W. Tozer
“Faith has in it the recognition of the certainty
and the justice of a judgment that is coming down crashing on every human head;
and then from the midst of these fears and sorrows and the tempest of that
great darkness there
rises up in the night of terrors the shining of one perhaps pale, quivering,
distant, but divinely given hope, ‘My Saviour! My Saviour! He is righteous; He
has died; He lives! I will stay no longer; I will cast myself upon Him!’”
Alexander MacLaren
If
you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this
from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear
Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I
believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from
the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn
from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control
of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...
Sincerely in Christ,
Clifford D. Tate, Sr.
Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you
Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus
Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and
Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple
I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reader,
Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…
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