Condemnation

I know. John 8:1-11 wasn't in the "earliest manuscripts," but it was part of my devotional readings for today, so read it I did. The passage about the woman caught in adultery still brought to mind the same questions a lot of people express : "Where was the guy, if she was caught in the act?" "What was Jesus writing in the dirt, anyway?" And finally the conclusion most come to after reading it: Jesus forgave this woman; and they add her to the list of all the other people Jesus forgave. But a closer reading says the forgiveness was implicit. "Go and sin no more" suggests  she wasn't exactly clothed in righteousness when she was caught out, but Jesus didn't explicitly forgive her. The real emphasis is on the word "condemnation." Jesus says, "Who is left to condemn you? ... Neither do I."

Paul says, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." We usually think of condemnation, in its religious context, as the accusation of sin, backed up by some kind of witness. In this case it had more immediate consequences. The condemnation and the testimony of witnesses against her would result in her being stoned to death. It wasn't the forgiveness per se that was at the heart of this conversation, it was the fact that Jesus saved her from death. And not an easy one, if her accusers postponed aiming for her head. In reality she owed Jesus, who shamed the teachers of the law and the Pharisees into backing  off, her life.

It isn't much of a leap to conclude that this became one more mark against Jesus when it came time to have him tried. Pharisees and teachers of the law who could recall the words of Moses in great detail would have no trouble remembering the times Jesus had pestered them until they had let other sinners off the hook. Let them off, but not forgotten the humiliation. Those memories helped seal Jesus' eventual crucifixion and death.

The New Testament writers brought it full circle. Jesus' lack of condemnation and his defense of them frees them from the sentence of death. It's not a bad way to begin the day.
Pastor Mike