Cutting the cords of Shame & Condemnation

John 8:1-11

1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

11 “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

Reflection:

Are you free from your past? Are you living out the full potential of Christ in your life? Or are there still things that echo through your mind when trying to live for Jesus that causes you to stumble?

The story of the adulterous women found in the scripture above really hits closer to home then you think. You see, the adulterous woman reflects all of us. She is a child of God who finds herself indulged in practices which she was never designed for. She is a fertile vessel, designed to be in covenant with God but because of past and present practices she has broke her "covenant" with her husband (Christ). You see this woman can be you, it could be the Church, it can anyone who is currently a "covenant breaker."

Because she was caught in her sin, she was presented to Jesus. But Jesus understands her, he forgives her, he knows her history, he knows her present, he knows what has made her indulge in a practice that violates her innocence and condemns her to shame. Jesus bends down and begins to write, like the one who wrote the "Ten Commandments" with his finger, or wrote the writings on the wall in the Book of Daniel. He writes, he writes because he is an author, he is the perfecter of our faith.

The story ends with forgiveness, with reconciliation, with purpose, and with freedom. You see the only way to live out your experience with Christ, and the salvation he offers is to understand that he will never condemn those who are found in him. Shame and condemnation is the fruit of the "fallen man" in the Garden of Eden, but Christ came to restore all things unto himself.

If you find yourself being a "covenant breaker" or indulging in sins that separate you from the love and protection of God, Jesus invites you to embrace his forgiveness no matter how shameful your sins are or were. He desires to cover your shame and condemnation with grace and forgiveness so that you may live a free life in him. There is only one final command though, “Go now and sin no more.”