Go And Sin No More

Here is a very interesting passage of Scripture where the people used a situation to try to trap Jesus in what He said or did.

"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 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.  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.”

Here we have a situation where some religious people were going to trap Jesus by putting Him in a situation that they thought would be too hard for Him to figure out the answer to. These people were proud and didn't like Jesus. 

But their plan did not work out they way they thought it would. You see, Jesus is much wiser than they were. He is God in the flesh. They were the ones who went away disappointed.

So, they bring this lady who was committing adultery with a man. Why they didn't bring out the man, is something to wonder about. They bring the adulteress out so Jesus could have her stoned. They knew Jesus kept the law, so, they would assume that Jesus would want her stoned. But Jesus had a different idea. 

Jesus wrote in the sand and then asked the people to throw the stone at her, but they could only throw the stone if they were without sin. No one was qualified to throw the stone. So, eventually, they all left. 

After everyone was gone, she was left alone with Jesus. Jesus then asked her if anyone was there who condemned her, to which she answered 'No one, Lord'. But listen to the next words Jesus said to her. He told her 2 things. One was that He doesn't condemn her. What? She was sinning and Jesus doesn't condemn her? Well, listen to the next words. They are most important. He instructs her to 'Go and sin no more'. 

She was basically commanded to repent of her sin. She could not continue living in sin while enjoying the forgiveness of her sins. 

Likewise, we are commanded to 'Go and sin no more'. God doesn't want us to continue to live in sin. God can deliver us from our sins. If we struggle with letting go of practicing evil, we must turn to God, and He promises to set us free from sin.