Punchlines (part 3)
July 3, 2022
We hope this guide will help you take the good news you hear today into your daily lives.
In today’s passage, we see Jesus stepping between a woman experiencing condemnation because of her sin, and those condemning her. In doing so, Jesus invites the woman, her accusers, and us into the ultimate freedom—freedom from the sin that binds us; freedom in Christ.
Scripture and Notes
Then they all went home, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 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. 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.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
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. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
“No one, sir,” she said.
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
John 7:53-8:11 (NIV)
Going Deeper: “Neither do I condemn you”
Today we examined our tendency to look at the speck in another’s eye while ignoring the plank in our own. This week, spend some time in prayer asking God to reveal to you a “plank” to which you may be blind. You may want to write this out in a journal.
Remember that God loves you, and because of this love, God wants to transform you to be more and more like Jesus. As you offer God your plank, rest in God’s love for you.
If you are carrying the heavy burden of sin and condemnation, we invite you lay it down at the feet of Jesus. This Independence Day weekend, accept his invitation into freedom.
Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
“No one, sir,” she said.
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
John 8:10-11 (NIV)
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.
Romans 8:1-2 (NIV)
