Sin NO More!

John 8:3-11 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, (4) They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. (5) Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? (6) This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. (7) So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. (8) And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. (9) And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. (10) When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? (11) She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

The passage that we will examine today is one of the most abused passages in all the Bible. Like other passages that are misrepresented, this one too is often distorted so that one can draw a conclusion to fit their preconceived ideology.

What many WANT this passage to mean is that Jesus doesn’t care about sin. They focus all of their attention upon the FIRST part of verse 11 where Jesus tells her “Neither do I condemn you”. They concluded that, if Jesus refuses to condemn this adulterous woman, then he will also be obligated to overlook and maybe even allow sin in our lives; ultimately giving us the green light to live our lives ANY way we choose.

There are three substantive problems with this conclusion. First it ignores the context of the passage. Second, it purposely ignores the other statement that Jesus makes to her, and third it ignores the rest of the Bible’s teaching about repentance from sin.

So, what is this passage all about then?

Jesus once again is dealing with the hypocrisy of the Jewish leadership. They bring this woman, caught in sin, to Jesus for the purpose of trapping him. The text says that they caught this woman in the very act of adultery and so they conclude that she should be stoned according to the Law of Moses. So what’s the problem?

Leviticus 20:10 And the man that committeth adultery with another man’s wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

It is not that Jesus is against following the law, but rather he believes in TRUE justice. So where was the man? Why wasn’t the man caught with the woman being accused and threatened with stoning too? The law clearly states that both that are guilty must be stoned. Instead the Jews chose to break the law and only stone the woman. For that reason, Jesus was not willing to be party with such an injustice.

So is Jesus really turning a blind eye to this woman’s sin? Absolutely not. Immediately after telling her that he is not willing to put her to death, he tells her to “SIN NO MORE!” He is not condoning her sin. He is encouraging her to reform her life as he will do with all mankind by dying on the cross for our sins.

Romans 6:1-2 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? (2) God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?