She shook in the early morning light. Her head pounded. She wasn’t sure exactly what just happened, but she now stood before a Rabbi exposed and vulnerable. Hate danced in the eyes of her accusers while they explained the circumstances of her sin: caught in adultery.
Her future looked bleak.
Then, “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.’ Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life’” (John 8:7b-12, ESV).
Jesus came as a Light beaming into the darkness. He sees the brokenness we all bear because of living in it. “Condemned” is not the identity He assigned this woman who had lost at love. He doesn’t condemn us, either. Instead, He offers us the promise of life lived free from the disorienting, frightening, aimlessness of the dark.
“The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shone…
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:2,6, ESV).
Whatever you face today, trust Jesus with your life, follow Him, and you will step into light.
