[RE]FOCUS Day 25
Week 4: Renewing
Day 4: Adulterers
By Pastor Chris Troxel
READ:
John 8:10–11 (ESV): 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.”
Have you ever heard a rowdy crowd silenced? In baseball, when the stands are filled, and the home team is rallying, a person could barely hear himself think. Forget about hearing your own voice. What would silence a crowd like that, fomenting for blood? A huge blunder by their team while the other team scores a power play.
The Pharisees and scribes brought a woman to be judged, but their real purpose was to stick Jesus on the horns of judgment. A lone woman, abandoned by the man who shares her guilt, abandoned any advocate, surrounded by men who wanted to use her to prove the fraud of yet another man. Here is how men and women have failed one another. What these guys never expected, what the woman never thought to hope for was forgiveness.
Forgiveness is what thwarts and changes everything. God’s law has her dead to rights. Her sinful neighbors have her dead to rights. Jesus has her dead to rights. The Law’s Author who had the Law used against Him uses the same Law to confront and expose sin in the crowd. They forgot about their own sin. They forgot about mercy. Jesus knows their sin, her sin, and yours. Jesus authored the Law and the Gospel. He gives the gospel here as only the One with authority can. He forgives. He liberates. He renews. He is faithful to this woman: as God, as a man, and as her neighbor. His forgiveness sets you free, too. His call gives you authority to forgive sins, too. You are not Jesus, but don’t forget what He’s done. Remember; bring the renewing power Jesus gives you to set someone else free, as God teaches you how to “go and sin no more.”
PRAY:
Redeemer, when my sins surround me, it is You who know my way. You call my sin exactly what it is, but You declare me forgiven. You call me Your child. You give me refuge. Guide me to show and tell others who You are as their refuge, Redeemer, the One who renews their life. Amen.
LIVE:
Where would you place yourself in this story? How often are we the ones who forget about mercy and grace? What helps you remember?