She stood on the cold pavement shivering. The robe which had been cast over her bare shoulders could not hide her from the accusing stares of the angry men who had snatched her from the bedsheets on which she had lain only moments before. The promise of the man with whom she shared that intimate moment had been nothing more than a lie and rang bitter in her ears. As the door burst open on their tryst, he had simply moved aside and allowed the men to drag her out into the streets. Her cries for mercy had been useless as the men had pushed and pulled her down the dusty thoroughfare and into the temple court.
The irony of the moment did not escape her, that she stood wrapped in shame and guilty so close to the holy places where she had come as a child with her father to worship. The temple had been such a special place in her memories. The sense of God’s holiness made the very ground seem sacred. But today, she knew that she had no business being here. She had nothing in common with holiness today. She had given in to the passion and whispered compliments of the man, one she knew had a wife at home.
Her heart ached with sorrow as she heard the scathing insults and accusations of the crowd. Their taunts cut her heart like a blade. “This woman,” the word sounded like an insult as they spat it out. “ This woman was caught in the very act of adultery. Now Moses in the Law commanded us that such shall be stoned to death. But what do You say?”
Glancing up through the curtain of her hair, she saw the Rabbi that was being given opportunity to declare her judgment. He looked at her for a long moment, then turned and looked at the indignant group of men surrounding her. She braced herself for the rocks to begin striking her, but to her amazement the sentence never came. Instead, the Man knelt down and began marking letters in the dirt using His finger.
As the crowd murmured, demanding the sentence be pronounced that would end her life, the Man stood again to His feet. Wiping the dust from His hand, He spoke calmly. “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” He quietly bent and resumed His careful writing on the ground. A hush swept the court and slowly the men walked away, one by one convicted of their own moral bankruptcy, until only the woman remained.
She stood there and waited in the shadow of the temple. She waited to be condemned. She waited to die. Finally Jesus stood up and looked into her eyes. She saw the compassion in His face as He asked, “Woman, where are your accusers? Has no man condemned you?”
Relief washed over her as she wiped the tears from her dust stained face. She had never received such grace before. “No man, “ she said with her voice trembling.
“ Neither do I condemn you, “ Jesus answered. “Go and sin no more.”
Pulling her robe around her closely, she nodded her agreement. In the shadow of the temple, she had found grace and mercy that she had not deserved. As she walked out the gate and toward her home, she felt something that had eluded her for many years. She felt clean. She was forgiven. (from John 8:1-11)
Can I be real with you? I love that the scripture does not name this woman. Her identity as an adulterer died in the shadow of the temple as her blatant sin met the Lord’s lavish grace. She came near stained, deserving the judgment the crowd was demanding. As she walked out of the temple court, she knew how narrowly she had escaped the stones of her angry accusers. All that stood between her and death was Jesus, and He had been enough.
That is my story. I came to the Lord in an old country church many years ago. I do not remember what the pastor was preaching that day. But I do remember the feeling that my heart would beat out of my chest if I did not respond to his invitation to pray at the altar. I knelt to pray as a sinner, but when I rose from that place I felt as though I had been freshly bathed and completely clean.
I am the woman caught in her sins, cornered by her accuser and deserving judgment. My sin didn’t particularly look like this unnamed woman in scripture, but I was stained just the same. I was exposed and guilty in the sight of a holy God. But when I stood in the shadow of Jesus’ cross, I received outrageous grace and a mercy I could not deserve. The death penalty justice demanded for my sins was paid in full when He lay down His life on the cross. All that stood between me and hell was Jesus, and He was enough.
How about you? Have you stood in the shadow of the cross and found mercy yet? If you are living a weary life, heavy with sin and stained with regret, exposed in front of God and man, let me offer you some hope. The cross still casts its shadow on all who would seek forgiveness there. No sin is too great for the Lord to forgive. You may be a mess, but that doesn’t intimidate God. Jesus is still enough.
Will you pray with me?
Father, we come to You in Jesus’ name and we confess that we have sinned. We have lied, cheated, stolen, been proud, been cruel, and so many other things. We do not deserve Your forgiveness and love, yet You offer it so freely.
We believe that Jesus died on the cross paying the penalty for our wrongdoing. We ask You to forgive us and to cleanse us from our sins according to Your word. We thank You for the shadow of the cross on our lives. We leave our old identities as sinners in that shadow. Jesus is, and always will be, enough.
