Scripture

Our verse for today comes from John 8:3, ” The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand in the middle of the crowd. “

Background

Picture the scene as this woman is brought before Jesus. It is early in the morning, and Jesus is in the temple, sitting and teaching to a large crowd, most likely all of which are men. When suddenly, in the middle of His lesson, a group of scribes and Pharisees barge in, pushing and prodding an improperly dressed woman right to the center of the crowd. Dozens, or maybe hundreds, of men who were just having the scriptures explained to them by the One who wrote them, were now staring at an accused adulterer who had been caught by their religious leaders. Hundreds of men, each with their own set of problems and weaknesses that they did their best to keep others from knowing about, were now looking up at an obvious sinner who was having her dirty laundry put on display for them all. What chance did she have? Even if it was only one man, as a woman of that time and culture, she had no say. But standing before so many, her life as she knew it was as good as over. The accusers had a good case, in fact an air-tight case. Justice would be swift.

Application

But the Pharisees weren’t even after her. She was just a pawn in their attempt to bring down Jesus. And God help us, but when we accuse or imply or secretly detest, we do the same thing. It might feel like we are calling a spade a spade, or that we are just venting our frustration. It seems perfectly natural when we point out the inequalities of our situations and the sticks of which we have gotten the short end. But it’s all just a ruse. We are actually being used by the accuser to try and bring down Jesus. We think we’re only explaining the facts, but we’ve actually thrown Jesus right into the middle of the crowd. We, with our own problems and weaknesses, have become an accuser of the ultimate Advocate. Do we expect God to flash down and blast our offender? But He already did that, once for all, One for all. He’s in the business of grace and forgiveness now. We would do good to spend more time in that court than in the other one.

Charge

As we seek Him today, ask God to keep you from barging in with your list of gripes and accusations. Consider how each of us deserves to be standing in the middle of that crowd.