Saturday after the Fourth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on July 8, 2023 by under
Scripture: St. John 8:1-11 (NKJV)
8:1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. 3 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, 4 they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. 5 Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?” 6 This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.
7 So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” 8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 10 When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”
11 She said, “No one, Lord.”
And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”
Devotion
This text provides us with an example of what we heard yesterday about being merciful. The scribes and Pharisees did not care about the Law of Moses. In truth, they did not even care about this woman’s sin. They only sought to trap the Lord Jesus. If He said to let her go, they would have said the Lord did not care about the Law or justice. If He said to stone her, they would have accused Him concerning His preaching about forgiveness. But our Lord does not take the bait. He stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger. The finger that wrote the Law of Moses now wrote on the ground.
He is also the One who commands us to be merciful, to not seek out vengeance toward other sinners, and to show compassion on them. The Lord Jesus told them that he who was without sin should cast the first stone, and this led to their being convicted in their own hearts of their sinfulness. A person who sees his sin properly cannot condemn someone for the sins that the other person is also committing. Forgiveness can only truly be offered by the One who was without sin. He shows mercy to this woman by not condemning her. But He also calls her to repentance, telling her to go and sin no more. Let us live lives of mercy, humbly remembering that we have forgiveness in Christ alone.
Prayer: Grant, O Lord, we beseech Thee, that the course of this world may be so peaceably ordered by Thy governance, that Thy Church may joyfully serve Thee in all godly quietness; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
