The Saturday after the Fourth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on July 4, 2026 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
Today it is right for those of us who live in the United States of America to give thanks to God for the 250th anniversary of our country. It is truly a great blessing to live in a place where Christians have freedom to worship the true God in peace and safety. We pray that our government will continue to fulfill its divine mandate to reward those who do good and execute judgment on those who do evil (Rom. 13:1-5).
According to the laws of Moses, which governed the political nation of Israel, the adulteress in today’s reading did deserve to be stoned. Jesus could have justly approved of her execution, as the scribes and Pharisees so desperately desired. Jesus, however, did not come to earth as a political ruler. He came to have mercy and forgive. “I did not come to judge the world but to save the world” (John 12:47).
Realizing that He has spared us the punishment that we deserve and forgiven our sins, we also ought to have mercy upon one another. We should not judge our neighbor, unless judging is part of our God-given vocation as parent, teacher, pastor, or government authority. In these cases, judging is not sinful hypocrisy, but rather, it is a faithful execution of what God has commanded.
Collect: 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.
