Stones

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?” She said, “No one, Lord.”  And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.” John 8:10-11

There are rocks everywhere around where we live. If we are putting in fence posts, we have to dig up stone. When we trail ride, we go over and around rocks. Some are in the ground, some are sticking up out of it. Some are so big we need equipment to move them. Others are small enough that they fit in the palm of a hand. They are all hard and feel permanent.

In our story, the leader brought stones with them. Those stones were hard and were planned to be used as a permanent solution to sin. Once she was dead, there was no going back. They would use the law to justify their actions, and they were ready to trap God Himself with their tactics.

Jesus had other plans. His solution was grace. Grace supersedes stones. Man wants sin wiped out—and the sinner taken with it—grace separates the two. Jesus went to the cross to wipe away the sin, but He keeps the sinner intact. Jesus shows that love is superior to the law, not because we don’t need the law, but because the law destroys the sinner as well; we need His love to keep us from death.  

Grace also comes with a new directive: go and sin no more. Now that her life had been rescued by grace, she couldn’t keep living the same way she had before. She was to go and be different. Some say “sin no more” is impossible, but it wasn’t impossible for this woman to stay out of adultery. He didn’t tell her “go and be perfect,” He told her to walk away from her old life and live such that people knew she had found grace. She stepped out of the darkness and into His Light, which is the verse that follows this story in John 8 (see John 8:12). She doesn’t get to stay the way she was; grace made her shed those sins and walk in the newness of His Light.

We are all “that woman” before Christ intervenes, covers our sins with His blood, and gives us a new direction when we accept what He did for us through faith. We need to live differently because of the grace He extends to us. Stones remind us that human methods are hard—we prefer to take out the sinner with the sin. Grace separates sinners to a new way of living.

Thought-provoker: Where do we see God’s grace extended in our lives today? How do we need to live differently so others see that grace?

Dear Lord, we are so grateful for Your grace that separates the sinner from the sin and gives us the opportunity to go and sin no more! Help us to live so differently because of the grace You have extended to us. We love You and thank You that grace supersedes stones. In Jesus’ name, Amen.