Beholding Jesus

     The problem of sin has always tormented my heart, and I think that this is the same with a lot of other people. This problem destroy our courage, every time we try to come out to God. I always thought that just by believing in Jesus and that He died for my sins, to wash my sins as white as snow, I can go to heaven. But I found out that just believing blindly can never work. People say, “Just believe. Just believe.” Other things may be done that way, but faith can never be done unconditionally. If someone says, “I’m going to kill you, if you don’t believe,” then we may say, “I believe, I believe.” but we cannot truly, in our heart, believe. Strangely, people with a burden in their heart cannot be forced to believe, as long as they carry that burden, because the heart flows according to a certain order. There is a certain order in all things created by God in this world. Likewise our spiritual lives cannot be forced. If we drag someone and tell them to believe and believe, it does not work. Yes they should believe, but they try to believe in the absence of faith. And when that doesn’t work, they say, “I believe!” and they even try screaming. If they believe then they believe, but why should they have to say, “Lord, we believe in you!” and force it out? They are forcing themselves to believe because they are unable to believe naturally. People who say, “I believe”, are forcing themselves to believe because faith has failed them. That is not faith. Faith must come according to principle. What are our problems? We know that Jesus was crucified and died for our sins. We may attend the Sunday service, we may fast, we may give offerings, we may become a choir member, and we may even become a Sunday school teacher. We can do all of this through our own strength. But the faith that our sins have been washed as white as snow is somehow not so easily acquired. There is something in our heart that says, “No, I think that sin still remains.” We know that Jesus was crucified to cleanse us of our sins, and with our mouth we may say that we are clean, with no sin in our heart. However, we can see that it is not completely accomplished inside of our heart. This was me, this was how I felt before I knew the true meaning of salvation. The Bible shows us the meaning of salvation so clearly through many stories in the gospels. As I read and meditated on the story of the woman that was caught in the act of adultery, who came before Jesus. It really touch my heart and I felt like God really spoke to me.

     So on this one beautiful morning Jesus went into the temple and all this people came to Him, so He sat down and started teaching them. While He was teaching, the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act…Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?” So it’s clear that the woman was caught in the act of adultery. She must be very ashamed, right? I’m curious as to where the man went. Maybe He quickly ran away. But Jesus didn’t answer them back instead He stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, and acted like He didn’t hear them. What did Jesus write on the ground with His finger? I wanted to know what Jesus wrote on the ground so bad every time I read this story. However if we need to know something, it surely has been written about in the Bible. This Bible misses nothing and has a match for everything. Nevertheless they continue asking Him, so He finally got up and He said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first”. And then He stooped down again and wrote on the ground. And after hearing what Jesus said everyone was convicted by their own conscience, and one by one they went out, beginning with the oldest even to the last. After that Jesus was left alone, with the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus got up, look around and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “ Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” And she said, “No one Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

    So let’s look at the story here and see how it’s related to us. The woman caught in adultery came to Jesus, right? But did she walk over on her own two feet? Or did someone drag her there? The Bible records that the scribes and the Pharisees dragged her there. But it was actually not the Pharisees and the scribes who dragged this woman to Jesus but the law. Could this woman be dragged to Him without the law? The law makes sin and the sin is what leads us to Jesus. Galatians tells us that the law is like a school-master who leads us to Jesus Christ. Without the law we cannot know that it is bad, even when we sin. The law taught sin to us. “Ah, I shouldn’t commit murder”. “Oh, I shouldn’t commit adultery.” It is the law that made us realize this. Nobody would come forth in front of Jesus, if they did not realize sin. The law made us realize what sin is. And then after making us realize the sin inside of our hearts, the law must leave and Jesus Christ must come in. If our hearts are continually caught under the law, the Holy Spirit can never be upon us. We must be freed from the law and only then will the Holy Spirit of God be upon us.

     Let’s continue with the story. After bringing the woman to Jesus, the people asked, “Moses in the law commanded us, that such a person be stoned, but what do you say?” Right then what did Jesus say? He said nothing. Instead He wrote on the ground with His finger. I heard a sermon about this story before and it really helped me out. So Jesus wrote on the ground with His finger but it does not say what He wrote. I think that God is trying to tell us something here. It is not the content of what Jesus wrote, but the fact that He wrote, on the ground, with His finger. Then, what meaning does Jesus writing on the ground have? God wrote with His finger twice in the Bible. The first time was when Moses received the tablets of stone on Mt. Sinai. It says that God Himself wrote the Ten Commandments with His finger. Let’s look at what the difference is between the Ten Commandments God wrote with His finger on the tablets of stone, and Jesus wrote with His finger on the ground.

     Jesus did not write these things anywhere else, but He wrote them before the woman caught in the act of adultery. Why did He write this before the woman caught in adultery? Jesus wrote on the ground where He was ask to stand in judgment of this woman. The scribes and the Pharisees came and said, “This woman committed adultery. She was caught in the act. Moses’ Law says that this kind of a woman should be stoned to death. But, Teacher what do You say?” Please show us your judgment.” Jesus was being forced to give His judgment. There is a meaning in the fact that Jesus wrote on the ground with His finger before judging this woman. This woman should be judged by the law. The law first judged this woman. That law was written by God on tablets of stone on Mt. Sinai about 1500 years before Jesus. If this woman had been judged according to the law that God had written with His own finger, on Mt. Sinai, then she could only die. If God had judged with the law He wrote with His finger on Mt. Sinai, not only would that woman had received destruction, but you and I as well. Ultimately, we can only be destroyed because no one on earth has ever kept the law perfectly. Jesus Christ came to save this woman caught in adultery, this woman who could only die. Jesus came to save, not only that woman, but you and I as well. But Jesus could not save her, nor could He save us with the law as it was. So the Lord decided to change the law because through the law all people can receive only destruction. Change the law into what? He decided to change it into the law of love, the law of grace and into the law of faith, and that is why Jesus once again wrote with His finger on the ground. Does that mean we should just rip up the Old Testament because we no longer need the law? That is not it. We come forth to Jesus Christ by realizing that we are sinners through the law. Romans says that there was sin before there was the law. But when there was no law, sin was not considered sin. The law was given to make us realize sin. If we could hope to become clean by keeping the law, then He would have given us a law that we could keep. But God gave us a law we could not keep. It’s not because we lack in effort that we cannot keep the law. It’s not that we lack in determination that we are unable to do this. By nature, we are beings who cannot keep the law. Why? It is because the whole law should to be kept, not just a part of it. Even though we may keep all of the rest but break one law, it is the same as breaking it all. When we try to keep the law, and we break it, we realize, “Oh, I am a sinner.” How arrogant would we become, if we could keep the law? Because we cannot keep it, we say, “Lord, I’m a sinner”, and we are humbled. God knows man well. He knows what we can and what we cannot do. Thus, He made the law so we would be unable to keep it. But still we fall into the deception of Satan that says, “Try hard to keep the law”, and we try to keep it with all our effort and become completely blinded, unable to see the pathway of grace. We cannot see how our sins become forgiven. We try to keep the law. That is the spiritual life of most people. “Ah! I sinned once again because of my weakness. Lord please forgive this wretched sinner!” Do you think God would enjoy us crying so miserably all the time? Even a good song is good only when we hear it once or twice. God would probably say, “I’m sick of it. You’re not even that pretty when you are smiling.” I know He wouldn’t say that but my point is God wants to meet us inside joy. God is the One who gave us peace. God is the Lord of peace. When we are imprisoned under the law, we cannot taste joy, and happiness, or peace in our whole life. We can only cry and pray, ‘Lord, I am so wicked, please forgive this sinner.” In addition, we can only say, “I have to get to heaven to know whether I can go to heaven or not.” Because we have no faith, because we are unable to believe the clear words of promise in the Bible, we can only say, “I have to get there to know it”. But if we must stand before God to find out, it’s already too late. When we get there, and it is not heaven, but hell, then what good is that? He gave us the Bible and sent Jesus Christ so we can receive forgiveness of sin and go to heaven, before meeting the Lord on that day.

     Jesus did not try to cleanse our heads. He tried to cleanse our hearts. We are unable to believe that Jesus cleansed our sins because we do not have faith in our heart. The first thing that comes to mind when we pray is sin. We say that if we believe in Jesus, we’re joyful, happy, and thankful, but when we come forth to God, we cannot lift our face. We can only live a life of saying, “I am so ashamed. I am not good enough. I am wanting’, because we are ashamed to stand before God.

     A lot of people live their lives nowadays not knowing about salvation, they are trying hard to keep the law, to go forth to God, to go to heaven. The woman caught in the act of adultery here represents us. If any of us stands before the law to be judged, we can only die. The Bible says, “The wages of sin is death.” It is because there is no one who has not sinned. Thus, Jesus had to change the law to save the woman. Jesus wrote on the ground with His finger. The law had to be changed into a new law because Jesus came to save sinners who could only die. So He wrote the law of the grace of the Holy Spirit and this woman no longer needed to be judged according to the old law. Whose judgment does she receive now? She is now judge through Jesus’ law of grace and law of love.

…He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her. (John 8:7)

No one was able to stone her. They all went away. Jesus gave His judgment.

…Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.(John 8:11)

♥THANK YOU JESUS…FOR LOVING ME and FORGIVNG ME OF MY SINS♥

John 8:1-11

Wow. I just love this story. Jesus so quickly turns the whole situation around on everyone. This woman is about to be stoned to death, and all these man are ready to stone her. Yet Jesus says only “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her,” and suddenly everyone is aware of their own unworthiness. Not to mention, He said that while doodling in the sand… but anyway, I was just looking through some of the books of the Law to get a bit of a better idea of how it worked, and came upon Deuteronomy 17:2-7. The passage talks about idolatry, and goes on to say that any man or woman found guilty of idolatry (on the account of two or three witnesses) should be taken outside the city gates and be stoned to death by the witness and ‘all the people’ (oh my wow). That sounds so hardcore (and honestly, kind of ridiculous)!! For the record, I’m not saying God is stupid or anything. Seriously… and far be it from me to say He doesn’t have the right to judge in such a way. No, what I’m saying is that it just seems so foreign and overdramatic to me because of His grace! Because honestly, I think we are all guilty of idolatry. No, we don’t have golden calves made so we may worship them (as far as I know, anyway), but I can’t say I’m not guilty of thinking myself capable of fitting God inside my head. What I mean is, often I’ll learn something about God, and think to myself (albeit subconsciously), “I understand God perfectly. There is no error in my thinking.” Aaaghh!! How arrogant!! Not only do i NOT know even a fraction of who God is, but whatever I do know is probably like 80% wrong anyway! To even think we can know any one side of God fully is so despicable! And according to the law I should be stoned to death!

Hmm… how did I get here? Oh right! My point is that we see something like our idealized views on God as something so minute and insignificant, yet even that is punishable by death! We write off so many things like that just because they seem unimportant and trivial, yet we can see plainly that this is definitely not the case. Or how about Deuteronomy 17:1? “You shall not sacrifice to the Lord your God and ox or a sheep in which is a blemish, any defect whatever, for that is an abomination to the Lord your God.” That, paired with Romans 12:1, “…present your bodies as a living sacrifice…” If I claim to be a sacrifice to my God, and I have EVEN ONE blemish, the Lord would count it an abomination!! Now, let me be the first to say I am more than a little blemished! But the Lord does not condemn us, rather He is merciful! Still, the men so ready to stone this woman were not much different than we are today. Like them we see the ‘greater sins’ and judge speedily, yet we are even quicker to write off our own ‘smaller sins’ as if they were excusable due to their small footprint. In addressing this issue many people say all sins are the same. I don’t necessarily agree. I believe we are much more likely to suffer greater consequences for killing a man than for stealing our roommate’s last cookie. However, I do believe that God has no ranking system. He never set an ‘acceptable-sinfulness’ bar anywhere. Like I mentioned earlier, Deuteronomy 17:1 “… any defect whatsoever… is an abomination to the Lord your God.” Are you spotless? Or are you stained? There is no neutral ground. We’re all stained. There is none righteous, but our God has made a way! We are able to wash our robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 7:14)! Our God does not condemn us. Rather, He shows us mercy by the sacrifice of His son!

Luke 7:36-50

Who but God can humble Himself to such an extent that He, the Ruler and Maker of all creation, would let a sinner, someone so unworthy, so near Him? There is no other. Even typing that first sentence I was just stupefied by the sheer contradiction in the question! Only the Highest of beings could make Himself so unimaginably lowly! I put myself in His position and I think I would’ve just freaked out at some random woman crying and kissing my feet! Even I would’ve sent her away immediately! How much more could God do so, and righteously too? Yet He sees her love —He sees her faith— and He cannot even think of rejecting her. That’s just incredible to me.

*Luke 7:36-50

vs. 36-38

As I picture this scene, I think of all the sounds and sights around Jesus at the table.  Jesus had been invited to a dinner, and He was probably in a room with other men reclining at the table with Him.  There were probably lots of conversations going on, and the ’sinful’ woman who came in alone probably stood out like a sore thumb at the table.  The woman who came to wash His feet must have heard a lot about Jesus and had a lot of boldness and courage to walk into the Pharisee’s home.  Since the Pharisee had not cleaned his guest’s feet when they came, Jesus’ feet were probably quite gross to our standards.  They proabably smelled and were terribly dusty.  This woman came and her tears were enough to clean Jesus’ feet off as she used her own hair as the towel to dry.  This woman walked in with much shame and was known as ’sinful’ wherever she went.  She came in desperation and took the job of the lowliest servant to wash Jesus’ feet.  Her crying and washing probably drew a lot of attention from the others in the room.  Jesus allowed the woman to wash His feet.  When we go to Jesus with a true repentant heart and we give Him everything, He accepts our broken heart and forgives us our sins.  It’s interesting how this woman did what she felt she should do to approach Jesus.  Often, I think people feel they need to do something specific to get right with God, when all God wants is us to come Him with an sincere heart in faith.  This woman held nothing back from Jesus. She gave Jesus her heart and mind which she poured out in tears.  She gave Jesus her body as she kissed his feet and dirtied her hair to wipe His feet.  Finally, she gave Jesus her worldly riches as she poured out an expensive bottle of oil upon Jesus’ feet.  The Alabaster oil probably spread a sweet fragrance throughout the house.  The cries and prayers of this woman were truly lifted up as incense to the King.

vs. 39-50

When Simon saw the display, all He noticed was the speck in his this ’sinful’ woman’s eye.  He was not acknowledging her sacrificial heart of repentance.  The parable Jesus told Simon with the man having the greater debt loving more since his debt was higher, forced Simon to answer the question and acknowledge this ’sinful’ woman’s act was in love.  It is fascinating how Jesus took the attention off the woman for Simon to understand her situation in such a clear and simple way.  I feel so often we get tied up in something someone is doing, that we fail to see the bigger picture of how God is working.  We are so quick to judge another.  After Simon understood, Jesus rebuked Simon for not washing His feet, and commended the ’sinful’ woman instead.  I imagine this woman came to Jesus wanting nothing of the world, and Jesus satisfied her soul by forgiving her sins.  Her guilt and shame were taken away, and Jesus restored her with peace.  I noticed Simon was rebuked for not washing Jesus’ feet, and I pray I am never too familiar with Jesus that I do not give Him the honor and sacrifice He deserves.  May Jesus continually have all my affection and attention and adoration.  It’s interesting through the whole scenario, Jesus only says two sentences to the woman “Your sins are forgiven…Your faith has saved you, go in peace”  (vs. 48, 50).  Jesus few words are so powerful and concise, and freeing to the woman.

*John 8:1-11

The first thing I noticed is that appeared in the temple at dawn.  First thing in the morning, Jesus was in His Father’s house.  Jesus did not have to gather any of the people to Himself, because they all gathered on their own around Him.  He was already known as teacher, and people naturally flocked to Him.  The Pharisees and teacher of the law were just looking for any way to accuse Jesus.  Jesus’ life and teachings were so pure, they were desperate to find some way to convict Him.  I envision it was a big spectacle as the Pharisees brought in the woman caught in adultery.  They probably wanted the people to acknowledge how they had caught a sinner, and instead of mercy, they were filled with anger.  Jesus is so calm in the situation and He takes His time to respond after He draws attention away from the woman and onto His writing in the dirt.  It is amazing the patience Jesus has as He is being questioned by men in authority, and having all eyes on Him.  In the times when we are bombarded by the world and by others, we must pause and respond with what the Spirit is saying.  Jesus does not directly answer their question, but responds in wisdom and love.  The wiser, older men left first, knowing they are sinners as well as this woman.  No man dared to throw a stone at her.  No matter how wonderful the men appeared to others, they knew they were had all fallen short of the perfect glory of God.  As humans, we have not earned the right to take a life.  Only God determines the days of a man.  Jesus has earned the right to judge.  We do not know if this woman wanted to leave her life of adultery, but we do know she was at the brink of death, and Jesus saved her life.  She did not go to Jesus asking for forgiveness, but He saved her in His love and compassion.  The adulterous woman was told to go and leave her life of sin.  I believe the Lord sometimes takes us to a very low point in our lives sometimes to show us how desperately we need His forgiveness.  This woman was given a second chance, and that is how God treats anyone who is willing to turn from their sins.

John 8:1-11- Jesus had just finished a night of praying on the Mount of Olives in deep communion with the Father. No doubt the Father showed Him the things that would take place the following day, what His heart is and how to respond. The next day, Jesus goes into the temple to try and teach the religious hypocrites about the kingdom of God. Suddenly, the Pharisees who were out to kill Him brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. They ask with a cold, sly look on their faces what should be the punishment for such a sin, reminding Him of what Moses commanded concerning adultery. Jesus already knew that this was coming, for He perceived that these men were out to destroy Him and were testing Him to try to get some grounds for accusation before a judge. Knowing fully what they were trying to do, Jesus shows them that He is aware of their wickedness by pretending that they had not even spoken to Him. The Pharisees at this point look at each other with such a hatred and offence at being ignored and raise their voices a little bit louder, asking Him over and over until He responded. Jesus could have called them out on the fact that they were trying to trap Him, but instead He meekly ignored them, for He was not about to stoop to their level by arguing with them. This silence was deafening and very calculated by Jesus. It gave the Pharisees a chance to realize their dark motives and the fact that Jesus already knows exactly what they are trying to do.

            Then, as if distracted from an important task, briefly turns to the men and says, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” Then He immediately went back down to write on the ground again, not even waiting for their reaction. By using this statement, He shows that no man or woman has the right to judge another, for though each one may sin in a different way and degree, sin is sin in the eyes of God and will always lead to death. To justly judge another human while on the earth, one would have to himself be completely perfect, both now and in the past, or else his judgment holds no authority, for he is just as guilty.

            All who stood accusing the woman were cut to the heart, from the oldest to the youngest, for the older ones were well aware of their moral barrenness, but the younger ones still had a prideful heart and would not at first admit their guilt. Jesus then proclaimed to the sinner that because no one else condemned her, neither did He. The ironic thing is that He was the very one who had the authority and the right to condemn her for sin, for He is perfect and is God incarnate. Yet He let her go, forgave her, and commanded her to not sin anymore. This reveals the very nature of God. Even though He can release terrifying judgments and wrath, His heart is not to destroy the wicked, but to show them repentance that they may fulfill the purpose He made them, love relationship with Him. It says in Ezekiel 33:11, “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.” God wills that none should perish but all come to salvation. If I were a father and my children hated me and did things that I told them not to do, I would be grieved, first of all because I love them so much and though I’ve been so good to them they still hate me. Second of all, I would be grieved because I know the result of such rebellious actions—the destruction of friendships, families, and themselves. I surely wouldn’t want my children to die though. If I feel this way and I am a fallen man, imperfect and weak, how much more would our Father who is all-powerful, all-knowing, and the very essence of love and mercy feel these things infinitely more that I do!

Luke 7:36-50-             Jesus again was with a Pharisee for dinner. He doesn’t hate those who are hard hearted or wicked, but spends time loving on them and reasoning with them about the kingdom and Himself. The very sect who is trying to kill Him, He is willing to have dinner with. Suddenly, a sinful woman comes into the room, weeping and holding a bottle of expensive oil. She washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. This would seem like the outrage all time for such a sinner to come in and touch the omnipotent God as she did. I can only imagine how Jesus feels in His heart toward her, especially in light of how the majority of others treated Him in His life on earth. He must have thought, “Finally! This is the whole reason why I came to earth in the flesh—to save humble, repentant people like this one. I finally found one who understands who I am, who she is, and the appropriate response.” Not only did she do these humble acts, but she broke open the costly oil and anointed Jesus with it. This woman was pierced with conviction of sin to the point that she probably sold most of her possessions to buy this costly, fragrant oil, only to pour it out of Jesus. Jesus preached all the time that people should have humility and abandon toward God, so He must have been ravished at the sight of this woman. I can just picture Jesus with a gentle smile and tears in His eyes as He beholds the sight.

            Jesus, perceiving Simon had a problem with the whole situation, taught Him a lesson in having the right heart. He called Simon out on not even giving the Son of God any special treatment, not even friendly hospitality. In contrast, the sinful woman not only kissed Him, washed His feet and anointed Him with oil, but she did it with her own tears and hair. Her heart was in it. He knew that she loved Him so much, not by her words, for she spoke none, but by her actions and heart. Jesus forgave her of her multitude of sin, for she loved Him greatly and repented–the two things He desired.

Jesus the one who forgives – John 8:1-11
John chapter eight begins with a picture of Jesus going up to the Mount of Olives while the rest of His followers return home. Jesus dwells on the mountain all night, because in verse two it states that early the next morning He went to teach the people in the temple. I can imagine Jesus on the mountain, talking and communing all night with God, receiving wisdom and strength to empower him for the following day. In John chapter three it states that Jesus was talking to Nicodemus, the ruler of the Jews, explaining to him the Kingdom of God. In verse thirteen Jesus says to Nicodemus, “No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. “ Thus, Jesus is stating in this verse that He is living in heaven even though He is here in human form on earth. This statement totally blows the human mind. So, I can imagine that the entire night on the Mount of Olives, Jesus was up in heaven fellowshipping with God.
Morning dawns, and Jesus heads back down the mountain and goes into the temple to teach the people. While teaching them wisdom from above, the Pharisees come and bring a woman caught up in adultery and place her before Jesus. They were testing Jesus to see how he would respond, in order that they might have ground on which to accuse Him. Jesus however, remains unaffected by their hostile entrance and impatience. He does not say anything or engage in their argument; Jesus simply stoops down and begins to write on the ground with His finger. I can imagine the thoughts of the woman caught in the act of adultery. She is covered with shame and reproached by every bystander in the temple. She glances up at Jesus, awaiting her death sentence as He beings to write on the ground. The woman can feel the hatred and scorn of the Pharisees who begin to pick up rocks in order to stone her because of the sin that she committed. The woman’s life beings to flash before her eyes as she waits for Jesus’s command. Her small amount of hope for mercy flickers into out into a nonexistent spark as the crowd’s volume and hostility continue to increase. I am sure by this time the people are quite prepared to stone her, and are impatient for Jesus to give the order for her death according to the Law of Moses. However, Jesus arises and tells them the exact opposite thing they expect to hear from Him. He says, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” Everyone is amazed at his statement, and one by one they drop their stones as the remembrance of their own sin comes to mind. I think that this is an amazing statement. Jesus is the only sinless one among the crowd, and yet does not condemn the woman, but has mercy and compassion on her, giving her life instead of sentencing her to the death she deserved. Jesus convicts the woman’s accusers with His truth. He opens their eyes and they begin to realize that all sin is sin, whether it is adultery, anger, pride, murder, bitterness, ect. Both the crowd and Pharisees are convicted as they realize that they cannot kill a woman for her noticeable sin, when each one of them has struggled inwardly with other sins which are just as evil and dark. Jesus used the circumstance with the woman to display the Father’s heart for all of His creation, even when it is immersed in sin and corruption. He gives her mercy even when she should receive judgment, liberating her from bondage and giving her a new mandate and vision. I am sure by this time the woman is in astonishment, amazed by the fact that she is not only still alive, but also freed from her accusers. Jesus, the only one who could righteously judge her, instead forgives her of her sin, commanding her to “go and sin no more.” He not only restores her life, but gives her a new and higher vision to walk a blameless life, to no longer walk in her sin which brought death. We are all a picture of that woman who are trapped in sin, forgiven by God, and given a high calling to walk according to the light and no longer under the hindering bondage of our past sin.
Jesus the one who forgives Luke7:36-50
In this chapter of Luke, Jesus goes to a Pharisee’s home and eats dinner with him there. During dinner, a woman comes into their midst, and kneels before Jesus weeping. She washes his feet with her tears and wipes them with her hair. She kisses Jesus’s feet and breaks an alabaster flask over his feet, anointing them with the fragrant oil. The Pharisee becomes offended at this extravagant act, thinking in his mind that if Jesus was truly a man of God He would know the immense sins that this woman has committed. Knowing his thought’s, Jesus tells the Pharisee a parable about two debtors who were forgiven of their debts. One was forgiven fifty denarii, and one was forgiven five hundred denarii. Jesus then ask’s him who would be more grateful, and the Pharisee answers that the one who was forgiven the larger sum. Jesus declares to the Pharisee that what this woman did was not unnecessary, but was beautiful. She saw the immense amount of her sin and was overwhelmed by His mercy and compassion for such a sinner as herself. Yet, those who do not recognize their sin, congratulate themselves their self righteousness and perfection. They will never enter that place of humility and gratitude for salvation as a vile sinner would. Her complete act of total surrender moved the heart of Jesus more than the Pharisee’s acts of self control and discipline. The woman saw her sin, repented and cried out to Jesus, while the Pharisee saw his own righteousness covering his sin, and was offended at her act of surrender. Jesus ended with saying these astonishing words, “ …To whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”

John 8:1-11

I have begun to find that when I am meditating on the life of Jesus I begin to the play the scene through my head asking God, “What were you thinking when this was happening? What are you thinking about it now? What are you like Jesus? Why did you do this?” The final question continually ran through my head as I wrestled through this particular passage. Why did Jesus bend down and draw in the sand? What was He writing anyway? I was once told that Jesus was stooping down and writing on the ground so that He could ask the Father how He wanted Him to respond to the Pharisees question. I still don’t know why Jesus bent down and wrote on the ground. I am hoping that many of you had more revelation on that portion of the passage. What I started to gain more understanding of was the people around Jesus. As I was asking God these questions I began to imagine what must have been going on in the minds of the onlookers, the Pharisees, and the woman who was to be stoned. Now the Pharisees wanted to test Jesus with evil incentives, but I can’t help but think about what this situation was actually like for all of the sincere Jews of this time. The adulterous woman was being carried away to her death. She knew it. I’m sure there was no question in her about her fate. The law of Moses is very clear, the penalty for  adultery is death (Leviticus 20:10). I’m sure she was scared, maybe even angry and mad at God. Who knows, but the people, they are the ones I am very interested in looking at. These people were standing and listening to the teachings of Jesus, a profound man of God who was speaking with authority about the law and the ways of God. When the pharisees walked up with a woman who had committed adultery, I’m sure they all quickly picked up the stones to throw at her without hesitation. Not because they were trying to be evil and judgmental, but were trying to show Jesus, the teacher of God, that they were good disciples of the word of God. They wanted to show that they knew the law and fulfill the commandments of God. Throwing the stone at the woman was not about being better than her, it was about having an idealistic view that they, or any human, were capable of following the law. They were acting in legalism. And Jesus completely shifts their whole paradigm. He is introducing the New Covenant! He is saying, I know that you are following the laws by wanting to kill her, but which of you actually has followed all of the laws without sin? The people are “convicted” and shown that not only are they not able to follow the law by putting this woman to death, but they have not followed the law themselves and are likewise not dead although they are also deserving of death. How incredible for Jesus to look on eager believers and honest law followers and show them the true nature of the grace of God. What a huge mental shift! forgiveness existed before the cross, we can see that from the psalms, but the New Covenant is about transformation. Jesus is pointing them toward a completely new way of thinking!

Mercy Through Judgement – John 8:1-11, The Use of Judgement as a Provision for Mercy (09.20.09):
Their is much to be seen as a hostile crowd catapalts an adultress in front of Jesus. Through the God-given Law they are justified in their desires and actions, but through Jesus, God, we see His heart. He delights in mercy. Though His justness could be found in allowing the women to be stoned, He wants to show her mercy. To do so He turns back to the Law. Imagine what goes through the minds of those men when Jesus declares, “he who is without sin cast the first stone.” At the same time their scholarly minds begin to recall all that is in the Law images of their sinfulness comes to remembrance. The oldest man, who probably has the largest stone, primed and ready to hurl, drops his boulder and slowly eases his way out of the crowd. Amazing at one’s own judgement of the one’s self as our sinfulness is laid bare before our very eyes. This same process moves from the oldest to the youngest until only Jesus and the plaintiff remain.
As I stand by and gaze (in my mind’s eye) at this surreal picture I see a divine paradox in the character of God. The very Man who left the glory, put on flesh and would soon die the most painful death of the time period desires and delights in showing mercy to one of the very sinners He will soon die for. Does this very desire negate His mission? No! In fact, He uses the very judgement He receives on the cross in the hearts of the accusers to convict and convince them of their own sin, which leads them to desire mercy as well. In this picture I see the perfect will of God. I see Jesus revealing His heart and in perfection effectively altering man’s to match His. What a glorious God to grant me free will but still guide me into the desires of His heart.

Mercy Through Judgment – Luke 7:36-50, His Joy for the Sinner; His Mourning for the Self-Righteous (09.21.09):
How powerful is the gaze of Jesus? If He were looking at me how would I feel? Would I be reminded of all my past sins? Would I have the courage to look Him back in the eye? Would I have the wisdom to fall prostrate at His feet? I do not know, but I can come to Him in confidence like the women in Luke 7.
At a time when women didn’t even get to hear the teaching of the rabbis, this sinful woman not only interrupted His meal, but laid her very flesh upon His. As with the Pharisee hosting the supper, a typical rabbi would have rebuked her in disgust, but not Jesus. Jesus allows her to weep all over His feet and kiss Him.
When the Pharisee looks at the woman through a fallen sinful pair of glasses He sees his righteousness excelled beyond her act of devotion. He is so diluted with his self-righteousness that he even fails to see her weeping kisses as an act of devotion at all. To him they are an insult.
This is not the heart of Jesus. No, He not only recognizes the act of devotion, He accepts it. His heart is deeply moved by the tears of this sinner. He hears the self-righteous tone of the Pharisee and reveals his wrong thinking patterns with a parable, while Jesus’ gaze pierces his eyes. All the while the sinner is washing His feet with her tears. Then, while He continues to describe the depth of His love for weak, sinful humans He turns His piercing gaze to her. As He addresses the Pharisee His back is completely turned from the self-righteous and He watches the act of simple devotion. He sees in that very moment that this weak sinner has the singular focus of a dove, and as she gazes at Him His heart is utterly ravished. He is held captive by her stare.
This is the reality I walk in. I am a broken, weak sinner, and I can turn the heart of the God. I can catch His focus with my little acts of love. I can cause His heart to turn somersaults as I gaze upon His beauty, His majesty, His holiness. This is my reality.
–Cody M. Lents

Luke 7:36-50

vs 44

He Says “Do you see this woman?” and immediately the Lord brought the that same question to my mind
and I wondered how many times have I rejected people based on their current status and totally disregard their smallest cry for help. God always acts with mercy even when the cry for forgiveness is small, insignificant, and half-hearted. he moves them to a place where they know that He is their only hope. When we come to Him humbly and whole-heartedly, this event is how He views it. Jesus asks him if he sees her and exposes this because as humans were don’t have faith to believe or eyes to see that He can take someone from the lowest place and seat them in heavenly places with Christ. We’re stuck in our worldly reality where it seems that nothing changes, and if someone screws up then they’re destined to suffer. The Father knows that we can’t live up to the standard that the fall put us to, so He sent Jesus to make a way where there was none before.

vs 36 Jesus enters the house

So many times we invite God to come into our lives and do what He wants to do, but we are really not 100% on board with all that He changes that He does. I’ve asked for everything that can be shaken to be shaken in my life, but when He does it I find that i am offended and blame it on the enemy. I then wage war with all that disrupts my life until I realize that it is God who is doing and, it was I that requested Him to do it. And so I find myself knowing that god will transform me into the image of Christ by Him sending me into the third heaven for 40 days and getting a huge anointing; but God being smart knows me better than I do and decides that I should not get to drive the F-350 Super Duty truck being the child I am. In His wisdom He knows that my life is to broken and fractured to hold the weight of His glory and power. My transformation will not all of a sudden break in and it will be a purely blissful event of joy, but it will be instead a series of painful and uncomfortable situations where I constantly push down my flesh and its desires. Its says that He reclined with him and it struck me that God is not afraid to take full advantage of what we ask Him to do in our lives, so in other words He is completely comfortable with putting our flesh into the fire and exposing us to ourselves. So Jesus the pharisees house and that represented to me that he had accepted Him but was still really messed up like all of us. When we give Jesus a new part or section of our heart, immediately issues of ungodliness clash with the new resident of our heart. Many times I find myself asking God to destroy the demon that is tormenting me, but actually it is the grace of God to bring those to the surface so I can take those thoughts captive, repent of it and then release it to Him because He can keep those thoughts away better that I can.

vs 44-46

We all have been forgiven for a tremendous amount of sins and when Jesus was saying how Simon wasn’t celebrating His goodness like the woman was, it made me think of all the times that I have sinned, asked Him for forgiveness then still feel shameful. We should feel humbled like the woman was but not like we don’t belong to live. Everyone should feel like the luckiest person in the universe whenever my sins are forgiven, but most of the time I really don’t know how much my sins cost and what their effect is on me. I need a deeper revelation of the affects of sin and righteousness, and if I had it I would always just weep before Him and walk around with the biggest smile known to man. i would be so grateful for everything, I wouldn’t complain; I would instead be full of love and mercy for others. Many people wonder how to be filled with love and the way shown here is to realize everything that God has done for us. It would be a bad idea for us to sin more so that we can have more forgiveness and then love Him more. He would have sent His son for only one single sin on the earth and Jesus would have died for us even then. All sin is the same to Him and He desires that we would be pure and holy like Him. All of my sins were all so ugly and unapproachable and my “small” sins kept us apart just as much as the “big” sins. The church needs a revelation of our pre-Christ poverty. In God’s eyes without Christ the distance between us is comparable to a homeless junkie that can’t do ANYTHING right and the wealthiest man that ever lived and who has the biggest mansion ever. Then God saw us and somehow transferred our debts and transgressions to His own son, and then erased it all. Everyone of us should think of ourselves as homeless drug addicts if we don’t have Christ. Most of the time when I am forgiven of my sins I just go back to life as usual and don’t act differently. I want a new revelation of how humankind is poor and without Him we are dust. Simon’s eyes were closed to the idea that he needed forgiveness because he was a pharisee and they were all “holy” and didn’t need anything, they were already “whole”. But the woman’s sin was visible to the public and she was looked down upon because her lifestyle was not that of the Jewish standard. In God’s eyes their sin was the same and both were just as wretched but because of her social status her eyes were open to the reality that she was unclean. We can all see our brokenness by the grace of God; everyday we need a new conviction of something ungodly in our lives so our dependency will be revealed more and more each day. Once we get a revelation of how far He brought us we will get a spirit of gladness like never before, and this will draw unbelievers to Him and bring us into intercession like never before.

We have no idea.

     

We have so many wrong misconceptions of how He is. We keep forgetting His

nature…. He is LOVE.

 

How can this idea be understood by such a limited mind like ours? Will I ever be

ever be able to fully grasp this? Even if I never achieve this, I want to ALWAYS

be sure that He doesn’t condemn me… ever… not once.

 

“Your sins are forgiven” (Lk 7:48)… just like that. This words were spoken just

after the  phrase: “I tell you, her sins, which were many…” (Lk. 7:47) He knows

everything that we do, He has SEEN our record of sins, every shameful thing that

we’ve done… and still, forgives us… HE WANTS TO MARRY US. After how

adulterous, undeserving,  hateful, destroyed sinners we were.

 

Why would You want me?

Why would You care about healing, restoring, or teaching me?

What do You see in me, Jesus?

Show me what You see.

 

John 8:9: “… and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.” I

would have loved to have lived this divine moment in Mary’s life. In fact, I have. I

was her…. the prostitute, I was the sinner, I was that adulterous woman… and

He has shown me love in front of my accusers, He STANDS BEFORE ME.

 

To be left alone… with You.

What a privilege that is.

 

Right after almost being killed. I just imagine how she was feeling… TERRIBLY

SCARED, trembling throughout her entire body. What were the chances of Mary

escaping this death sentence? NONE. They were going to kill her, for sure, and

she knew this. She was about to die, but He came in the picture. Jesus walked in

her life, and she was never the same. Jesus walked in my life, and I was never the

same.

 

What I really love about the story is the ending.

 

The part were it says: “Now after he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene…” (Mar 16:9) 

 

The Creator of all things, after conquering death, and going through His darkest hour… decides to appear first to the one who loved Him most, to that adulterous woman whom He had to get out of trouble, to less deserving one.

 

We have no idea.

Who is this Man?

I love Him.

I love You, Jesus.

The story of Jesus and the sinful woman in Luke 7:36-50 was always just another one of those stories I just read over and didn’t really think all that much about afterward, and it still is a little hard for me to grasp the enormity of it. But after hearing Allen’s “God desires mercy” message at Onething 2007 I had a whole new outlook on it, learning about it in class also helped a lot.  I like how the woman just walks into the Pharisee’s house when she heard Jesus was there and Simon the Pharisee didn’t say anything to Jesus about her wiping His feet using her hair and an alabaster jar of fragrant oil.  She knew He was there so she just thought she would go into Simon the Pharisee’s house. I’m not real certain on the customs of the culture back then but that would be pretty odd here in America today.  But anyway, I love the bravery she has to walk into the house of a Pharisee and do this for Jesus. Her bravery for walking into the house of this religious leader, and being in such a low sinful state as she was, is pretty phenomenal.  I really like the part of this portion of scripture where Simon the Pharisee sees the sinful woman washing Jesus’ feet and starts thinking about the situation in a negative light just to have Jesus read his mind. Verse 39 says, “he(Simon) spoke to himself,” and in verse 40 it says, “And Jesus answered.”  To be around Jesus must have been pretty wild seeing as how He could read your thoughts. I also took notice and thought it interesting how the Pharisee calls Jesus teacher. I’m not sure if that was just the norm or whether the Pharisee really looked at Jesus as his teacher. I really love the parable that Jesus gives to Simon the Pharisee.  I love how there were two debtors and one had an outrageous debt and the other had a moderate size debt  and both were forgiven of their debts regardless of the size. This speaks so loudly to me in how I was forgiven and of how no matter how lost someone appears to be or how fast they seem to be heading in the wrong direction there is forgiveness and a debtor willing to write off anything they may owe. And it even is hitting me a little bit now of how we should never look at someone and even have the littlest inkling of a thought that someone couldn’t get saved or wouldn’t get saved. I mean, look at Mary Magdalene, she had seven demons in her and was a prostitute! There is none outside of the extents of His mercy.  And going along with this I found the most critical and amazing part of the parable. In verse 42 it says, “And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both.”  I love how the word freely is in that sentence, it is so beautiful.  The next thing that really caught me was how Jesus tied in her ability to love with her ability to be forgiven. This is so huge! She was forgiven because “she loved much.”  She was completely broken free from the sin of her past and Jesus ties in all back to her loving much.  And then Jesus states what I typed above about the ability to be forgiven when He says, “But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.” The person who loves little has little forgiven.  I really need to love more with all I have. I need to go over the notes I have taken and been given and start applying them more to my life.  And the last part of this portion of scripture that caught me was that Jesus told the woman that her faith had saved her. He connects faith and getting healed or forgiven many times in the gospels, but it still seems to catch my eye every time, especially the more I think about salvation and people being healed through prayer.
        John 8:1-11 is definitely one of the greatest examples of the mercy and compassion of God in the gospels. I love that Jesus stood up to all of the religious authorities that were about to stone this woman that He had never even met on earth and told them how it was. I wonder how Jesus felt after instances like this with the Pharisees. This poor girl, it obviously wasn’t bad enough to be caught in the act of adultery but they then had to take her through wherever until they came to Jesus. And not only that, she would have had to been drug in front of all the people that Jesus was teaching as well. Praise God they did this though! If they wouldn’t have been trying to catch Jesus in His actions in the first place then her life wouldn’t have been spared. They thought they were going to get her and catch Him doing something wrong and what ended up happening was their victim got away free and restored. What Jesus said about whomever is without sin throw the first stone is so essential to our Christian walk. We cannot walk around accusing people when we are walking in sin ourselves. This is definitely something that I need to keep in mind more often, to remember that maybe they are weak in a certain area but so am I.  I wonder what He was writing on the ground.  I guess this is a mystery that will never be solved. Well, I could ask Him in heaven.  Something that I thought was interesting as I read over this the past time was that the scribes and the Pharisees left “beginning with the oldest.”  Maybe it was wisdom with age? I think so.  I haven’t really thought about this a whole lot but I wonder if Saul was one of the Pharisees who went against Jesus. In Acts 7:58 it says that Saul was a “young man,” which to me sounds like maybe he wasn’t yet a Pharisee at the time Jesus was on the earth. But I still wonder; Paul never said anything about it in his letters or in the book of Acts, but just maybe.