Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. John 8:9
When Jesus said, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her” (8:7), slowly, one by one, her accusers left. And after a long while, when she was all alone, Jesus stood up, and the woman was looking into the face of the Son of God.
Earlier in John’s Gospel, Jesus said, “The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son” (5:22). So this woman, who lives in a culture of condemnation, is now face to face with the Judge of all the earth. What will Jesus say to this woman? “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’” (8:10). The key word in this story is condemned. It’s all about a culture of condemnation that wants Jesus to join them in what they condemn.
There are three kinds of condemnation. First, your own conscience can condemn you. When you want to do something that in your heart you know is not pleasing to God, your conscience will condemn you. That’s what happened to the Pharisees. When Jesus said, “Whoever is without sin, let him cast the first stone,” their consciences were awakened. However, if you press long enough against your conscience, it will become compliant. It will work in reverse and start telling you what you are doing is good. You will start calling good evil and evil good (Isa. 5:20).
Second, your culture may condemn you, as in the case of this woman. But there is a loophole here too. Whatever you want to do, you will be able to find others who will support you. This is especially true today because social media provides an endless pool of potential supporters.
So, you can find a way around the condemnation of your conscience and other people, but there is no loophole in the third kind of condemnation, which we will learn about next.
Are you looking for loopholes to soothe your conscience? How are you doing this? Name the steps. Write down the lies you are telling yourself.
