Here, a woman is about to be stoned because she was caught in the act of adultery, as the Law of Moses said (Leviticus 20:10). My brother, my sister, from Genesis to Revelation, God is reminding His children that He is the only judge. Of course the Law was set to help settle order and good practices among people. But even with such Laws, people committed even more crimes. Thank God, Jesus came in order to free us from trying to be saved by the Law and He offered us the Grace of God. However, because the heart of man is very hard, man continues to do what he wants, including living by the Law and refusing the grace of God. That is the reason why today’s passage is very important for us Christians and it should always remain at the back of our minds. It is about judging others! Here, Jesus destroys the legal penalty for adultery (stoning) by saying that only a sinless person could throw the first stone to the adulterous woman.
Yes, only the sinless among us is capable to judge anyone else! That’s God’s principle of justice, my friend! In fact, what was the point Jesus was making here for us who believe in Him? He was highlighting the importance of compassion and forgiveness before judgment. Judging someone is so easy than showing them compassion and forgiving them. When others are caught in sin, how do you react? Are you quick to pass judgment or are you quick to show compassion and forgive? That’s the purpose of this statement: “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” My friend, it’s God’s role to judge, not ours! Our role as believers of the Lord is to show forgiveness and compassion. Therefore, when you judge the others, you are denying Jesus’ forgiveness and compassion, “For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged” (Matthew 7:2) and you will be forgiveness as you forgive (Matthew 6:14).
Besides, just like the religious leaders (from oldest to youngest) who were ready to stone the woman quietly slipped away after Jesus talked, we must realise that the meaning of our self-righteousness, which pushes us to judge the others, will never be attenuated while we are always noticing any wrong they do. In the contrary, the more we judge others, the more we believe that we are right. So, whenever you find yourself judging someone, you should in fact review your self-righteousness and have an honest look at your life and opinions of others in order to recognize your sinful nature (Matthew 7:3-5) and thus learn to look for ways to help others rather than finding fault in them and hurting them by doing so. Stay blessed in Jesus’ name.