The Verdict

Rom.8:¹ “So now the case is closed. There remains no accusing voice of condemnation against those who are joined in life-union with Jesus, the Anointed One.” (TPT]

John 8:^10-11 “Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”  She said, “No one, sir.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.” (NRSV, emphasis added). Jesus spoke to this woman with dignity. Jesus addressed her as ‘Woman’, the same way He spoke to His Mother at the wedding in Cana and when He was on the cross. Saying ‘Woman’ is just like saying, ‘my dear’; in our context, when someone says, ‘woman’ it can be very offensive. But that was not what Jesus was saying. In Jesus’ time, ‘woman’ meant ‘my dear mother’, or ‘my dear lady’. Jesus spoke to her with dignity, which probably nobody else did.

Another school of thought on what He was writing in the dust was that a Roman judge would always write down the sentence before pronouncing it. When Jesus stooped down the second time and wrote in the dust, He was writing her sentence. He wrote, ‘Discharged and acquitted; I do not condemn you’ before He declared it to her. God is writing the judgement and it is in your favour because God is on your side. Jesus wrote it before He declared it. When we look at Jesus, we see that He is full of grace and full of truth, one hundred percent [100%] grace and one hundred percent [100%] truth. It is not fifty-fifty. It is one hundred percent; He lavishes His grace and His truth at the same time.

Are there people that have experienced Jesus’ grace and truth like this woman caught in adultery and still did not come to Christ? Yes, and it has nothing to do with whether God drew them to Himself or not. If God gives us an opportunity to tell someone about Jesus, that is God drawing the person to Himself. No Christian can save anybody; our own part is to share the Gospel and leave the rest to God but trust that we have sown a seed. The truth is that sometimes when you share the gospel and people do not respond the way we expect, it bruises our ego. Your value is not tied to that and you are not a failure. You have done your bit; Paul plants, Apollos waters, it is God that brings the increase. You have sown a seed, go rejoicing even if the person does not surrender to Jesus there and then.

A young Pastor said to me years ago that he listens to our messages, we always give altar calls and people always surrender to Jesus. He wanted us to lay hands on him and pray with him because nobody responds when he gives an altar call and it is very devastating. I told him that it is not every time that people respond but that does not define me. I said to him, ‘You have not failed if you give an altar call and nobody responds. You have failed if God brings someone, you refuse to give the call, and the person leaves unsaved.’ You give the call, whether people respond or not, give glory to God. It is not about you, it is about Jesus and He is the one who saves not I.

Prayer: Father, thank You for Your judgment that says I am guiltless, in Jesus Name. Amen!