Over the next two weeks we are going to take a look at a very interesting interaction Jesus had with some religious leaders and a woman. Let’s read the text first and then we will talk about the lesson we can learn about Jesus. You will know this story as the woman caught in adultery. We will look more into the actual story next week. This week let’s lay the groundwork for what the religious leaders were accusing her of and why Jesus’ response was so important. Let’s read the interaction first.

“Early in the morning he [Jesus] came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. 

Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 

Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” John 8:2-11 (ESV)

What is Adultery?

Adultery is a word that isn’t commonly used in our modern times. So, just in case you are unfamiliar with the meaning of adultery, it means having a sexual relationship when you or your partner are already married. God views marriage as a sacred and a special event in the life of his people. According to God’s standard when a man and a woman stand in front of Him and their friends and family to promise to love each other and remain faithful, they are expected to follow through with this promise. The husband and wife are supposed to only be sexual with one another. 

The Importance

Why is being sexually faithful so important to God? Marriage is supposed to be an earthly example of a spiritual truth. People who have surrendered their life to Jesus, and allow him to be the boss of their life, are called the Bride of Christ. If you have given your life to Jesus and said, “I no longer want to be identified as who I was. I want to be the person Jesus calls me to be. I don’t care what the cost to follow Jesus is. My life belongs to Him and I am obedient to Jesus first and foremost.”

This is called repentance. This is what it means to be saved. Jesus saves you from living your life to please yourself and slowly dying. Instead Jesus gives you a whole new identity and part of this identity is no longer serving yourself, but serving Him. He trades you death for life.

Every action has a price connected to it. The Bible says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” ‭‭Romans‬ ‭6‬:‭23‬ ‭(ESV‬‬) Your payment for living a life only to please yourself is death. The good news is when you choose to say, “I am no longer the boss of my life. I give that role to Jesus and I will do anything and everything he asks me to do.” You now receive the payment of life instead of death.  

Best News Of All

Do you want to know the best news of all? Giving your life to Jesus means you get to have eternal life. You never have to die. Sure, your physical body will still die someday – that’s the payment for sin, one we can’t escape. However, when our physical bodies die, our spirit continues to live forever with Jesus in Heaven. 

That’s not the best news either. The best news is this eternal life begins the moment you say yes to Jesus being your boss. Jesus wants a relationship with you. He wants to talk to you and he wants you to  talk to him. As you begin to do things like spending time praying (talking to God), reading the Bible, and learning from other believers, you will begin to learn what your new, authentic identity is. Who does Jesus see when he looks at you? You will begin to be able to answer this question.

My husband once said, “Eternal life becomes your experience as you get to know God. He can be known like any other person. So, you see, eternal life isn’t for some far off time in the future; it’s for right now.” You don’t have to wait to die to receive eternal life. Eternal life begins the moment you believe in your heart that Jesus is God, he died for you, and rose again. When you say these truths out loud to others, you are proclaiming the eternal life you have been given. This is very good news!

How Marriage is a Reflection of Salvation

One of the new identities you receive when you accept the gift of salvation Jesus offers is you are considered to be the Bride of Christ. Ephesians 5 talks about how a relationship between a husband and wife is supposed to be. He tells the husbands to care lovingly for their wives. In fact husbands are told to love their wives more than they love themselves, love them to the point that they are willing to die for their wives – I believe this is both a figurative and literal command. The husband is supposed to die to themselves to care for their wives, and even literally die to save their wives if needed. 

On the other hand, wives are told to submit to their husbands like we submit to Jesus. Submission is a huge topic in and of itself. We can talk about this more in the future, but know that submission is not becoming like a robot and allowing your husband to make all the decisions. Just like in our relationship with Jesus, we are called to have a voice and even ask questions and make suggestions when our husbands want to make a decision. 

Jesus wants us to ask him questions. He loves answering our questions! I have even argued with Jesus about things he has asked me to do in the past. In the end, I obeyed and found out his request was the best decision. Still, Jesus wants us to ask questions and talk to him about what is going on in our heads and hearts. Just like we are called to submit to Jesus, so we are called as wives to submit to our husbands. 

I Had A Choice To Make

There was a time when my husband and I had to make a decision of where we would live after our assignment of living in the country of Ireland ended. We had to move back to the United States, but didn’t know where to go. We had several options. I knew God was directing me to move to Austin, Texas.

However, it took a long time for my husband to get on the same page as me on this important decision. There came a time when the Lord directed me to let Brett know that I would choose to be happy and content wherever he chose to live next. I recognized that where we lived affected him in a much greater way than it affected me. My job was and is to take care of the home, kids, and him. His job is to leave the house and earn money so I can have the freedom to do my job. Where he lived determined where he worked, and each place that we could go to had different positives and negatives in regards to his job. 

One day, near the end of our time in Ireland, Brett came into the room and announced we would be moving to Austin, Texas. He spent time with Jesus and learned – through asking questions and even arguing with Jesus – that we were in fact supposed to move to Austin. It was through relationship with Jesus that revealed to Brett where he was supposed to live and work. 

However, I had to submit to Brett and allow him to make this important decision, and more importantly I had to trust Jesus to reveal to Brett where we needed to go next. 

Why Marriage Is Taken So Seriously By God

At the end of this passage in Ephesians, where we are taught about husbands loving their wives and wives submitting to their husbands, we learn an amazing secret. It says in Ephesians 5:32 (ESV), “This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.” In fact as the Bride of Christ both men and women are called to submit to Jesus as our husband, and Jesus is called to love us to the point of dying for his bride. Of course we can see that Jesus has already shown his love for his bride by dying for us, and yet he still loves us as a husband is called to love his wife because we are his bride!

I hope you can begin to see why God takes marriage vows so seriously. Our earthly marriages are supposed to be an example to the rest of the world of what it’s like to be a part of the bride of Christ. We are supposed to be a reflection of spiritual truths to other people who have not accepted the gift of salvation yet. So stepping out on marriage to have an affair, even if it’s only for one night, is a big deal. 

Jesus takes the definition of adultery a step further in ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭5‬:‭28‬ ‭(ESV‬‬), “But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” This means that if a man looks at a woman with the thought of having sex with her, he has already committed adultery in his heart. (The opposite is also true.)

Renewing the Mind

As you grow in your walk with Jesus, you will start to notice something. You will notice that those activities and things you used to do for fun just aren’t as fun as before. This is especially true if those activities are things that go against the call Jesus has on your life, and the boundaries he has set in place for you. You will also find that the things you used to think about change. Perhaps you are someone who has had a habit of looking lustfully at others. You are guilty of committing adultery in your heart. You are exactly the kind of person Jesus wants to have a relationship with! 

Just like the woman in our story from today, Jesus doesn’t condemn you. He loves you and wants to help you change the way you see both yourself and others. Do you remember what Jesus said to the woman who was actively committing adultery? John 8:10-11 (ESV) says, “Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” “I don’t condemn you.” Those are some powerful words spoken by the only person who has a right to condemn. 

When Jesus looked at this woman he didn’t see an adulterer. He saw her for who he created her to be. When Jesus looks at you he doesn’t see your biggest sin, nor does he see your smallest sin! He sees the beautiful woman he created with a great purpose! He says to you, “I don’t condemn you.” 

Want To Know The Perfect Answer?

Want to know a secret? When you truly get that Jesus doesn’t condemn you for anything wrong you’ve ever done, you begin to change the way you think. This is called renewing your mind. We are called to renew our minds in Romans 12:2 (ESV), “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

As the bride of Christ, we are called to no longer think like the world thinks. We are to stop thinking like we did before we gave our life to Jesus. We are called to change our thinking to align with what Jesus thinks. Why? So we can know what God’s good, acceptable, and perfect will is. We will be able to make the right decisions because we are thinking more and more like Jesus and less and less like the way we used to before Jesus came into our life. I have experienced this myself! 

How do we renew our minds so we begin to think like Jesus? We spend time talking to him and then listening to him speak to us. We read the Bible. The Bible is full of God’s thoughts because it was written by God himself through people who had a relationship with him. These people were told God’s thoughts and wrote them down for us. We also spend time learning from other believers, people who have been saved for longer and have learned what God has to say about questions you may have. When you do these things, you will be renewing your mind. Furthermore, you will be able to look at other people and their sins and say, “I don’t condemn you.” This may sound too good to be true, but I assure you it isn’t.