A woman who used the commercial Gorilla Glue to dress up her hair became viral on the Internet recently. A mother of four in her forties sprayed commercial glue to straighten her hair and ended up in the emergency room. Her scalp and hair got glued together that she felt miserable with pain and feelings like critters crawling inside her head. Finally a plastic surgeon used a chemical process to relieve her suffering and freed her from her locks. She still has patches on her scalp that will take time to heal. From this sticky lesson that she learned had this advice to others: "You should not take extreme steps to make your hair because you are not your hair. You are beautiful with or without hair."
There are people who try strange things in all ages. Sometimes common sense fails and gives way to irrational behavior. Commonsense is not that common anymore. The social media and the nightly shows all had a fun time with her, some calling her names and trying to make her look bad. But if we look at our own lives, everyone has similar or even worse things that we are not proud of. But those are the ones who are quick to judge others.
In John chapter 8, we read that the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery before Jesus. The writer says that this was done to trap Jesus. The Jewish law demands death sentence on her. But the Romans were ruling them at that time, and Roman law prohibited death sentences. So if Jesus pronounced the death judgement on her, it would be violation of the Roman law. At the same time, if she condoned her it would be against the Jewish law. So they thought they could find him in violation of one or the other and would be able to put an end to his ministry.
Jesus bent down and started writing on the ground and pronounced, "He who has no sin, may throw the first stone at her." Then he began started writing again. It became quiet after that. When he looked up and saw nobody left, she forgave the woman and sent her away with the advice: "Do not sin any more."
Author F. B. Meyer says, "It is a terrible thing for a sinner to fall into the hands of his fellow sinners.” There are two encounters the woman was facing. The law on the one side convicting her and grace of God on the other side showing compassion. Jesus came to this world and lived among us with full of grace and truth. He neither convicts her nor condone her actions. He was being compassionate about her situation. It is easy to quickly judge others and make harsh and loud noises. Our social media today is full of condemnation from every angle and side. Psychologists say that if someone unusually raises big voice not proportional to a problem, it is not out of sympathy for the victim but it is coming from a desire to do the same thing, but couldn't. Jesus said, "Take out the beam in your eye before you take a speck out your brother's eye" (Luke 6:41).
All of us are sinners with a past. Someone said, “Every saint has a past; every sinner has a future.” If you are a saint, you do indeed have a past and you would be a better saint if you remembered your past and become compassionate. If you are a sinner, then by God’s grace you can have a wonderful future if you will come to Christ and trust him as your Lord and Savior. Jesus, who was the only one without sin who was qualified to judge her. But He felt compassion towards the woman. He was on the side of the weak. The great writer Destoiski, "If you say that Jesus is on the wrong side of an issue I would rather stand on that side with Jesus."
The text does not say what Jesus was writing on the ground. The finger that wrote the Ten Commandments probably was writing those again to remind the accusers of their sins. Or He might have been writing the names of each one in the crowd and their sins. In any case, we read that they left one after the other starting from the oldest to the youngest. It is interesting that the older ones left first. Maybe as we grow older we become more judgmental and need to repent more.
When Jesus writes a second time, the self righteous would not stand before Him. But the grace of God gives all sinners a second chance. Instead of passing judgment on the woman as these leaders had intended, Jesus passed judgment on the judges. 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.” God's forgiveness did not give her permission to remain and continue in her adultery. Jesus was being compassionate than condemning. Jesus gives us the opportunity to do it right. The woman looked better than the men who brought her to Jesus.
Jesus continues to leave a message “Not Guilty” for those who come to Him. So many of us live with negative labels. Sometimes they are not our own fault. But so many times they are of our own doing. And as a result, we think that our story is one of failure and shame. But it doesn’t have to be because our story can be a story of grace. For it is grace that fixes broken lives. It is grace that heals broken hearts and restores estranged sinners.
No matter how severe the sin might be, God’s grace and God’s forgiveness is always greater. Grace is greater than our sins. Because of grace, we don’t have to live in our past. We don’t have to live with the label. We don’t have to live a life that is powerless in the face of temptation and sin. We are chosen for something more. a greater purpose. "I will forgive their iniquity and their sin I will remember no more." (Jer. 31:34). He casts our sins in the depth of the sea. (Micha 7:19). He will place a 'no fishing' sign there.
Not only Jesus forgave her, but He treated her with dignity and compassion. He imparted grace and hope. He forgave her sin and sent her out to start a brand-new life. But there is more to your life than your sin. You can be much more than you have been. You can turn from this sin once and for all. You can have a new life. Jesus lifts condemnation and restores dignity.
As the religious leaders walked away from the scandalous scene, all that was left was Jesus and the sinner. When all is said and done, it will just be you and Jesus. So it will be for every one of us at the end of time. We can live without condemnation for our past sin because scripture says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.” (Rom.8: 1,2)
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