THE RESURRECTED LIFE -- Day 17

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Day 17:  The Woman Caught in Adultery (John 8: 1-11)

Early one morning Jesus was walking by the temple and entered.  He sat down and began to teach those who had already gathered there for the morning teaching.  Commotion filled the air outside, and the sounds of a struggle could clearly be heard.  The voice of a woman crying caught Jesus’ attention over the angry, loud words of the men with her.

“Rabbi, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the VERY act!” the Jewish leaders cried.  Filthy, humiliated, and ashamed, the woman stood in the center of the entire gathering.  The eyes of the crowd burned holes in her heart.  Anger welled up inside of her as she considered the injustice of this law.  “Where is the man who was with me?” her thoughts screamed out. “Isn’t he just as sinful as I am?  Have I been set up?  How did the religious leaders know?  They didn’t just “happen” by that early in the morning, did they?”

Her thoughts were interrupted by, “Our law says such a woman must be stoned!”  It was then that all attention turned toward the Teacher.  It was the first time the woman had taken notice of Him.  It seemed like hours passed while He wrote in the dirt.  She wondered if He would condemn her.  Her eyes dropped to the ground as she realized she had no hope of forgiveness. 

Jesus answered the Pharisees who had brought the accusation against the woman.  “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”  Her eyes still cast downward, she heard the murmurs, then the shuffling of feet, and when she dared to look up, she met the eyes of her Savior.  Turning to where her accusers stood she discovered that not one of them remained in the street.

Do you run in to be the first to accuse, judge, and condemn when someone has been caught in a sin?  Or maybe you are the “adulteress”—caught and in need of repentance.  Either way, we must know who we are……SINNERS, all of us!  Jesus told the woman, “From now on, sin no more.”   It applied to both the woman and the Pharisees in this story.  It applies to us as well.  Which sin do you relate to?  Stop sinning now, if you are.   Or begin now to be the first to love and restore the sinner.

THE RESURRECTED LIFE -- Day 15

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 Day 15:  The Immoral Woman (Luke 7: 36-50)

He was coming to her town—the Man who forgave sins.  Surely there was no one who needed that more than her.  Her immorality was well-known by all.  She felt dirty, unclean, and unworthy of His forgiveness.  Yet, something inside of her was prompting her to go and find Him.

Asking a woman on the street where she might find Him, she returned her look of judgment and condemnation with a downward glance to the ground.  She was thankful that the woman had told her where Jesus could be found, but her shame made her feel like running home instead.

Pushing her feelings aside, she continued on her way, holding very carefully the alabaster vial of perfume in her hands.  Arriving at Simon the Pharisee’s home, she quietly slipped in the side door undetected.  There He was, reclining at the table.  Lowering her eyes, it became quite obvious that the well-known tradition of foot washing had not been offered to Jesus.  His feet were as dirty as her own heart.  Had He been treated with disrespect, she wondered?  She knew exactly what that felt like?

Overcome with her identification with Him, she slowly moved so that she was standing right behind His feet.  Her tears flowed freely and unceasingly, making rivers over the dirt and dung caked on His feet from His travels.  The tears made clean paths on the way to the floor underneath.  Bending down, she took her hair and began to wipe His feet completely clean.  Over and over she wet them and wiped them as years of shame, guilt and regret poured from her heart to His feet.  Then she took the vial of perfume, broke it, and poured it out on them, kissing them as she worshiped the One who might forgive her guilty stain.  Love for Him welled up in a heart once hardened by her own wrong choices.  Moved by this ‘love in action,’ Jesus turned to her and said, “Your sins have been forgiven.  Your faith has saved you.  Go in peace.”  Never had her heart felt so clean.  In peace she left her old life behind.

What are you willing to do to worship Jesus?  What if it humbles you?  Do your feelings ever dictate whether or not you will obey your inner voice? Do you bring to Jesus a clean or dirty heart?  Do you have peace?