She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
Left alone with the guilty woman waiting for death, He asks where her accusers are and on her answer frees her from condemnation and commands her to leave sin behind. His pardon is mercy to a guilty and penitent sinner, forgiving her without excusing her sin or making guilt seem smaller. He refuses to condemn because His mission is to save rather than to condemn, hating sin while loving the sinner with pitying compassion. His compassion melts her heart to penitential grief and gratitude, raising her to a new life of purity, peace and steadfast devotion. His dealing is the model for helping the erring, to reform and restore rather than to condemn and drive away, for healing of the soul is greater than healing of the body.
Scene and Setting
Early the following morning the words are spoken in the temple, where all the people came to Jesus and He sat down and taught them. The woman stands before Him guilty of violating the seventh commandment, taken in adultery. She stands conscience-stricken and trembling with shame, with drooping eyes, stricken with shame and unable to look upon His holy face as she waits for sentence. She waits for sentence and death.
A tumultuous crowd stands ready to stone and kill her as the trembling victim waits for death. She is a trembling, cowering penitent who knows her life hangs in the balance and that one word from Him could turn the crowd to stone her to death. While self-righteous accusers condemn her, the crowd threatens to stone her as she waits for death.
Left alone with her after her accusers are gone, Jesus rises and looks upon her. He asks where her accusers are and whether anyone has condemned her. On her answer, No man, Lord, He declares that He also does not condemn her and commands her to go and stop sinning. This is spoken with mournful solemnity, with mercy and authority.
Accusers Exposed and Dismissed
The scribes, Pharisees, rabbis, rulers and Sadducees who dragged the woman forward had laid a net to trap Him, hoping He would pronounce judgment so they could accuse Him of taking judgment into His own hands and so find occasion for condemning Him. They had themselves led her into sin in order to spring that trap, while posing as guardians of justice. They were in fact far more guilty than she, guilty of many secret sins and hypocrisy, of rejection of light and spiritual blindness, and of cherishing maxims and traditions above obedience to God. He read their hearts and discerned their plot and arrogance, knew the hidden secrets of their lives, and delayed answering. Then He wrote on the ground and on the sand the record of their own sins, tracing their sins until their curiosity gave way.
Convicted that He knew their lives and expecting to be singled out and exposed before the crowd, they left His presence one by one in guilty consternation. They went away without casting a stone, though themselves worthy of condemnation and punishment. He looked upon them with anger and grief at the hardness of their hearts and rebuked their great sin with scathing words.
The episode teaches that those who are forward to accuse others, quick to detect wrong, and zealous to bring others to justice are often guiltier in their own lives than those they accuse. It sets their unrelenting, merciless spirit against His pardoning compassion toward the guilty.
Pardon Joined to Command
Neither do I condemn thee is pardon spoken to one who is guilty and penitent, freeing her from her accusers and giving her hope instead of condemnation. It is spoken with pity and with tenderest compassion by One who knows fully the character of her sin, yet forgives her. His mercy does not excuse the sin, diminish the crime, make guilt seem smaller, or tolerate wrong. Pardon is joined to authoritative command, that she go and leave sin behind, reform the life, and live better. That mercy gives opportunity to turn from wrongdoing and to begin a new life of purity and peace.
His refusal to condemn reveals a mission to save rather than to condemn the guilty. He seeks to lead the repentant sinner toward peace and security, toward holiness and eternal life, offering comfort and hope and help. The forgiven person receives peace and is sent forward to live differently, with the past left behind. Forgiveness is thus connected with repentance and a changed life in the words go in peace and sin no more.
Christ Revealed in Mercy
The verse shows perfect righteousness in the beauty of holiness, for the One who speaks it is Himself without any taint of sin, pure and holy and free from sin. His refusal to condemn does not excuse sin, diminish the crime, or make guilt seem smaller, for He hates sin while He loves the sinner. In pardoning the fallen woman and urging her to live a better life and leave sin behind, His character shines in contrast to self-righteous accusers who denounce her and a tumultuous crowd ready to stone her.
He is the pitying Saviour and Redeemer and Friend of sinners, who pities the weakness of the erring where the world gives only contempt and scorn and slighting. Though pure and holy, He stoops to speak comfort to the trembling, cowering penitent and reaches to her a helping hand. His pardoning compassion leads the repentant sinner into peace and security, in contrast to the unrelenting, merciless spirit of hypocritical denouncers. His work is to reach into the deepest human misery and degradation to lift up the debased and sinful, and with His own life and power He comes to pardon transgressions, forgive sin, give peace, and heal every difficulty and wound.
He knows the circumstances of every soul and knows fully the character of sin, yet He is drawn most to the guiltiest and most hopelessly entangled in the enemy's snares. By His own blood He signs freedom for the race. As the risen Saviour who broke the fetters of the tomb and came forth in triumphant victory over death and the grave, He still speaks these same words to all who come to Him confessing their sins. To them He gives forgiveness and peace and sends them away in peace with the charge to sin no more.
Sinner Melted and Renewed
The pardon astonishes the guilty woman and delivers her from her accusers, and its comfort and hope coming after terror melt her heart with penitential grief and gratitude toward her Deliverer, bringing her to bow at His feet sobbing and confess her sins with bitter tears. His compassion and words of comfort encourage the penitent woman to begin a new life of purity, peace, and service and devotion to God, raising her to virtue. That new life is purity and peace devoted to the service of God, entered as the past is left behind and lived forward in reform.
His forgiving mercy produces grateful, self-sacrificing love and steadfast devotion, and she becomes one of His firmest friends and followers, repaying His forgiveness and compassion with worship and showing the effect of His mercy. Afterward she understands at the cross that His death bore the cost of her sin and made her forgiveness possible. Standing sorrow-stricken and pierced afresh by the dying agony on her Lord's face and His bitter cry, she knows the sacrifice is on account of sin and that her deep guilt helped bring the anguish of the Son of God: the pangs piercing His frame are for her, the blood flowing from His wounds blots out her record of sin, and the groans from His dying lips are caused by her transgression, filling her heart with sorrow past expression and the sense that a life of self-denying devotion would poorly repay the gift of life purchased for her at infinite price.
Receiving Christ through faith in His death gives such a new beginning to every believer: the past life is left behind, and the believer is to live God's life and glory.
Ministry to Sick and Erring
In forgiving and lifting the guilty woman instead of condemning her, pardon becomes healing of a spiritual sickness that leads to everlasting death, and that cure is a greater miracle than healing even the most grievous bodily disease. Mercy meets the penitent with hope after terror, calls her to leave sin behind, and begins a new life of purity, peace, and devotion to God. The forgiven heart melts into confession with bitter tears at the Deliverer's feet, and grateful, self-sacrificing love and steadfast devotion show the effect of forgiving mercy. The sinless One thus pities human weakness where the world gives only contempt and scorn, knows the circumstances of every soul, is drawn most to the guiltiest and most hopelessly entangled, and signs freedom by His own blood.
Healing of the soul matters more than healing of the body, so those who seek care for the body are to be shown the way of salvation and led to repentance and salvation. They are to be offered forgiveness of sins, peace, and a new life of obedience, with repentance joined to the charge to leave sin behind. The same words are applied directly to patients: they should repent, receive forgiveness, be assured their sins are forgiven, and be urged to go in peace and sin no more. Bodily recovery has its place, but the work of healing the sick must aim above all at this spiritual restoration.
His way with the erring woman is the pattern for dealing with cases of wrongdoing. Following Him means being ready to forgive, encourage, and help the erring turn from sin and live a better life, rather than condemning unjustly or driving the person away. Forgiving love does not excuse sin or make guilt seem smaller, but seeks to reform and restore the sinner with comfort, hope, and help toward holiness. Pardon forgives transgression, gives peace, and heals every difficulty and wound. It is given to broken, confessed hearts where self has died and Christ takes possession, clearing the way for true light and united fellowship and fitting souls for everlasting life at the judgment.
That spiritual healing and full assurance of remission come to the one who earnestly asks and pleads on the knees even when sincerity is tested. The assurance of forgiveness and the command to leave sin are just as full and plain in the Word as if spoken by a voice from heaven or by Christ in person. Received in this way, they bring joy, tears, and great gratitude.
Faithful Obedience in Health
Christ's healing joined to the command to sin no more gives no permission to return to sinful habits. Healing is not freedom to eat and drink as one pleases, nor liberty to join the self-indulgent practices of the world. His mercy after healing calls the healed person to leave sin behind rather than to continue in self-indulgence.
Those whom God has graciously healed must stop sinning and must not return to self-indulgent practices. That includes selfish gratification of appetite, overeating, and eating and drinking without restraint. Appetite must not be made a god.
Appetite must not rule a person's life, but life must be lived with self-control. Continued health requires restricting the diet, reforming, living in obedience, and strictly obeying all God's requirements. Refusal to restrict diet and to refuse appetite as god leaves the person soon needing God's restoring power again in body and soul.
Left alone with the guilty woman waiting for death, He asks where her accusers are and on her answer frees her from condemnation and commands her to leave sin behind.
His pardon is mercy to a guilty and penitent sinner, forgiving her without excusing her sin or making guilt seem smaller.
He refuses to condemn because His mission is to save rather than to condemn, hating sin while loving the sinner with pitying compassion.
His compassion melts her heart to penitential grief and gratitude, raising her to a new life of purity, peace and steadfast devotion.
His dealing is the model for helping the erring, to reform and restore rather than to condemn and drive away, for healing of the soul is greater than healing of the body.
Scene and Setting
Early the following morning the words are spoken in the temple, where all the people came to Jesus and He sat down and taught them. The woman stands before Him guilty of violating the seventh commandment, taken in adultery. She stands conscience-stricken and trembling with shame, with drooping eyes, stricken with shame and unable to look upon His holy face as she waits for sentence. She waits for sentence and death.
A tumultuous crowd stands ready to stone and kill her as the trembling victim waits for death. She is a trembling, cowering penitent who knows her life hangs in the balance and that one word from Him could turn the crowd to stone her to death. While self-righteous accusers condemn her, the crowd threatens to stone her as she waits for death.
Left alone with her after her accusers are gone, Jesus rises and looks upon her. He asks where her accusers are and whether anyone has condemned her. On her answer, No man, Lord, He declares that He also does not condemn her and commands her to go and stop sinning. This is spoken with mournful solemnity, with mercy and authority.
Accusers Exposed and Dismissed
The scribes, Pharisees, rabbis, rulers and Sadducees who dragged the woman forward had laid a net to trap Him, hoping He would pronounce judgment so they could accuse Him of taking judgment into His own hands and so find occasion for condemning Him. They had themselves led her into sin in order to spring that trap, while posing as guardians of justice. They were in fact far more guilty than she, guilty of many secret sins and hypocrisy, of rejection of light and spiritual blindness, and of cherishing maxims and traditions above obedience to God. He read their hearts and discerned their plot and arrogance, knew the hidden secrets of their lives, and delayed answering. Then He wrote on the ground and on the sand the record of their own sins, tracing their sins until their curiosity gave way.
Convicted that He knew their lives and expecting to be singled out and exposed before the crowd, they left His presence one by one in guilty consternation. They went away without casting a stone, though themselves worthy of condemnation and punishment. He looked upon them with anger and grief at the hardness of their hearts and rebuked their great sin with scathing words.
The episode teaches that those who are forward to accuse others, quick to detect wrong, and zealous to bring others to justice are often guiltier in their own lives than those they accuse. It sets their unrelenting, merciless spirit against His pardoning compassion toward the guilty.
Pardon Joined to Command
Neither do I condemn thee is pardon spoken to one who is guilty and penitent, freeing her from her accusers and giving her hope instead of condemnation. It is spoken with pity and with tenderest compassion by One who knows fully the character of her sin, yet forgives her. His mercy does not excuse the sin, diminish the crime, make guilt seem smaller, or tolerate wrong. Pardon is joined to authoritative command, that she go and leave sin behind, reform the life, and live better. That mercy gives opportunity to turn from wrongdoing and to begin a new life of purity and peace.
His refusal to condemn reveals a mission to save rather than to condemn the guilty. He seeks to lead the repentant sinner toward peace and security, toward holiness and eternal life, offering comfort and hope and help. The forgiven person receives peace and is sent forward to live differently, with the past left behind. Forgiveness is thus connected with repentance and a changed life in the words go in peace and sin no more.
Christ Revealed in Mercy
The verse shows perfect righteousness in the beauty of holiness, for the One who speaks it is Himself without any taint of sin, pure and holy and free from sin. His refusal to condemn does not excuse sin, diminish the crime, or make guilt seem smaller, for He hates sin while He loves the sinner. In pardoning the fallen woman and urging her to live a better life and leave sin behind, His character shines in contrast to self-righteous accusers who denounce her and a tumultuous crowd ready to stone her.
He is the pitying Saviour and Redeemer and Friend of sinners, who pities the weakness of the erring where the world gives only contempt and scorn and slighting. Though pure and holy, He stoops to speak comfort to the trembling, cowering penitent and reaches to her a helping hand. His pardoning compassion leads the repentant sinner into peace and security, in contrast to the unrelenting, merciless spirit of hypocritical denouncers. His work is to reach into the deepest human misery and degradation to lift up the debased and sinful, and with His own life and power He comes to pardon transgressions, forgive sin, give peace, and heal every difficulty and wound.
He knows the circumstances of every soul and knows fully the character of sin, yet He is drawn most to the guiltiest and most hopelessly entangled in the enemy's snares. By His own blood He signs freedom for the race. As the risen Saviour who broke the fetters of the tomb and came forth in triumphant victory over death and the grave, He still speaks these same words to all who come to Him confessing their sins. To them He gives forgiveness and peace and sends them away in peace with the charge to sin no more.
Sinner Melted and Renewed
The pardon astonishes the guilty woman and delivers her from her accusers, and its comfort and hope coming after terror melt her heart with penitential grief and gratitude toward her Deliverer, bringing her to bow at His feet sobbing and confess her sins with bitter tears. His compassion and words of comfort encourage the penitent woman to begin a new life of purity, peace, and service and devotion to God, raising her to virtue. That new life is purity and peace devoted to the service of God, entered as the past is left behind and lived forward in reform.
His forgiving mercy produces grateful, self-sacrificing love and steadfast devotion, and she becomes one of His firmest friends and followers, repaying His forgiveness and compassion with worship and showing the effect of His mercy. Afterward she understands at the cross that His death bore the cost of her sin and made her forgiveness possible. Standing sorrow-stricken and pierced afresh by the dying agony on her Lord's face and His bitter cry, she knows the sacrifice is on account of sin and that her deep guilt helped bring the anguish of the Son of God: the pangs piercing His frame are for her, the blood flowing from His wounds blots out her record of sin, and the groans from His dying lips are caused by her transgression, filling her heart with sorrow past expression and the sense that a life of self-denying devotion would poorly repay the gift of life purchased for her at infinite price.
Receiving Christ through faith in His death gives such a new beginning to every believer: the past life is left behind, and the believer is to live God's life and glory.
Ministry to Sick and Erring
In forgiving and lifting the guilty woman instead of condemning her, pardon becomes healing of a spiritual sickness that leads to everlasting death, and that cure is a greater miracle than healing even the most grievous bodily disease. Mercy meets the penitent with hope after terror, calls her to leave sin behind, and begins a new life of purity, peace, and devotion to God. The forgiven heart melts into confession with bitter tears at the Deliverer's feet, and grateful, self-sacrificing love and steadfast devotion show the effect of forgiving mercy. The sinless One thus pities human weakness where the world gives only contempt and scorn, knows the circumstances of every soul, is drawn most to the guiltiest and most hopelessly entangled, and signs freedom by His own blood.
Healing of the soul matters more than healing of the body, so those who seek care for the body are to be shown the way of salvation and led to repentance and salvation. They are to be offered forgiveness of sins, peace, and a new life of obedience, with repentance joined to the charge to leave sin behind. The same words are applied directly to patients: they should repent, receive forgiveness, be assured their sins are forgiven, and be urged to go in peace and sin no more. Bodily recovery has its place, but the work of healing the sick must aim above all at this spiritual restoration.
His way with the erring woman is the pattern for dealing with cases of wrongdoing. Following Him means being ready to forgive, encourage, and help the erring turn from sin and live a better life, rather than condemning unjustly or driving the person away. Forgiving love does not excuse sin or make guilt seem smaller, but seeks to reform and restore the sinner with comfort, hope, and help toward holiness. Pardon forgives transgression, gives peace, and heals every difficulty and wound. It is given to broken, confessed hearts where self has died and Christ takes possession, clearing the way for true light and united fellowship and fitting souls for everlasting life at the judgment.
That spiritual healing and full assurance of remission come to the one who earnestly asks and pleads on the knees even when sincerity is tested. The assurance of forgiveness and the command to leave sin are just as full and plain in the Word as if spoken by a voice from heaven or by Christ in person. Received in this way, they bring joy, tears, and great gratitude.
Faithful Obedience in Health
Christ's healing joined to the command to sin no more gives no permission to return to sinful habits. Healing is not freedom to eat and drink as one pleases, nor liberty to join the self-indulgent practices of the world. His mercy after healing calls the healed person to leave sin behind rather than to continue in self-indulgence.
Those whom God has graciously healed must stop sinning and must not return to self-indulgent practices. That includes selfish gratification of appetite, overeating, and eating and drinking without restraint. Appetite must not be made a god.
Appetite must not rule a person's life, but life must be lived with self-control. Continued health requires restricting the diet, reforming, living in obedience, and strictly obeying all God's requirements. Refusal to restrict diet and to refuse appetite as god leaves the person soon needing God's restoring power again in body and soul.