Day 31 - Friday, March 19
Title: “I DO NOT CONDEMN YOU, EITHER. FROM NOW ON SIN NO MORE”
Scripture: John 8:3-11
The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?” They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court. Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.”

Poetry:
Writing in the Dust
by Roger Wagner

The men taken in hypocrisy
The beating of a swallow’s wings,
A stone jar poised as if to fall,
A fierce and unforgiving sun
That beats upon a whitewashed wall

That finds and tracks each human flaw
And reads the writing in the dust
Of broken hopes and powdered dreams
And love reclassified as lust.

Where images of shameful death
Describe a life defined by blame,
The beatings of a swallow’s wings
Above a place of public shame

Are like the barest breath of grace
That stir the unforgiving air:
That shift the gaze and lead the eye
Beyond the camera’s fatal stare

To where one writes within that dust
Of dry bones in a bone-dry place,
Of broken hopes and powdered dreams -
The unseen, unhoped, words of grace

Which free accuser and accused 
Which spell out how our life begins;
A motion like a breath of grace:    
The beating of a swallow’s wings.

I DO NOT CONDEMN YOU, EITHER; FROM NOW ON SIN NO MORE

In the Bible, just like in the history of humanity, we witness plenty of stories of abuse of power connected to sexual sins like the story of David raping Bathsheba, a married woman. In the story in John 8, self-righteous religious leaders confronted Jesus with the dilemma of fulfilling the law of Moses or extending grace to a woman caught in adultery. However, the blame and shame are only attributed to the woman, not the man who is also involved. The combination of power and lust tragically transforms into many forms of sexual abuse of innocent people, especially women. In patriarchal or male dominated societies, men create systems that grant them some immunity and privilege over others, dangerously opening doors that can lead to the abuse of women. In this intense story, a woman is used as a bait to test Jesus. She is the only woman in the midst of a group of men who is publicly treated without respect and dignity.  Jesus is the only one who sees her fully and values her. Because Jesus values women as equals to men, fully worthy of dignity and love, he confronts the unfair attack over her.

Jesus knows that the main problem is rooted in their own hearts, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” To avoid recognizing our own sin, we tend to blame others for it. Unfortunately, in the case of the sin of lust, this self-protecting action is especially useful to men in positions of power when they want to accuse women for their own sins.

In our culture, we are familiar with what some consider “good male practices to avoid lust,” that are actually excuses and alibis to avoid taking personal responsibility for their own sin, all to the detriment of women. For this reason, Sheila Wray Gregoire, Rebecca Gregoire Lindenbach, et al. in their new book The Great Sex Rescue: The Lies You’ve Been Taught and How to Recover What God Intended rightly say, “Defeating lust is not about limiting a man’s encounters with women; it’s about empowering men to treat the women around them as whole people, daughters of Christ. The key to defeating lust is not to avoid looking at women; it’s to actually see them” (p.92). That is exactly what Jesus modeled in the passage.

Living is a fallen world, even when our sexuality is a gift from God, it frequently exposes our insecurities and fears. Our new life in Christ reverses the power of sin in our lives and helps us, with the power of the Holy Spirit, to move away from hiding, embarrassment and selfishness to vulnerability, intimacy, and love. In Christ, we are secured, accepted, and safe to love ourselves and others. With Jesus as our model, we are to treat others with the same value and dignity they deserve as image bearers of the living God. And speak up when we see injustice and misuse of authority to cover up sin.

Prayer:
Our Father, we all are sinners in desperate need of divine grace. We need to see and treat others with the dignity and value they deserve because we all are created in your image. Help us to see others, especially the most vulnerable, with the eyes of Jesus. With the power of the Holy Spirit help us to seek justice and fight for equality for women and those who have suffered for the sins of others. May we all be messengers of Shalom (peace) to everybody around us as we live under your grace and guidance. 
Amen

Octavio Javier Esqueda
Professor of Christian Higher Education
Director of Ph.D. and Ed.D. Programs in Educational Studies
Biola University

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