You Without Sin Cast the First Stone - The Gospels

In this Bible Story, Jesus defends a woman caught in adultery from being stoned to death. She is drug out into the public half naked for all to shame her. Yet Jesus stands up to the religious leaders, and proclaims that whoever was without sin could throw the first stone. Since none of them had a rebuttal for Jesus, they left, and the woman was forgiven. This story is inspired by John 7:1-8:12. Go to BibleinaYear.com and learn the Bible in a Year.

Today's Bible verse is John 8:7 from the King James Version.

Episode 195: The Pharisees once again trying to trap Jesus in His words bring Him a woman caught in the act of adultery. As they were trying to push Jesus into either forgiving the woman against the Law of Moses or stoning her as the Law requires, Jesus pushed them instead. He challenged them to take a look at the sin in their own lives first and the Pharisees began to leave one by one. When all who were left were Jesus and the woman, He spoke words of forgiveness and comfort, sending her on her way saying “go and sin no more.”

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let us pray. And so when they continued asking him,
he lifted up himself and said, unto them, he that
is without sin among you, let him cast a stone
at her John eight seven, renew, refresh, restart. These are

(00:23):
the words that come to mind as I meditate on
John seven one through eight twelve, when I am in
a moment of remorse, when I have made a mistake,
I will remember your commands when I allow you to
take control of my situation. Jesus, through your power and
in your knowledge, you give me the opportunity to have

(00:44):
my situation altered for the better. Doesn't matter what my
punishment should be. When you alter a situation, you have
the ability to delete the sin in my life so
that I can have a fresh restart, like the woman
in today's story. Thank you that whoever is trying to

(01:06):
ridicule and parade my mistake around publicly, you will silence,
and that they will walk away and reflect on the
grace they've been given as well. Let this fresh restart
be the starting point of a repentant heart. Remove any
sin or hindrance within my life that would move me

(01:29):
backwards instead of forward into the glorious future. You have
for me in Jesus name. Amen. Thank you for making
prayer a priority in your day. To learn more about
the Bible, stay tuned for today's story, brought to you

(01:50):
by Bible in a Year dot com.

Speaker 2 (01:53):
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Speaker 3 (02:24):
Slash Prey You without Sin, cast the first stone.

Speaker 4 (02:38):
In our last story, Jesus spoke hard truths about being
the bread of life. He spoke of how he was
sent by God from heaven, and whoever ate his flesh
and drank his blood would inherit eternal life. Although Jesus
spoke metaphorically, his words caused many to leave. However, the
disciples stayed, for they knew that only Jesus held the

(03:01):
words of eternal life. Now we witness a woman caught
in shame. She is treated like an animal. And drug
out in public. She will soon come face to face
with the scandalous power of God's grace. Inspired by the Gospels.

Speaker 5 (03:19):
Hello, and welcome to today's episode of the Bible in
a Year podcast. I'm Jack Graham. In yesterday's episode, we
heard as Jesus spoke very powerful words showing us that
he is the one who is sent from God, the
very bread of Heaven, who gives eternal life and satisfaction
to our hearts. Many could not accept his words and

(03:41):
departed that day, but others said, you have the words
of eternal life. To whom shall we go? The disciples
remained by his side, believing that he is who he
said he was, the Messiah, the one sent from God
to be the savior of the world. Today, we'll hear
how Jesus steps into rescue a woman caught in adultery,

(04:02):
an act that would have cost her her life, but
in the midst of the ruthless condemnation of religious leaders,
Jesus will shine the light of God's incredible grace upon her,
offering her restoration and redemption a brand new life. So
let's listen now to today's reading from God's Word, The.

Speaker 4 (04:21):
Woman's jaw crashed against the stony dirt. She gasped for
air as she turned to her side. Her mouth was
dripping with blood and her clothes were falling off her body.
She had been caught in the act of adultery by
her husband and then drug out of her bed into
the city streets. Half naked, hurt and afraid, she looked

(04:42):
up at the crowd staring at her. They laughed and scoffed.
Shame welled up within her. Her body and spirit were bruised.
Tears fell upon the dust as she listened to the
religious leaders behind her. The Pharisees had drug her into
the middle of the courtyard for all to see. They
made a spectacle of her. She was reduced to nothing

(05:05):
as the whole crowd looked at her in disgust. She
closed her eyes in shame. She knew what people did
to women caught in adultery. She knew she was about
to be stoned. Teacher, one of the pharisees, shouted, this
woman has been caught in adultery. According to the law
of Moses, she should be stoned. The woman wondered who

(05:28):
the pharisees were talking to, so she opened her eyes
and looked. There standing in front of the crowd was Jesus.
The Pharisees had brought her to him, trying to trap
him into forgiving a woman who was clearly guilty. One
of the pharisees grabbed the woman by the hair and shouted,
so what do you say now, Jesus, what should be

(05:48):
done to her? Will you obey the law of Moses.
Tears streamed down the woman's face as she looked at Jesus.
His eyes were filled with concern and comfort. Yet underneath
Jesus's expression was a rumbling of anger. Not anger towards her,
but the men who would treat her like an animal.
To prove a point, the religious leaders loomed over her,

(06:11):
waiting for Jesus to speak. Instead of replying, Jesus took
two steps forward and crouched down into the dirt. He
began to write words in the dust with his finger.
There was a silence as the Pharisees read what Jesus
was writing. The woman could not see what Jesus was
carving into the dirt, but she did notice that it
made the religious leaders uncomfortable. Jesus stood to his feet

(06:34):
and looked at them. He picked up a stone off
the floor and walked towards them. The woman's heart raced.
Would Jesus give them permission to stone her? Would Jesus
be the one to throw the stone first. Jesus extended
the stone towards the Pharisees and said, if any among
you is without sin, let him throw the first stone.

(06:57):
Jesus dropped the stone in front of the woman, and
it fell to the floor with a thud. Everyone was silent.
Jesus knelt down again and continued writing in the dirt.
The men looked at his words written in the dust,
and one by one they began to leave, Each man,
beginning with the oldest, departed in a hurry. The woman

(07:20):
watched as the men grumbled. Their faces were filled with worry.
Perhaps they did not want anyone to read what Jesus
was writing, Perhaps it was about them. The Pharisees left
in a hurry, and the crowds left when they realized
nobody was going to be stoned. All that remained was
Jesus and the woman. She was still sitting on the floor.

(07:40):
Her knees were bleeding and her eyes were red. Her
scalp was sore from being drug out by her hair,
and she was still embarrassed by her nakedness. Jesus walked
over to her and knelt onto the floor. He took
the robe off his back and draped it over the
woman's shoulders. He looked at the woman, and then looked
around the courtyard, my child, He said, who is left

(08:04):
to condemn you? The woman looked around. Her heart was
filled with shame and gladness.

Speaker 5 (08:11):
She wept.

Speaker 4 (08:12):
Her tears fell into the dirt before Jesus. She shook
her head and answered, there is no one left to
condemn me. Lord. Jesus propped up her chin so her
eyes met his. Then, neither do I condemn you. Then
Jesus helped the woman to her feet, go and sin
no more. So the woman departed, feeling the full weight

(08:34):
of forgiveness. The words Jesus spoke to Nicodemus were proven
true that day, that the Son of God did not
come to condemn the world, but that by him the
whole world would be saved, saved from the shame that
plagued humanity. Since the Garden of Eden, God once clothed
Adam and Eve with the skin of an animal when

(08:54):
they were naked. Now Jesus clothed this woman with grace.
This would be an image of what he would do
for all humanity. He would clothe them in forgiveness and righteousness.
Soon all would feel the full weight of Jesus's love
and sacrifice. This would inspire people to go and sin

(09:14):
no more.

Speaker 5 (09:18):
We begin today's reading with an unnamed woman caught in
sin adulterous sin as she is being humiliated before a
crowd of onlookers. She had been discovered in the act
of dultery, caught in the act as it were, and
the Pharisees, cruel and bitter, it seemed, were out for justice.
At least that's how they wanted it to appear. Old

(09:40):
Testament laws stated that such a woman should be stoned
to death for her infidelity. But these men really weren't
seeking justice. They were actually trying to set a trap
for Jesus. There was no denying this woman had done wrong,
but their quest was not for righteousness. They wanted to
turn the tables and regain control that they'd lost to

(10:00):
this merciful teacher, the messiah named Jesus, who had come
onto the scene. So they paraded this woman, abused this
woman upawn in their scheme into a public square and
cast her to the ground, challenging Jesus to decide what
should happen to her. In so many ways, this woman
represents a deep fear many people. Fear the sin and

(10:22):
the shame that people bear, and that someday our greatest
failures and falls will be brought to light in a
public matter, that our secrets will be shouted from the rooftops,
that family and friends and even strangers will know of
our mistakes and our mess ups, our grievous sins. Jesus, however,
wasn't going to play the Pharisees game. Instead, he quietly

(10:44):
knelt down and wrote something in the dirt. What he
wrote will remain a mystery we don't know, as we're
not told what he wrote or what he meant. Whatever
it was, it didn't deter the religious leaders. They continued
to press Jesus to determine the woman's fate. Jesus simply
stood and faced them and gave a challenge to the men,

(11:05):
if you are sinless, by all means, throw a stone.
It was a challenge that not even the self righteous
Pharisees could take on. But Jesus wasn't done he knelt
again and silently wrote in the dirt once more, and
with that the men slunk away in defeat. Their plan
had failed, and eventually all that remained were Jesus and

(11:28):
the woman. I can imagine Jesus standing there with the woman,
looking over her shoulder to the left and to the right,
and then asking where did everyone go? Did no one
condemn you? And the woman, who surely had believed her
death was to be imminent, looks up and sees no
one to condemn her. Timidly, she speaks back to Jesus, saying,

(11:50):
no one, Lord, we see Jesus reply in John eight eleven,
I do not condemn you either. Go from now on
to sin no more. Can you imagine the weight of
guilt that was lifted from her shoulders as she experienced
God and his grace. If you have ever experienced God's forgiveness,
then maybe you have some idea. I know I do.

(12:13):
Like her. We all stand accused of sin, and there's
no question as to our guilt and even our shame.
But like her, we have been touched by the power
of God through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We have been forgiven and now we live free from
the shackles of sin. You see, this reading is not
about Jesus overlooking sin or acting like she wasn't guilty.

(12:36):
All have sinned, we all deserve punishment and even judgment.
But this passage today focuses on the words of Jesus,
I do not condemn you. So if we read this
passage and focus only on the words I do not
condemn you, then we miss the big point. Jesus did
not deny her sin or guilt. He forgave her for it.

(12:58):
He released her from it and freedom not to sin
or to live in sin again. This is all made
possible because of what Jesus did for us, and it's
the message of the Gospel that God's grace is greater
than our sin, that what he did on the cross
includes every sin by every person. He himself paid the
price and the judgment for our sins. He paid a

(13:20):
debt he did not owe, because we owe a debt
that we could not pay. Jesus sets us free from
the power of sin and death so that we can
go live an abundant and eternal life. Let's pray, Dear God,
we thank you for today's scripture that teaches us your
amazing grace. We give thanks to you because we have

(13:41):
been forgiven and freed from the penalty of death through
your son Jesus and by the power of his resurrection.
Thank you for your love for us. In Jesus's name,
we pray Amen. Thank you for listening to Today's Bible
in a year. I'm Pastor Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas.
You can doubt load thepray dot com app and make

(14:02):
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I also want to encourage you to go to Jack
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that you may know Christ and grow in him. God

(14:23):
bless you.