Neither Do I Condemn You

Today’s Passage: John 8:1-11

Jesus is teaching a crowd in the temple courts when religious leaders interrupt Him, dragging a woman forward and accusing her of adultery. They want Jesus to judge her, and they are also trying to trap Him.

As you read, hold this: Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.

John 8:1-2 (BSB)

¹ But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. ² Early in the morning He went back into the temple courts. All the people came to Him, and He sat down to teach them.

It is early morning, and Jesus is doing what He often does. He teaches, a crowd gathers to listen, and nothing about this morning looks unusual yet.

John 8:3-6 (BSB)

³ The scribes and Pharisees, however, brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before them ⁴ and said, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. ⁵ In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such a woman. So what do You say?” ⁶ They said this to test Him, in order to have a basis for accusing Him. But Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with His finger.

The leaders bring a woman caught breaking God’s law. God’s law reserved this act for marriage, one man and one woman. They make her stand alone in front of everyone. They are not really asking Jesus a question; they want to trap Him. If He says to let her go, He breaks the Law. If He says to stone her, He breaks His own message of mercy. Jesus does not answer right away. He bends down and starts writing something in the dirt.

John 8:7-8 (BSB)

⁷ When they continued to question Him, He straightened up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to cast a stone at her.” ⁸ And again He bent down and wrote on the ground.

Jesus does not say the Law is wrong. He does not defend her sin either. He asks a harder question instead. He looks for one man in the crowd who has never sinned. That man may throw the first stone. Then Jesus bends down again and keeps writing.

John 8:9 (BSB)

⁹ When they heard this, they began to go away one by one, beginning with the older ones, until only Jesus was left, with the woman standing there.

No one answers Him. One by one, the accusers turn and walk away. The oldest ones leave first. Maybe years have taught them their own sin best. Soon the crowd is gone. Only Jesus and the woman remain.

John 8:10-11 (BSB)

¹⁰ Then Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are your accusers? Has no one condemned you?” ¹¹ “No one, Lord,” she answered. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Now go and sin no more.”

Jesus does not stop at those six words. His very next sentence is not soft. “Now go and sin no more.” He never says her sin did not matter; He says the guilt does not have to stay. Mercy is not permission. The same mouth that refuses to condemn (κατακρίνω) katakrinō, pronounced kah-tah-KREE-no. Strong's G2632, to condemn, pass sentence of guilt against. This is a courtroom word. It means to say someone is guilty and hand down the sentence. Only Jesus has the right to say it over her, because only He never sinned. He chooses not to say it. her also sends her out of the sin.

The woman came into this story surrounded by accusers and left with none. She also left with a command. Both sentences came from the same mouth, in the same breath.

Personal Application

1. Which half of Jesus’s sentence is harder to hold: “I do not condemn you,” or “go and sin no more”?

2. What would it look like to receive both halves today, not just the one that feels kinder?

Today’s decision: Write down the one thing you have been hiding. Then throw the paper away, as a sign you are leaving the guilt with God and leaving the sin behind.

Pray to Close

The central truth: Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.

Confess: confess one thing you have been carrying instead of bringing it to God.

Receive: receive the truth that in Christ there is no condemnation, right now.

Ask: ask God for strength to leave that sin behind, the way the woman was sent to do.