During Easter each year, many of us are often thinking of the death of Jesus on the Cross; his burial; and, His glorious resurrection. When I read about the encounter of Jesus with the adulterous woman in John 8:1-11, it is a great illustration to me of the Cross.

Through Jesus, a new covenant was established…we see this in how he related to people throughout his time on earth. This would frustrate the religious leaders to no end. They couldn’t see that God was doing a new thing through His Son. In this passage, the law of Moses representing the old covenant / way of dealing with sin is not carried out by the stoning of this woman.

My favorite part: “Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”, “Neither do I.” There was no condemnation for this woman’s sin. She was saved from death at that moment…just as we are. Condemn means to express complete disapproval of, typically in public; sentence (someone) to a particular punishment, especially death.  John 3:17 says, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

Jesus was the ONLY ONE in that crowd without sin and he could have thrown the first stone. But, he didn’t. He later felt the weight of every stone that could have been thrown that day as He endured the Cross as our perfect sacrifice.

“Go and sin no more.” This woman was given a new identity that day…a new start. She was no longer bound to sin and the shame and condemnation it had brought in her life. Jesus didn’t condone the sin, but He didn’t condemn the sinner. He is the only One who can rightly condemn, and yet he offers overwhelming, astonishing grace to all of us.

While some Christians are out condemning sinners, Jesus did the opposite – He gave His very life to bear sinners’ sin and condemnation on the Cross – for all who would trust in Him. Romans 8:34 says, “Who then is the one who condemns?  No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.”