Set Free

Every one in the circle needed forgiveness.

Every one.

The woman on the ground with her face near the dirt, the one they pointed their fingers at, the one accused, needed forgiveness. She had been caught in her nakedness. They hated her for it.

They had not been caught in their sin ... until ...

until they began to shout accusations about her

to expose her guilt to the holy one ...

Had they not seen their own sin?

Sin does have a way of hiding inside sinners.

Left unexamined, our own hearts might betray us.

Her accusers brought her to the Holy one and He refused to point at her.

He didn't point His finger at anyone in the crowd. He used His finger to write in the dirt.

"It is written."

One by one her accusers were exposed.

It was suddenly obvious that sin cannot hide from the Holy One.

He knows ... All.

Soon the all of the accusers were gone. They disappeared one by one.

I'm wondering ...

What emotions did they leave with? Anger? After all this certainly wasn't about them, was it?

The accusing crowd of sinners, who like her, needed to experience forgiveness from the Holy turned from Him.

In shame they walked away.

They left, walked away from the One who could set them free, still bound.

He said to her, "Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?."

She said, "No one, Lord."

And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more."

The power of His words set her free. She left changed. She left liberated from her sin. She left her guilt at His feet and with His words in her heart.

Jesus says in this passage, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."

And as I read I think, which one would I be in this picture? Which one would I rather be? The one who was set free!

Amen~

Taken from the account of the woman caught in adultery. John 8:1-12