It Was All About Compassion
Dear Champions,
The short excerpt is by Andy Stanley, and the scripture is John 8:3-5,7,9-11 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" "No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."
Jesus' tone was not condemning. It was all about compassion. He urged her to leave her life of sin because Jesus knew that every sin comes prepackaged with a penalty. Every time you sin something dies.
Sin kills things. Over time it will kill your conscious. There are things that don't even bother you that used to bother you, and there is something in you that says that it should bother you. Sin will ultimately kill your mind, your body, your self-respect and your relationships. Sin for some of you has killed a family, a marriage, a relationship between you and your father or between you and one of your children. Sin has the power to kill an entire culture, so Jesus urges her to sin not and to leave her life of sin. I don't need to punish or condemn you. Your sin has already punished and hurt you and destroyed your reputation in the community. The consequences of sin is the reason Jesus urges her to leave her life of sin. The message of Jesus is that when you sin you break God's heart because God knows that sin will eventually break you.
A little while later Jesus would die for her adultery, and He would die for your adultery. He would die for all of her sin, and He would die for all of your sin. The reason that we know that his tone is one of urging and compassion rather than condemning is this. When someone is willing to die for you, you never have to question where you stand with them.
Leave your life of sin not because God will get you, but because sin will get you. Jesus died for you because He loves you. The consequences of sin is the reason why Jesus urges you to leave your life of sin.
Champions, have a great week!-David Vining
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