One of my favorite stories in the Bible is in John 8:1-11. In this story, a group of Pharisees brings a woman to Jesus who had been caught in the act of adultery. Caught in the act. Not just accused. The author doesn’t say, but I can only imagine that this woman felt terrified, and possibly ashamed.

I imagine her loneliness, as everyone around her wished her dead. I imagine the fear that must’ve been pulsing through her body as she was being publicly drug out to the only one truly worthy of judging her. Hateful words spewed at her everywhere she turned. Surrounded by people with rocks in their hands, ready to throw.  She had nowhere to hide, and no one to turn to. 

“She did it to herself,” some may say. But don’t we all do things to ourselves sometimes that we need rescuing from? Don’t we all, at certain points in our lives, need to be rescued from ourselves and our bad decisions?

Enter Jesus. The only one worthy of throwing a stone.

He challenges the crowd, and I love his choice of words here,

“He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.”

The words “among you” catch my attention, because in those words he exempts himself. Had he said “among us” it would have changed the entire scenario. He would have been committing Himself to casting the first stone, rather than extending the grace and forgiveness that He did. 

But Jesus came for us. He didn’t come here to show off and set an impossible standard.

He came to save. To redeem. To forgive. To provide us with a safe place to turn when we have no one else to turn to.

He loves us, regardless of what we do or say. He loves us when we get it right and when we get it wrong.

He cares for us, in our deepest hurts and our darkest valleys; when we are in pain, and when we are causing pain.

We all throw stones from time to time. But that doesn’t mean we have to continue doing it. 

The woman in that story caused a lot of pain, so people felt justified in wanting to stone her. And yet, facing death by stoning didn’t change her heart. She knew she could face that penalty when she committed adultery.

I am not a Bible expert, and I am not about to claim to know what happened to this woman. But there are many who believe that she was Mary Magdalene, one of Jesus’ female disciples and the first to see Him after His resurrection. Many believe that she was the woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her hair, tears, and expensive oil, as an act of gratitude for His forgiveness of her many, many sins.

Whether that woman was Mary Magdalene or not makes no difference in the love and forgiveness that Jesus extended to her. But if it was her, then I believe that it was the love, grace, and forgiveness that Jesus offered her in that moment in the sand that initiated the change in her. Not the angry mob.

And that same love, grace, and forgiveness is offered to you and me.

This is one of my favorite stories, because it reminds me of who Jesus truly is. It reminds me that He loves us at our worst. I love this story, because it gives hope for the hopeless. There have been many times in my life that I’ve felt unlovable, unforgivable, unworthy, ashamed. Maybe I’ve never been in that woman’s shoes, never committed the sins she committed. But we all have our sins, our struggles. Which is why the others in this story were also unworthy of throwing any stones at her… except Jesus. But He didn’t. And just as she was grateful, so am I.

An end, and a new beginning.

I would be remiss to leave out His ending statement in this story. He tells her, “Go now and leave your life of sin.” Because not only does He meet us and love us where we’re at, in whatever messes we’re in. He also calls us out of it, to a life of freedom. There is great freedom in forgiveness. Romans 8:1-2 says,

“So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.”

And in that, I find my hope.