John 8:1-7
Judging Others and Forgiving Others
1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”
Romans 3:22-26
We All Fall Short of the Glory of God
22 This righteousness is given through faith in[h] Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
The woman beside Jesus must have felt completely embarrassed and shameful and alone, when the Pharisees brought her to Jesus...She had been caught in adultery by the religious officials...She would have realized her own guilt...The woman was caught with a man...Any respect she had would now be gone, as the men and religious ones gathered around her...The people around her and anyone watching must have thought how bad this situation was, and how sad it was...At that particular moment, while standing around those who caught her in her adulterous act, she must have felt like a complete outcast...She would feel devastated, and have thoughts of what are these men going to do next...Are they going to stone me...While those accusing her were thinking they were in the right, another One was thinking something quite different...Her accusers reminded Him of the Law of Moses and how she must be stoned to death...The One standing beside her had and has a forgiving attitude, and He has the ability to forgive sins...He held no stones in His hand or thoughts of stoning her in His mind...
With all this guilt and shame surrounding Him, He asks those all around, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”...No one answered, because all of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...