HEAL - God's Heart for Healing in JohnSample

He Doesn’t Condemn Me

This is the famous story of when the religious leaders of the day brought a woman to Jesus who had, somehow, been caught in the very act of adultery. Jesus had a crowd around Him as usual, so the men probably broke through the crowd rudely and interrupted Jesus’ conversation to throw the woman in front of everyone. She may have landed at the feet of Jesus. (In retrospect, not a bad place to be!) 

All dressed up in their self-righteousness, they asked Jesus what should be done with such a woman. They assumed Jesus only had two choices from which to pick: 1) He would condemn her under the Mosaic law and affirm the required punishment of death, or 2) he would violate the explicit commandments of Moses by suggesting she not be condemned, which would infuriate the crowd. 

While all awaited His response, John tells us that Jesus doodled with His hand in the sand. Then, the third option was spoken, “Whoever hasn’t violated any of Moses’ law should cast the first stone.” This was followed by Jesus returning to doodling in the sand. The Scripture tells us that one by one the accusers walked away from the scene. More importantly, after they were gone, Jesus looked into the eyes of this woman and spoke, “Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more.” There was no condemnation found in Jesus; instead, He gave her instructions for a better future.

Questions:

1. Do I believe God is condemning/punishing me for my sin by allowing this illness?
2. What does Scripture say about God’s condemnation of believers? How do I apply this to my own life?
3. Is there anyone that I can think of right now that I have accused and need to forgive? If so, am I ready to take steps to release them and forgive?