Where are your accusers?

John 8:3-5, 10-11 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?" 10 When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, 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."

Yeshua (Jesus) knew the heart of every man and woman. As a totally pure and righteous human being, His experience of every other sin-filled person is really impossible for us to imagine. He knew that every repulsive thought, attitude, and action of every person in the world would soon fall on Him and that He would carry them...away. And so Yeshua did not come with a spirit of condemnation -- but with a spirit of grace and truth.

Caught in the very act of adultery, and brought into His presence, the woman's sin was immediately exposed and her conviction was absolute. The sin was condemned.... but not the sinner. Her accusers wanted to stone her, sacrifice her life, and use the law of Moses to condemn Yeshua, out of their jealous hatred of Him. But the Lord, in His beautiful, understated way, quietly wrote in the sand and then turned their hatred into deep conviction.

The whole world is convicted in Yeshua's presence. But only the ones who really appreciate His grace are filled with amazement and gratitude. Can you imagine how this woman must have felt? Her mind had been filled with voices of accusation, rejection, and condemnation. Yeshua didn't feed the frenzy, but calmly observed, "He that is without sin, let him cast the first stone." When no one did, the Lord freed the convicted sinner and restored her life, saying, "Go and sin no more."

Voices of accusation, rejection, and condemnation will rise against you in the presence of your sins -- but Yeshua will write in the sand and expose the hearts of your accusers. Confess your sin, and stand amazed and grateful, for His grace.

Copyright 1999-2024 Worthy Devotions. This devotional was originally published on Worthy Devotions and was reproduced with permission.

How to display the above article within the Worthy Suite WordPress Plugin.

[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]

How often, in all the issues we have to deal with talking with people, we know or we feel we are right; our idea, our position, our interpretation is it, and we're ready to fight for it...

The first king of Israel, King Saul,was told by God to utterly slay Amalek and his descendants. In blatant disobedience Saul allowed Agag, the king of the Amalekites and the best of the cattle to remain alive. The following day, Saul tried to remedy his disobedience by attempting to sacrifice the best of the cattle to the Lord.

One night a house caught fire and a young boy was forced to flee flames by jumping to the ground from the roof. His father stood on the ground below with outstretched arms, calling to his son, "Jump! I'll catch you." But the boy was afraid -- he couldn't see his father -- all he could see was flame, smoke, and blackness. He was afraid. Still, his father kept yelling: "Jump son! I will catch you!" But the boy refused, crying, "Daddy, I can't see you!" His father replied, "It's ok son -- I can see you -- and that's all that matters!"

Tonight begins the feast of Purim, which celebrates the deliverance of the Jewish people from one of many of Satan's attempts to purge them from the world. Mordechai gave Esther a great challenge then, "and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"

While I was in the States, I read several stories about Ronald Reagan that made me appreciate him as a person and as a leader. But one amusing story really caught my attention and made me smile. When he was a young man, Reagan worked at a radio station and sometimes played records of sermons. His shift at the station was a one-man operation and so, on occasion, Ron would set the record playing and then sneak out for a cup of coffee. One day he got a call while he was at the coffee shop from the station's owner, ordering him back to the station, and then ... he received his termination notice. He'd returned to the station finding the record skipping at a particular point in the sermon...

Life can get so hectic sometimes -- we often try to do too many things at once. But when our schedule gets that hectic, we need to start investing in some quality time with the Lord. The operating word here is "investing".

In 2nd Samuel Chapter 9 we read of the story of King David and Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth was the son of Jonathan and the grandson of the first king of Israel, King Saul. After Jonathan's death, David went forth to show kindness to Saul's house. Mephibosheth had become lame at the young age of five -- he had lived his entire life as a cripple.