Today’s Reading: John 8:1-36; 1 John 1

When the crowds heard him say this, some of them declared, “Surely this man is the Prophet we’ve been expecting.” Others said, “He is the Messiah.” Still others said, “But he can’t be! Will the Messiah come from Galilee? For the Scriptures clearly state that the Messiah will be born of the royal line of David, in Bethlehem, the village where King David was born.” – John 7:40-42

They thought they knew where Jesus came from. What they didn’t know was that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, because Mary and Joseph had traveled back for the census taken by the Roman Emperor. The religious leaders thought they knew the situation Jesus was born out of. What they didn’t know was that Mary was a virgin, even though she was found to be with child while engaged to Joseph.

It seems obvious to me that rumors had reached the religious leaders about the legitimacy of Jesus’ birth because they brought a woman caught in adultery to Jesus. They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him.

“Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?” – John 8:4-5

Instead of condemning the woman who had been caught in sin, Jesus stooped down and started writing in the dust. The teachers of religious law and Pharisees impatiently demanded an answer from Jesus. So our Lord stood up and invited anyone who had never sinned to throw the first stone. One by one the accusers walked away, for not one of them was sinless.

WE HAVE ALL SINNED. ALL OF US ARE GUILTY OF SINNING AGAINST GOD.

Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”
“No, Lord,” she said.
And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.” – John 8:10-11

Jesus did not say that the woman was not guilty. Jesus showed the woman compassion but he did not affirm her adultery. Instead, Jesus told her to go and sin no more. In fact, you could say that it was out of compassion that Jesus instructed her to stop sinning.

Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” – John 8:12

WE DO NOT HAVE TO WALK IN DARKNESS. WE CAN WALK IN THE LIGHT THAT LEADS TO LIFE INSTEAD OF CHOOSING TO SIN.

The religious leaders continued their argument that they knew who Jesus was and where he came from. They had not gained any traction with the argument of who his mother was, so this time they focused on his father. Jesus pointed out that they did not know who he was and that they did not know his father (John 8:19).

Jesus continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You belong to this world; I do not. That is why I said that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am who I claim to be, you will die in your sins.” – John 8:23-24

IF WE CHOOSE TO STAY IN THE DARKNESS, TO CONTINUE TO SIN, WE WILL DIE IN OUR SINS.

Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
“But we are descendants of Abraham,” they said. “We have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean, ‘You will be set free’?”
Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free. – John 8:31-36

Jesus is calling us to respond to his faithfulness by living a life that is faithful to all that he taught us. He invites us to know the truth because the truth will set us free. We no longer have to live as slaves to our sinful nature because the Son has set us free from the bondage of sin. God has given us the Spirit to do a work of transformation within us, empowering us to walk in the light that leads to eternal life rather than the darkness that leads to death.

AND YOU WILL KNOW THE TRUTH AND THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE.

Jesus invites us into a relationship with him where we can know him just as we are known by him. We do not claim to be sinless. In fact, we recognize that we are sinners in need of a Savior, but we also choose to walk away from the spiritual darkness of sin. We ask God to break the bondage that we have been living in so that we can truly experience what it means to walk in the light. God is calling every one of us to live in the light — to confess our sins, asking Jesus to cleanse us from our sin and making him Lord of our lives.

This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.

If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts. – 1 John 1:5-10

Lord, thank you for the freedom we experience when we walk in relationship with you — not freedom to do whatever we want to do but freedom from a life of sin that steals away the joy of our salvation. Thank you for the example of compassion you show us, inspiring us towards compassion towards those who are in bondage to sin. Strengthen us to walk in the light of your truth, recognizing that you are not calling us to affirm sin in others but to help them experience freedom from their sin. We love you, Jesus. Amen.