The back story to the above verse is this:
John 8:1-7: “but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. [Note Jesus’ desire to teach truth.] The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. [Jesus cannot be trapped!] But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” [This must have taken them completely by surprise. It was clear that the woman was guilty as charged. There were likely many witnesses in her community who could truthfully testify that she was guilty.]
But God, who sent His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, was willing to set her free from the shame and condemnation she deserved for her sin. [Of course, the man was just as guilty, but that didn’t seem to be an issue with the men who were charging her with adultery.] Jesus wasn’t and still isn’t intent upon holding us guilty. His purpose in coming was to set us free from the power and penalty of sin, and in eternity, from sin’s presence. He wants to clear our name. In His court, sin’s penalty is paid.
Jesus’ intention was not to condemn the woman, but to help her [and every person] to understand that His purpose in coming to earth was to pay the debt for everyone’s sin and its shame. Jesus’ desire is to take us from a place of shame [which is where our sin takes us] to a place of honor.
That place of honor can only be provided through Jesus’ work on the cross. His atoning sacrifice satisfied God’s just wrath against sinners – you, me and every person who has or will exist.
Jesus doesn’t need witnesses against any of us to testify regarding our sin. His Father and the Holy Spirit are sufficient witnesses to our sin. Our guilt is fully established.
Jesus sees our sinful behavior.
Jesus knows our sinful thoughts.
But God, our Creator, loves us so much that He provided Jesus as our Savior, Deliverer, and Redeemer. Through His shed blood on the cross, He imputes His righteousness to every person who accepts Christ’s sacrifice.
We must acknowledge our sinfulness.
We must acknowledge our inability to do anything to pay God’s “fine” for our sin.
We must bend our knee to Jesus and submit our lives to His complete oversight.
Philippians 2:9-11: “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
God desires that His people walk with integrity. The following verses from Deuteronomy 19:15-19 reveal the need for diligent work on the part of a judge to be certain that witnesses were honest:
“A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established. If a malicious witness arises to accuse a person of wrongdoing, then both parties to the dispute shall appear before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who are in office in those days. The judges shall inquire diligently, and if the witness is a false witness and has accused his brother falsely, then you shall do to him as he had meant to do to his brother. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
Before we throw a stone to condemn someone for their sin, we must first look at ourselves. We must be certain that we have taken the plank out of our own eye, before attempting to deal with the sin of another.
Matthew 7:3-5 states it this way: “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
When we see someone walking in sin, is our desire to help that person find Jesus and experience His freedom from sin’s penalty, or is our desire to heap condemnation upon him or her, just as the folks in the above John 8 passage wanted?
When we see another Christ follower walking in sin, what is our responsibility?
We must remember Matthew 7:1: “Judge not, that you be not judged.”
Matthew 18:15-18 provides further help for us in order to encourage each other to walk humbly with God: “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.”
The competitive, self-centered behavior of the men in the John 8 passage is a great example of what NOT to do when someone else sins. Those men were out for themselves. Truth was not important to them. Position and power were their god. God’s people are to have a merciful and gracious heart toward one another, and toward all who don’t have a relationship with Jesus.
May God’s people be those who care for others in the same way that Jesus cares for us.
Please contact me at: ButGodCares@gmail.com if you want to talk further about addressing sin.
Living for Jesus, Donna
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Copyright 2025 Donna Shappy All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other – without the prior permission of the author.