the Adulterous Woman, John 7:53-8:11

Failure...we all experience it. We all know how disappointing, frustrating, even humiliating failure can be.

This week we take a look at someone who failed BIG TIME and let's see how Jesus responds to it.

Imagine you were sitting at the feet of Jesus listening to him teach. by this time Jesus has built a lot of attention. Everyone is talking about him and everyone has different views on him. Some say he is a prophet, others a good man, and still others that he is a deceiver.

So you here Jesus is in town and you quickly head over to hear him teach so that you can decide who you think he is. As Jesus is teaching, suddenly there is a woman caught in the act of adultery that is brought before Jesus. they ask him what should be done to her and being a devote Jew, you know that this means Jesus will tell them she is to be stoned. Perhaps you even begin to reach for the rock beside you and prepare for what is certainly coming.

Yet, Jesus shocks you with a new way of doing things. He tells you "if you have not sinned, then be the first to throw that stone." Suddenly you find yourself walking off leaving Jesus alone with this woman. While Jesus tells this one she is not condemned and asks her to leave her sinful life, you are heading back home thinking about your own sinful life.

What an amazing story of the new way of Jesus we are to walk in. it is not what we'd expect. Too often we are ready to throw the stone at those who fail, but we forget that we too have failed BIG TIME...and that we aren't much different from that adulterous woman.

or maybe you feel more like that woman. you've really messed up and you know you deserve what's coming. But it doesn't happen. Suddenly the condemnation you expected doesn't come. You find yourselves in the arms of Jesus who is meeting you right where you are at.

Jesus was a fan of failures. He saw failure as an opportunity to move people towards him NOT push them away.

if we are to Walk It Out in our own lives, we must realize that we are far too quick to pick up a stone to throw and we must not forget that we all deal with sin that makes us no different from the woman who stood before jesus...a failure.

But JESUS was a fan of failures. let us walk in his way.