John 8: 1 - 11
While Jesus is teaching in the temple, religious leaders drag a woman into the space who had committed adultery. The leaders’ aim is not justice; rather they use her to provoke Jesus to say something that would get him in trouble. But what Jesus says puts the religious leaders in their place, and he protects the woman, offers her mercy, and calls her to live a new life: “Go, and from now on sin no more.” Today when we read this story from John 8:1 - 11, maybe we see ourselves in the story as the religious leaders, but many of us can relate to the Woman. Each one of us has sinned against God’s ways, and each one of us needs God’s forgiveness. This message is for anyone who is struggling with guilt or shame and needs to drink in the mercy of Jesus that ushers people into a new life.