Jesus could give as good as He could get.

The Jewish religious leaders would throw accusations at Jesus, and the Lord would throw barbs right back at ‘em.

For example, they accused Jesus of breaking the Law because He healed on the Sabbath. But Jesus denied they kept the Law at all.

“Didn’t Moses give you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law!” (John 7:19).

The leaders thought they had the authority to sit in judgment over Jesus. The Lord replied that God gave Him the authority to judge the world, including the priests and Pharisees!

“The Father, in fact, judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son (John 5:22).

The Jewish religious leaders thought they were experts in how to apply the Law. But Jesus said they hadn’t even scratched the surface yet.

“Stop judging according to outward appearances; rather judge according to righteous judgment” (John 7:24).

The leaders thought they had Jesus dead to rights because He healed on the Sabbath. They thought they had grounds to have Jesus killed. But the regular people didn’t see it that way. They saw the miracle of a disabled man made whole, not the broken rules! It made them wonder, was Jesus the Messiah? “When the Messiah comes, will he perform more signs than this man?” (John 7:31, NIV).

So to make their case stick, the Pharisees needed a clear example of Jesus breaking the Law of Moses. Something no one could argue with. So they brought Him a woman caught in adultery.

They said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?” (John 8:4-5).

I think the very fact that the leaders brought this woman for Jesus to judge shows they missed the point of Jesus’ barbs against them. Why did Jesus tell them they had not kept the Law and were not judging rightly? What’s the Law for?

Paul explained it for us.

The knowledge of sin comes through the law (Rom 3:20b).

When Jesus said the leaders were not keeping the Law, they thought He was asking them to be even stricter legalists.

When Jesus told them to judge righteously, not just on the surface, they thought He was talking about how to judge other people.

But first and foremost, the Law is not for others.

It’s for you.

When Jesus said the religious leaders didn’t keep the Law, they should have gone home and thought about their lives. They should have asked themselves whether they were really living up to God’s commands.

When Jesus said to judge righteously, He meant, starting with your own heart.

You may look like a good Christian on the outside, but what’s really going on beneath the surface? Have you looked in the mirror lately?

The religious leaders hadn’t.

The Pharisees were looking at other people. And so, they found this woman and brought her to be judged by Jesus. It was an open and shut case. What would He say? If Jesus denied the Law, they would have Him in their trap. But the Lord was too clever for them.

Did Jesus tell them the woman was innocent? No.

Did Jesus tell them that Moses was wrong? No.

Did Jesus tell them the punishment was too severe? No.

So what did He do?

He preached the Law, to convict the self-righteous crowds of their sin.

“The one without sin among you should be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7).

Did you know that sin is the breaking of God’s Law?

Jesus is saying—“If you’ve never broken God’s Law before, then go right ahead and throw those stones. Of course, be prepared. You could be next!”

How did the people take that?

Remember this is happening in the Temple.

There are sacrificial animals everywhere.

You can hear them braying, baaing, and cooing. They’re all going to be killed. Day in. Day out. An endless parade of blood. Sacrifices for sin.

Why?

Because every single man, woman, and child in Israel had broken God’s Law. That included every single man surrounding Jesus and the woman, stone in hand. They had all broken God’s Law. That’s why they were in the Temple in the first place!

“The one without sin among you should be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7).

They finally looked in the mirror. They examined their own hearts. And no one could do it. No one could throw the first stone. The Law finally hit its target. It convicted those men of their own sin, and they slowly slinked away leaving Jesus alone with the woman.

Now, earlier I said that every single man, woman, and child in Israel had broken God’s Law. There was one exception. Jesus. He was the one person who had never sinned. He was the one person who could throw the stone.

But He didn’t.

“Has no one condemned you?” Jesus asked the woman.

No. No one.

“Neither do I,” He said (John 8:11).

He didn’t condemn her!

Why not?

Because if it was God’s purpose to condemn the world, we’d all be wiped out.

But that wasn’t God’s purpose. And it wasn’t Jesus’ either (it still isn’t!). Jesus came to save, not to judge.

“If anyone hears My words and doesn’t keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world” (John 12:47).

Do you feel condemned by the world? Probably. You might feel the same way about God—that He’s out to get you.

In a manner of speaking, He is.

But just as Jesus didn’t want to throw the stone at the woman, neither does God want to throw a stone at you. He wants to get you, but not to condemn you.

Jesus could give as good as He can get. But what He wants to give is eternal life, not condemnation.