Look at that mob. There they come. Get out of the way. Look, they're dragging a woman. They're coming in here. Alright, put her right there. There she is. And look at those ten men coming along with her! Ten great, hard, cold men, each with a rock in his hand. Lined up around here now. And there sitting, who's that? The Son of God, Jesus of Nazareth.
What a picture. A woman taken in adultery. A woman guilty before the law. And here are the ten laws of Moses and each one of ‘em got a rock. "The soul that sinneth, it shall die" says the law. And this woman is guilty, taken in the act. Here she is before her accusers and before those who are going to carry out the edict. The law says, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." And she's here to die. It can't...they can't do anything else. How can the law help? All the law says is, "Thou shalt not. Thou is guilty. And the soul that sinneth, it shall die."
Poor woman, ashamed, cowering there. Tears have covered her cheeks. Her hair's loose and her garments are loose. And she's guilty. There's nothing she can say. She's looking scared knowing that death's coming her way. She sees the rocks in their hands. They must inflict the punishment.
But, listen, there's a new thing in the earth, a new thing in the earth.. There he sits - Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Those ten men lined up there represent Moses. The law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. [John 1:17] And there he sits between the law and the guilty woman to give life instead of death. They can only deal death. He deals life. The law? He's fulfilled it. They can't hit him with one of the stones because he never sinned. All the law that they represent, "Thou shall love the lord thy God with all thy heart, mind, soul, strength...," he's kept it all. Therefore he can come between the stones and the woman. And if they hit him, casting a stone at her, he can take the stone.
And there he sits, a new thing in the earth. And now He can dismiss the law. And so he says to the law. "Those of you that are without sin, you men, cast the first stone. Go ahead and hit her." And commencing at the oldest, they're going out, they're going out, they're going out. They've all gone. The whole law has left the room.
And now there she is. Alone with life, alone with love, alone with light, alone with grace, the new thing that God has brought to the earth in the person of his Son to stand between us who are sinners and breakers of the law and the execution that the law calls for. He alone can give life. Here he is. He's fulfilled the law and now he's come as life. Like tearing away all the old forms and now see the great new concrete structure that stands out. The law must be taken away like the old forms and the real thing exposed. He's the real thing. He's life, He's purity, He fulfills all the law.
And now he turns and says to her, "Doesn't anybody condemn you?" And she says, "No man, Lord." And he says "Neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more." The law went, now she can go free because he kept the law. And now what he's been writing in the sand, he's rubbing out with his hands. And it's rubbed out.
Grace there is my every debt to pay, blood to wash my every stain away.
