I love Jesus so much for his forgiveness and his love for sinners. I am one of those sinners who does not deserve his love, but he gives it to me anyway. This is the story that I used to confess to my FH when we started dating. I wanted to get out in the open my past, to give him the opportunity to take me or leave me. I am happy to say that he took me!

This story is based in John 8. This story takes place in Jerusalem. Jesus had just returned from the Mount of Olives and went to the temple to teach. The Pharisees were trying ever so hard to find a reason to accuse him of false prophesy or blastphemy. So here they come into the temple with a woman in tow who was caught in the act of adultery. Now my question is, “Where is the MAN who was in the act of adultery as well?”, but the Pharisees were SO into the letter of the Law, the woman could have been the easiest catch. Who knows….maybe she was having an affair with one of them? But I digress….

So here is this poor woman. Who knows what condition she was in being “caught in the act” and here she is, humiliated, in front of all these men in the temple. The Pharisees commanded that the Law of Moses be enacted on her, which would have meant being stoned to death. What is Jesus doing during all of this? Stooped over on the ground writing in the dirt. What in the world would the Savior of the World be doodling in the dust? The Bible doesn’t say, but thinking he isn’t paying attention to them, the Pharisees keep going on.

Finally Jesus looks up at them and tells them, “He who is without sin amongst you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” (John 8: 7 NASB) and he goes right on writing in the dirt. Now these Pharisees must have seen and known what Jesus was writing because one by one, they turned and walked away. When Jesus looked up, he saw only the woman and himself and he asked her where they all went. She told him no one had condemned her, to which he replies, “Neither do I condemn you; go. From now on sin no more.” (John 8: 11 NASB) You see, the only one left there without sin was the Son of Man. Just like I said in my last blog entry, Jesus came into the world to save the world, not to condemn the world. So he forgave the woman and told her to sin no more. He gave her another chance. Did she take advantage of it? We don’t know.

But you know, it is really easy to sin. It was really easy for Adam and Eve from the beginning of time, so why would it be any different for any of us? Sometimes in life when our marriage isn’t going right to us, it is so easy to look for an easy fix…an affair like this woman was involved in. We don’t know much about her at all. Was she married? Was she having an affair with a married man? Was she looking for love in all the wrong places? All we know about her was she was caught having sex with another man. Dear ones, there is nothing that God cannot fix in your marriage. There are times when we need to go to our Abba Father with all our tears and sorrows, not to another man to fulfill our needs. Christ is sufficient for us all. If you have defiled your marriage bed, you can be redeemed by your Father in heaven. Do as Christ told this woman, “go and sin no more.” If you are even considering stepping outside of your marriage bed to meet needs, don’t even go there. Go to the Lord in prayer. Ask Him to help you. Ask Him to help fulfill your needs. Ask Him to help you change to be the wife he intended for your DH. Our time table is not always God’s, so be patient. God’s timing is perfect.

And yes, there is another story coming….in the Lord’s time.

July 15, 2008
Categories: Biblical Studies . . Author: spicynutmeg . Comments: Comments Off on Sexual Sin: The woman caught in adultery

I was talking to a friend today about a situation that arose at her church. I’ve been going through writers block lately, but God showed me a new way that he wants me to write on the blog for a bit. I have decided to take on a few of the stories in the Bible and expound on them in a more modern way.

When I was in high school, I read the book The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne’s story is about a woman, named Hester Prynne, who is forced to wear the scarlet letter “A” on her chest for the adultery that she committed while her husband was presumed lost at sea. Hester and her infant daughter, Pearl, are forced to live a life outside of town because of her sin. This made me think of a few stories from the Bible…one that I had used myself when I first met my husband.

The first story I want to touch on is in John 4. This is the story of Jesus’s travels that took him through Samaria. Jews did not like Samaritans, so the oddity, at least to the woman in this story, is that Jesus would even give her the time of day, let alone ask her for a drink. Jesus knew more about this woman and what she truly needed than she even realized. He was trying to get her to see past physical needs of the body to see that what she truly needed was something that she didn’t realize she didn’t have….a Savior.

John 4:10
Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

Still the woman doesn’t get it. She thinks Jesus has some kind of miracle water that will quench her thirst forever…until Jesus asks her to go get her husband and bring him back. She doesn’t have one. In fact, Jesus goes on to tell her that she had 5 husbands and the man she is with now is not her husband. WHOA! How did he know all of that? Because he is God. She goes back to town to tell everyone who will listen about this man at the well. Jesus is invited back to town to stay for a few days where he witnesses to the Samaritans and many believe in Him.

So what does this have to do with being a nympho? Talk about scarlet letters! This woman may have prided herself for having so many different husbands and a lover now. Who knows what happened to all the other husbands before this man that she lived with. If this woman was divorced, rabbi’s usually only permitted 2-3 divorces at most, and here she was living with another partner. This woman may not have had enough room on her clothes for all the “A”‘s that could have been put on her. But Jesus was kind to her. In a world where Pharisees and Saduccees may have stoned her to death for her sin, Jesus spent time trying to save her from her sin. We all know John 3:16 by heart, but can you remember what comes next in verse 17?

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

Some of us have come into our marriages with the same kind of sexual sin. Jesus died on the cross for you as well as for this woman. After hearing someone who was a stranger and a Jew tell her everything about her sexual history, she came to believe in Him. All of her sins are forgiven in Christ’s death and resurrection. So are yours, my dear readers, so are yours. No matter what your situation, please don’t let sin enter into your life. My friend was telling me about an aquaintance who’s dh was in prison and now she is living with another man. It is so easy to fall prey to Satan’s game. Leave that sin on the shelf, my dear ones, and follow Christ.
Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge HIM, and HE will make your paths straight. (emphasis mine) Keep your eyes and your heart on God and he will lead you through.

Lord, your grace is enough for me. I’ll continue another story in my next post.

July 8, 2008
Categories: Biblical Studies . . Author: spicynutmeg . Comments: 3 Comments