"THEY HEARD IT!"

John 8:1-11                                               (ESV)

"1 but JESUS went to the Mount of Olives.

2 Early in the morning HE came again to the temple. All the people came to HIM, and HE sat down and taught them.

3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst

4 they said to HIM, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery.

5 Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. SO WHAT DO YOU SAY?"

6 This they said to test HIM, that they might have some charge to bring against HIM. JESUS bent down and wrote with HIS finger on the ground.

7 And as they continued to ask HIM, HE stood up and said to them, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her."

8 And once more HE bent down and wrote on the ground.

9 But when "THEY HEARD IT", they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and JESUS was left alone with the woman standing before HIM.

10 JESUS stood up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"

11 She said, "No one, LORD." And JESUS said, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more."

Since scripture "goes there", we shouldn't gloss over the point that in John 8:1 JESUS went to the Mount of Olives, presumably to be alone with GOD.  Although HE was GOD in the flesh, HE had to constantly be prepared for battling satan as the enemy was doing everything he could to interrupt GOD'S PERFECT PLAN!  If JESUS HIMSELF needed to spend time alone with THE FATHER, shouldn't we spend more time alone with HIM????

There used to be a saying when I was growing up that said something like "When you point your finger at someone, you usually have three fingers pointing back at you"!   That may have been a more modern way of saying what was spoken by JESUS 2,000+ years ago.  The only miscalculation the scribes and Pharisees made was that JESUS was no ordinary MAN and HE would not be caught in the "word games" that humans so often use to their benefit.  

According to an article written by Dr. Adrian Rogers, the chief attribute of GOD is HIS Holiness.  He wrote "If God were to let one half of one sin go unpunished, God would no longer be holy. The chief attribute of God is not love—it is holiness."  JESUS, knowing GOD had to judge this lady's sin, did NOT condemn her for her sins.  She might have been guilty of numerous sins, but JESUS said "Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more."  No one knows if she lived a sinless life from that day forward, but she wasn't condemned for anything that she had done up to that day!

The thing that I cannot get past is that when JESUS started writing on the dirt, the scribes and Pharisees very quietly began to leave the group of accusers!  There has been much speculation about what JESUS was writing on the ground, but I find it interesting that whatever HE wrote made them cease their accusations and leave the "mob"!  JESUS was simply writing on the ground, but "THEY HEARD IT" in their hearts SO PROFOUNDLY that they had to leave the presence of HIS HOLINESS!  

If we aren't careful we can get caught up with the "mob" the enemy is gathering amongst us and have our sinful lifestyles displayed for the entire world to SEE!  We don't want our sins broadcast so loud that "THEY HEARD IT", so we need to allow the HOLY SPIRIT to convict others of their sins, AND US OF OUR SINS!  Very seldom does GOD use a "mob" approach to make sure "THEY HEARD IT"!  HE speaks to hearts ONE BY ONE when "THEY HEARD IT"!!!