Power Of Grace

Key Scripture:  "Come unto Me, and I will give you rest."  Matthew 11:28

Power Point:

     I was thinking recently about the woman caught in the adultery. I cannot even imagine her  distress that day. The Pharisees were the government of Jesus's  time. They had so many rules that people simply could not obey them all.  They controlled every area of the people's lives.  When someone broke a law, they came up with a new on to make sure that it didn't happen again. They kept adding to what God had given them, and no one could keep all those laws. Their whole life was focused on the rules.

     That became obvious when they brought the woman in adultery before Jesus and He kneels on the ground, and quietly says, "Let the one who has no sin, who has not broken any laws, be the one to cast the first stone." Imagine what that must have been like.  They knew in their own hearts that they too had sinned.  Having Jesus expose their failure in front of all their religious friends, and yet not exposing their sin was humbling, but not humiliating. Jesus treated them with the same grace with which He dealt with the woman thrown on the ground before Him.

He didn't condemn them, just as He didn't condemn her.  The Pharisees had been "caught “in their own self-righteousness and He simply pointed it out.

     I wonder where they went when they left the town square that morning.  I doubt that they went to the local coffee shop to discuss what had just happened. They probably wanted to be alone.  I think they were deep in thought over what Jesus had said and how He had treated them. He was demonstrating that ALL have sin and fallen short of God's glory. He showed them grace in action.

     He showed them that God looks at our hearts. And we are to look at God’s heart.

     What happened to the woman?  What did she do after she left Jesus?  I believe that she was so transformed by Jesus's protection, love, and mercy that she went home and transformed her life.  I believe she was a changed woman.  I believe she bathed herself and put on fresh clothing and went out to tell people about Jesus.  I believe that they saw the result of grace in her life and they wanted to know Him too.

     Hopefully, the Pharisees who walked away were transformed too. Hopefully they could see the point that Jesus was making.  You don't expose sin you cover it.  You don't condemn, you release. You don't hate, you love.  You show others the same grace that your Father shows to you. I hope they began to see God with new eyes.  I hope the truth set them free

Power Thought:

Whom the Son has set free is free.  Indeed.

    

    

Copyright © 2014, Suzanne Roberts, Unpublished Work