I’ve Stood There, Too

Have you ever read about someone in the Bible and felt a special bond with them? I’m talking about someone you can relate to based on the snapshot recorded for the world to someday be privy to. Last week I wrote about an unnamed woman (Luke 7:36-50) who was able to courageously approach Jesus because she recognized that He offered grace, lovingkindness, and mercy. Yes, she’s described as an immoral woman at the beginning of her brief moment in scripture, but then she’s restored when Jesus tells her… Your faith has saved you; go in peace.

I can certainly relate to this woman. But first, I want to show you a kind of progression to how someone might come to weep at Jesus’ feet. I want to introduce you to another unnamed woman.

In Luke 7 we learned about an immoral woman who came weeping to Jesus and washed His feet with her tears. In another book of the Bible, in John 8, we learn about an adulterous woman who was brought before Jesus against her will. Both women unnamed, both so very lost. Please take a moment to read John 8:1-11.

As I was studying this passage out, I was having trouble moving past the part about the woman being brought into the courtyard of the temple (vs 3). I found the detail interesting because temples have a type of segregation. Which courtyard? There were levels of access based on gender and lineage, and there were areas used for sacrifice, cleansing, and judicial proceedings. The outer courtyard was for the Gentiles, then there was the court for women, next is the court for the men, and then courts that were reserved for the Priests. There were even places in the temple that were off limits unless you were considered tahor (clean, pure).

Scripture doesn’t tell us where Jesus was teaching, but the character of Jesus tells me that He would typically teach in an area that would be considered inclusive. Jesus came for the world – He wanted any who had ears to hear to be given the opportunity to hear. I doubt that Jesus was teaching in the court of the temple that the woman should have been tried in. Instead of taking this woman to the judicial court, the Pharisees and scribes (a scribe here is considered someone who has studied the law – kind of like a lawyer) they brought this unnamed woman into an unnamed area of the temple and had her stand before the Name Above All Names.

Imagine it, the person she was caught with is not even being mentioned as holding any blame (are there feelings of betrayal and isolation?). She’s standing in the middle of a crowd – people she most likely knew – and she’s probably feeling the burn of shame. People were getting to know her by a certain reputation. The Mosaic Law, a perfect and holy law, demands death for what she and the man did. During that time, the Jews were not allowed to enact the death penalty because of the Romans, but who were they next to the Son of God? Her very life hung in the balance.

But she stood there. In front of family and friends, neighbors and strangers – maybe even in front of the man she transgressed with. She stood in shame and humiliation. Alone with no advocate. Waiting for judgment. Waiting for punishment. Waiting for more rejection.

I’ve stood there, too. We all have. Every single one of us has someone who knows some dirt about us – past or present. We all have someone who has seen the closets that hold our shame. We’ve all stood there. Some of us are still standing there.

But Jesus turned it around on them. He decided to stand, too.

When they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” John 8:7 NASB

The scribes and Pharisees involved in trying to trap Jesus by using this unnamed woman were out for blood. Not the unnamed woman’s blood, but Jesus’. The unnamed woman was just a sacrificial pawn. They didn’t care anything about her. But Jesus loved her and was preparing to give up His life for her redemption.

I’ve stood there – expecting harshness, judgment, condemnation, punishment, and even wrath – but instead received wave after wave of grace.

I’ve stood there – attempting to hide the dirt under the rugs and barricade the closets – only to find that the dirt is no longer there, and the closets are empty.

I’ve stood there – in the Court of the Gentiles – but I now stand in the area reserved for the tahor.

Now when they heard this, they began leaving, one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman where she was, in the center of the courtyard. And straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on do not sin any longer.” John 8:9-11 NASB

The One who had every right to condemn her set her free by showing her grace, lovingkindness, and mercy. It is God’s kindness that brings people to repentance (Romans 2:4).

The unnamed woman in Luke 7 went from being known as an immoral woman to being a woman forgiven much. This unnamed woman in John 8 went from being the adulterous woman to being the pardoned woman. These women both had encounters with Jesus that changed them. They were changed by His love. They were changed by His grace. They stood in His presence and were changed.

I’ve stood there, too. Have you?