Book excerpt:
Jesus Sees YOU
Have you ever asked God, “Do you see me, Lord?” Do you ever wonder if there’s anyone in the whole universe who truly understands you and has seen everything you’ve ever walked through? I know that I have! I often go to the Lord and ask Him to show me exactly where He was during different places of pain in my life. Every time a memory comes to me, I ask Him to show me a picture of where He was when I walked through that moment/season. Every time I take the time to ask, He is so faithful to show me how He walked beside me through it. He has been this way with people since the beginning of time. The Bible is filled with stories of lost people to whom God revealed Himself. Let’s look at a very well-known woman in scripture:
“Now early in the morning He [Jesus] came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?” This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.
So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”
She said, “No one, Lord.”
And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.””
John 8:2-11 NKJV
In John chapter 8, we meet the woman caught in the act of adultery. We never find out her name. She is simply referred to by the label of her sin. In my mind, I picture this scene unfolding something like this:
The teachers of the law are notified that there is a woman in the town who is involved in an adulterous act at that very moment. (I secretly wonder exactly how they knew this and what happened to the man involved). They immediately go to the place where they are told that they will find her and burst through the door of the home without even knocking. They rip her straight from the bed where they have found her insufficiently clothed and completely ashamed of her nakedness. They force her half-naked body out into the dirt street, dragging her along like she’s nothing more than an animal, and they bring her to the temple where Jesus is teaching a crowd of people. They shove her face down in the dirt right in front of him and all the people, completely disrupting His teaching.
The religious leaders had no regard for the woman’s dignity or for the comfort level of all the people who were gathered around Jesus. They just threw her in the center of the crowd, leaving her completely humiliated and full of shame as she gazed at Jesus. Then, they demand that she be stoned for her sin, according to the Law of Moses.
I can only imagine the fear that she must have felt knowing that she could be stoned to death right then and there. Her heart beating up into her throat and tears streaming down her dust-covered face, as she frantically tried to keep her exposed body covered with the small amount of clothing that she did manage to grab as she was forced out of the house. And now she stood face-to-face with the man she had only heard about in the conversations from the townspeople- the ones who looked down upon her with condemnation. The question running through her mind was would this man condemn her, too?
The religious leaders brought the woman to Jesus with one intention only that day- to cause Jesus to say something self-incriminating that would give them reason to press charges against Him. This particular day wasn’t about the woman or her sin of adultery. The religious leaders’ motive was less about upholding the Law of Moses and more about their own ill intentions. On this day, they only wanted to use this woman’s sin as a means to trap Jesus in some way.
However, Jesus saw straight through their wrong motives and their religious ‘performance.’ He looked directly past them to this woman face down in the dirt in front of Him. And in that moment, the entire event became completely about her. Jesus focused solely on the woman, and He saw her as a person rather than an object of scorn. He saw her as more than just a ‘filthy adulterous sinner’ like the religious leaders saw her. Even before she had a chance to speak a single word, He already knew her story. He knew her past and what had led her to this place of sin in her life.
Jesus saw her, really saw her. He saw her heart. He saw her pain. He saw her sin. He saw her shame. And yet, he still loved her. He gave her grace first and foremost; and then, He commanded that she go and sin no more. His love and forgiveness led to her repentance. Grace and Truth saved her.
The story of the adulterous woman leads me to wonder how many of us who have found ourselves entangled in this very sin have questioned what led us to this place. I know that I had to take a long look at my past leading up to my sin to uncover some deep wounds that had caused me to be willing to act upon something that I knew was very wrong. This process of digging deep has proven to be one of the hardest, yet most important parts, of finding true healing and redemption.
Just like the adulterous woman in scripture, Jesus met me in my shame, face down in the dirt, naked and exposed before him and everyone around me. And yet He let me know that above all else, He still loved me. And once I took hold of the love and grace that Jesus so freely gave me, it was from that love that I willingly chose to obey His command to repent from my sin. Jesus loves you, too, my friend. He wants to get down on his knees in the dirt of your mess and give you that same grace and forgiveness. Are you ready to accept it and repent?
