Forgiven, Free, and Filled

But early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd. “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?” They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust. When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.” Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” John 8:2-12 (New Living Translation, NLT)

This woman was caught in the very act of sin. There’s no doubt she was guilty and she needed forgiveness. She was bound to die but needed freedom. She was empty and needed filled.

The religious leaders wanted to stone her based on the law. Jesus, a picture of God’s love and grace, extended forgiveness from her sins, freedom from death, and gave her another chance for a new life. He told her to go on with her life and sin no more. Looking into the eyes of Jesus, the very eyes of God, she had to see the endless love she had been so desperately seeking.

Then, in verse 12, He tells the crowd, which likely included this woman, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” If this woman did what He said, as I suspect she did, she also found something that filled the empty place in her. She had been looking for love through physical encounters, but now she could experience a love that truly satisfied. She went from condemnation to forgiveness, from bondage to freedom, from emptiness to fullness with Christ.

So many people, including you and me, have looked for love, as the old country song says, in all the wrong places. Only one Person can forgive us, set us free, and fill us with Himself and His love. As we find forgiveness in Jesus, He breaks all the chains and bondages off our minds. He sets us free; free indeed. Then, as we leave our lives of sin to follow Jesus, we have the Light of Life filling us up daily with Himself. This then causes us to grow in our relationship with Him.

What a wonderful Savior and Friend we have in Jesus, Who forgives us, brings us freedom and fills us to overflowing with Himself and His love.