A Lesson in Forgiveness; the Light of the World

Notes

1. The Feast of Tabernacles is ended. For a week they have lived in booths, "to commemorate the time when the Hebrews dwelt in tents during their sojourn in the wilderness," but "the last day, that great day of the feast," with its experiences, as set forth in the last lesson, is gone, and "every man went unto his own house;" but "Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives." They had permanent dwellings to which they could return after their brief and typical experience of camp life, but not so with Him. Matt. 8:20. He seeks the solitude of the mountain as being more in harmony with His feelings, and as offering the desired opportunity for communion with His Father. The shadow of the cross is deepening, and the climax of His earthly career is nearing. Feeling the need of that help rendered necessary by His humanity, He seeks it from the Father, just as we are bidden to do.

2. The story of the woman taken in sin "reveals in our Saviour's character a wisdom so profound, a tenderness to sinners so delicate, a hatred of sin so intense, an insight into human hearts so searching, that it is impossible to suppose the mind of man could have conceived, or the hand of man invented, this most pathetic story."

3. "Jesus well knew for what purpose this case had been brought to Him; He read the secrets of their hearts, and knew the character and life history of every man in His presence. He seemed indifferent to the question of the Pharisees, and, while they were talking and pressing about Him; He stooped and wrote carelessly with His finger in the sand. Although doing this without apparent design, Jesus was tracing on the ground, in legible characters, the particular sins of which the woman's accusers were guilty, beginning with the eldest and ending with the youngest. . . . As their eyes fell upon the words written in the sand, fear and surprise took possession of them. The people looking on saw their countenances suddenly change, and pressed forward to discover what they were regarding with such an expression of astonishment and shame. Many of those who thus gathered round also read the record of hidden sin inscribed against these accusers of another. . . . There was not one of her accusers but was more guilty than the conscience-stricken woman who stood trembling with shame before Him."

4. "Jesus did not palliate sin nor lessen the sense of crime; but He came not to condemn; He came to lead the sinner to eternal life. . . . Instead of to condemn the guilty, His work was to reach into the very depths of human wo and degradation, lift up the debased and sinful, and bid the trembling penitent to sin no more."

5. "It is a terrible thing for a sinner to fall into the hands of his fellow-sinners. Sin blinds them to their own faults, but sharpens them to detect the faults of others. . . . Ah, how many there are around us who had never come to what they are, had they not been driven to it by the way in which the religious people around them dealt with their first deviation from the paths of strict integrity. . . . The world is full of sinners who are plunging into deeper sin, because they have been taught by their more religious fellows that there is no hope for such as they are. But they might be saved if they could only be freed from the religious world and left alone with Jesus. . . . O souls conscious of sin, do not wait to be brought into His holy presence! Haste thither of your own free-will. It is the only place in all the universe where you will be safe. Accusing voices are hushed there, and accusing forms are banished. Wait! He will condemn thy sin but not thee."

6. "This was the beginning of a new life to this tempted, fallen soul, a life of purity and peace, devoted to the service of God. In raising this woman to a life of virtue, Jesus performed a greater act than that of healing the most grievous bodily malady; He cured the sickness of the soul which is unto death everlasting. This penitent woman became one of the firmest friends of Jesus."

Suggestions for Further Study.

1. Christ wrote the law on stone, but the sins of these men on the sand. What lesson do these facts teach?

2. How is life only in Christ taught in this lesson?

3. Who acts the part of an accuser even in the presence of the Lord? Read Zechariah 3. Whose mouthpiece are those who do the same?

4. In connection with verse 12 study the following scriptures: 1 John 1:5; Matt. 5:14; John 17:18. Compare the light of the physical world with the light of the spiritual world. See Mal. 4:2.

5. How did Christ bear witness of Himself? How did the Father bear witness of Him?