Woman caught in adultery

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Picture descriptions:

Scene 1: Jesus at dawn teaching in the temple court
Scene 2: Pharisees with stones bringing a woman to Jesus who they had caught in adultery
Scene 3: Jesus crouching down to write on the ground with his finger
Scene 4: Jesus inviting any one present without sin to cast the first stone
Scene 5: One by one from the religious leaders left until only Jesus was left with the woman
Scene 6: Jesus telling the woman that she is free to go and leave behind her life of sin

Lesson points:
This is a particularly difficult but necessary story to teach today in a society where morals regarding physical relationships seem non existent. However this story also brings the opportunity of pointing out the wonderful grace and mercy that the Lord Jesus displayed! Jesus was teaching at dawn in the courtyard of the temple when a sinful woman was dragged before him by spiteful Pharisees who, by law, desired that she should be stoned to death there and then. However, they also had another motive before hand - they sought to test the Lord with difficult questions in an attempt to find a fault and wished to know how he would deal with this situation. (Spiritual application: No matter how hard these corrupt teachers of the law tried, Jesus was completely perfect and they would never find anything in Him that reacted to sin.) Jesus knew their hearts and that their question was the basis for them to accuse Him, so in calmness He simply bent down and began writing on the ground with His finger. At their continued questions, Jesus stood up and stated “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her”. (Spiritual application: The clever response from the Son of God left them without any argument. No wonder people were amazed and found wonder at His words.) Knowing that they were indeed sinners at heart, the Pharisees had no choice but to leave their stones behind and from the oldest to the youngest walk away until only Jesus was left with the woman. She was asked “has no-one condemned you?” to which she replied “No man, Lord”. The compassion of the Lord Jesus was displayed so clearly when He told the woman “Neither do I condemn you”. It would seem that during their encounter, the woman felt her deep unworthiness, but also recognized the character of the man who stood beside her. She addressed Him as “Lord” showing that she had been fully forgiven. The Lord expected a change in her lifestyle and instructed her to leave her sinful ways behind. (Spiritual application: Like this woman, and the Pharisees, all of us have fallen short of God’s standard of perfection - and therefore all have the same need to be forgiven. Thankfully, as this woman discovered, the Lord Jesus is willing and able to forgive us!)