Jesus (grace) Vs The Accuser (shame)
John 8, the adulteress woman. Most of us know this story. Caught in the act of a very private and intimate experience. It’s been labeled as the worse sin imaginable, next to murder. She instantly became the target and bait for a hostile group of self-righteous men. They used her as bait, to lure Jesus into a trap. But they didn’t realize he wasn’t impressed with traps. He wasn’t impressed with punishment and public displays of judgement.
Adultery is idolatry. Idolatry is anything we use to replace intimacy with God and with others. It’s a counterfeit. Living in shame is an indicator that we have idols. Shame simply exposes where our devotion is.
“Idolatry can be overt, such as worshipping a physical image, or it can be covert, more subtle, such as giving something the devotion that belongs to God and true intimacy.” (google)
Modern day idols can include:
Job. Marriage. Friends. Impact and significance in the world. Our gifts and talents. Image. Wealth. Legacy. Reputation. Comfort. Control. Status. Money.
Adultery is a love affair with anything or anyone other than Jesus.
Grace will flood in when we choose to confront our shame in the presence of Jesus. We will be faced with our pride. We will no longer be able to negotiate with our shame and our pride. This grace will astound you. This grace will shift any old way of seeing and believing. It’s a grace that is only available when we shed our fig leaves and humble ourselves in the powerful gaze of Jesus.
This grace enables us to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Pride and shame cannot coexist with grace.
For the sake of this writing, I’m going to call the adulterous woman Scarlet and the religious men The Mob.
The Mob, in the morning hours, interrupt Jesus while he was teaching in the temple courts. They force Scarlet to STAND in the MIDDLE of everyone. Then one of the mob members says,
“Teacher, we caught this woman in the very act of adultery. Doesn’t Moses’s law command us to stone to death a woman like this? Tell us, what do you say we should do with her?
“They were only testing Jesus because they hoped to trap him with his own words and accuse Him of breaking the laws of Moses.”
What happens next is one of my favorite parts of the story.
“But Jesus didn’t answer them. Instead, he simply bent down and wrote in the dust with his finger.”
Imagine, there stands Scarlet, the crowd and The Mob. It gets deathly quiet. Jesus humbles himself even in this environment. He gets low. He lowers himself and it diffuses the boxing match. Who gets low when being accused and invited into a fight? Only pure love and security can do this. This seems to agitate The Mob even more.
“Angry, they kept insisting that he answer their question, so Jesus stood up and looked at them and said, let’s have the man who has never had a sinful desire throw the first stone at her. And then he bent over again and wrote some more words in the dust.”
Again, it’s deathly quiet. Jesus refuses to engage in the way they were enticing him too. He goes low. He does not answer their accusing questions. When he responds in the way he does, it draws the attention off Scarlet. It invites those watching to see with a different perspective. Jesus is not in a rush nor is he intimidated.
This is when The Mob leaves, one by one, oldest to youngest. It says they left with a convicted conscience. Left standing and alone was Scarlet. Jesus stands up and is face to face with her.
Take a minute and think about Scarlet. She could have left. She could have run, but she didn’t. She stayed. She stayed in all her shame, fully exposed. She allowed Jesus to gaze upon her. She didn’t defend herself. She didn’t accuse the man caught with her. She didn’t cast blame. She stood. She stood in her shame and allowed Jesus to take care of the voice of the accusers.
When we stop hiding and fully expose our shame to Jesus, he obliterates the voice of the accusers. If we are honest, most of the accusations come from shame rooted in religious voices within. What if we allowed the accusing voices to bring us before Jesus? What if we were honest with our shame? What if we allowed Jesus to look upon us in our shame, in our depravity, in our insecurity? What if we didn’t deny that we were living in shame and insecurity? What if that is the only way to be free? We stand before our true judge, Jesus, fully honest and naked.
This is my story. When I decided to come out of hiding, be fully honest and allow Jesus to see me in my shame and anger, that is where I discovered the real power of Jesus and his grace. It’s the place where all my masks came off and I allowed Jesus’s mercy, love and grace to penetrate deep within. This is the place where I found his true covering of grace. I did not know this grace existed.
Like Scarlet, I found myself standing face to face with Jesus. No one else was around. I did not bring anyone with me. I did not defend my shame or blame any other human being for the state of my heart and the choices that I made. I allowed Jesus to see me in my full state of shame, anger and pride.
When the grace came flooding in, I wept. I wept at the tangible love of Jesus. I wept at how kind and real this Jesus was. I wept at the state of my hardened, wounded heart. I wept at how much of my life I spent attempting to prop up a perfect Christian image. I wept that I lived according to the opinions of man and not according to the intoxicating love, mercy and grace of Jesus.
“Jesus stood back up and said to her, dear woman, where are your accusers? Is there no one here to condemn you? Looking around, she replied, I see no one Lord. Jesus said, then I certainly don’t condemn you either. Go, and from now on, be free from a life of sin.”
Only when we become like a child, naked and humble, before Jesus, will we be free from a life of sin. There is no other way. Scarlet experienced being covered by the grace of Jesus and that is the only truly empowering force that enables us to be free from a life of sin. The sting of death is eradicated. When we face public humiliation and allow Jesus to fight for us, we lose the fear of death. Our reputation is no longer an idol. All we see is the glory of Jesus and we must have more.
Jesus was publicly humiliated and disgraced. When He took upon our disgrace, we could live in his abundant supernatural grace. This grace empowers us to conquer sin and shame. This grace infuses us with his peace and power. This grace is costly. This grace is scandalous. This grace will agitate the proud and the religious. This grace is worth guarding. This grace is the seedbed of rebirth. This grace will enable you to go after soul healing and renewing your mind. This grace redefines the nature of God. This grace holds you captive to the love of Jesus. This grace is true life and freedom. This grace is Jesus.
I can imagine, Scarlet was so grateful for the mob leading her to Jesus. I know I was. Do you see the divine set-up? Scarlet choose to stand in her shame and allow Jesus to wash her and give her a new identity. I’m so grateful that the voice of the accuser was more than I could bear. I was dying under the weight of it. Shame was my silent killer. Insecurity. It was hidden, deep within me. I worked hard at trying to keep it buried, to keep it hidden.
He is inviting us into the light. In all our depravity so he can re-cover us with dignity.
