Grace is amazing!
Forgiveness is a divine gift!
God's advice for a sinner who stood directly in front of him:
Yeshua stood up and said to her, "Woman, where are they?
Has no one condemned you?"
She said, "No one, Lord."
And Yeshua said, "Neither do I condemn you;
go, and from now on sin no more."
John 8:10-11 (ESV2011, MBM)
Actually Mike, you have utterly missed the entire lesson here
Jesus had not yet been crucified...He was instructing a woman who knew ONLY of the culture and law culture in which she was raised and the punishment for adultery was death
BUT...that death sentence was to be commuted to BOTH adulterous parties...so where is the man?
there are several excellent lessons to be learned here
1. Jesus had the power to FORGIVE even before he died and rose again...BEFORE!!!
2. the men who threw the woman at Jesus' feet broke the law themselves because they somehow forgot the 2nd party caught in sin ...the man. This, really puts one in mind of how folks try to apply the law today. They want to apply what is convenient for them to apply.
Jesus would have none of it back then and He is having none of it now or in the future.
3. EVERYONE who brought the woman to Jesus was as guilty of sinning as was she by forgetting the obligation of righteousness of the law which would require ALL parties to pay the same penalty. So why didn't they stay and get themselves some of that forgiveness?
I would venture to guess they would have preferred stoning the woman because in their religious eyes, a righteous death would have been preferable
The law, is all about DEATH...Jesus is all about LIFE
I AM the Way, the Truth and the LIFE...receive Christ or die by the law at your own hands people
and that, about sums up the law and your lesson for today