The scene has totally morphed. One moment an angry crowd of men stands ready to mete out justice on the prone woman. The next, the temple court is empty but for a man crouching while writing on the ground and a woman standing, breathing deliverance from what once seemed inevitable death. The Man stands and assesses the situation. As he expected, not one of the accusers remains to carry out the dirty declaration of death on this downcast damsel.
He asks the obvious, “Where did the men who accused you go?” This query is followed immediately by a logical companion question, “Did not one of them remain to condemn you?” The first question would have been easy for the woman to answer, the second must have caused some level of consternation. For as the answer to the first question is, “They are gone, Sir,” the answer to second would have been, “Only you, Sir.”
Only Jesus remains. He is the only one there left…and he holds the right to cast the first stone. The others would follow. What does the woman think? Will he condemn her? Will he chastise her for her shameful behavior? Will he treat her in the manner she deserves according to the law? She could run, but the men are not far away. Somehow she must realize that her options are limited and her best chances lie here with this mysterious man whose name she does not even know. She does not realize she is in the presence of the only righteous judge. It is the safest place on earth.
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