Hope for the Hopeless Guilty Woman

John 8:1-11HOPE FOR THE GUILTY WOMAN 8 Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.2 And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.Intro: In 1983, a former intelligence operator and sniper became the unwelcome guest of some very unsavory individuals. He and a member of his team were kept in a hole of knee deep water, their only company the decomposing body of another unfortunate floating in the water with them. He had already witnessed their Kuna guide who was stripped and eviscerated while alive and that of another member of their team who was hung and forced to do “the dance” as it was called. The captors made bets as to how long the captive would live.Every day the man asked God to either deliver him from the situation in which he found himself or for him to die a brave and honorable death. One day, while these evil men slept through the heat of the day, one of his captors dropped the crude ladder into the hole and motioned the intelligence operator to come up. He was very weak from the treatment he suffered and he knew whatever he was going to do, he had to do it quickly as in another day he might not have the strength. As h climbed up, he noticed his captor was the operators own military harness and hanging upside on the left side was the operator’s KA-BAR knife. As he climbed up, the operator made it appear he stumbled, and grasping the handle of the KA-BAR, he ripped it from its sheath and plunged it into the man’s throat, silencing him forever. He quickly grabbed a nearby AK-47 rifle and he and his companion disappeared into the jungle. In an instant, what appeared to be a hopeless situation became a door of hope. T I told that story to ask this:• Can you imagine the fear that must have gripped the heart of that young man as he watched their guide eviscerated while he was alive and watch him die, knowing that he was next?• Can you imagine the horror that must have gripped the heart of that young man as he watched another member of their team hung from a short rope, revived, and hung again, while he captors bet ion how long he would live and when he would die, knowing his time was coming soon?• Can you imagine the terror as he was led into the grove of trees and that noose was placed around his wrists and he was raised suspended for hours from the ground, all the while holding tightly to the knot that would keep his thumb from being ripped from him.• Can you imagine the darkness of that hole and the pain he endured to squeeze some precious drops of moisture through his failing kidneys, the only water supply available. • It must have been a moment of terror that few have ever experienced! Our text tells us about a woman who knew just how this young man must have felt. The guilty woman, who’s story is related here, knew that kind of fear. As she is brought trembling into the presence of Jesus, she knows in her heart that she is about to be stoned to death.