Fifth Sunday in Lent
John 8:2-11
This Sunday, Pastor Julie preaches the fifth sermon in the series Tell Me Something Good, drawing from John 8:2-11. A woman is dragged into the Temple courtyard. The religious leaders have set a perfect trap: whatever Jesus does, he loses. She's not the concern, she's the setup.
Jesus kneels and writes in the dirt. When he stands: Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone. One by one, the crowd fades away. He offers the woman neither lecture nor condemnation…only a question, and a word of release.
Rules without mercy become instruments of control. Mercy without justice becomes an excuse to look away. Jesus refuses both traps. The good news refuses to choose. Justice and mercy belong together.
Additional Text: Zechariah 9:9-10