"Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? ...

... She replied, 'No one, sir.' Then Jesus said, 'Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more.'" -John 8:10-11

A friend wrote me excitedly that when meditating on this passage he "was struck by how Jesus addresses her as 'Woman.' He's not just speaking to her here, but to Woman, to all women throughout history!" How powerful this is! Not one person was able to throw the first stone to condemn the woman caught in adultery because they too were all in sin. The world cannot pass judgment on those it has misled into sin. Judgment is passed so quickly on a woman who has committed a sexual sin--she is mocked by both the "righteous" men and those men who are guilty with her. But is her confusion in seeking for fulfillment in the wrong places not caused by the lies of the men and the world? Jesus tells Woman, "Neither do I condemn you." Jesus knows what it is that she is seeking. Sexual sins are most revealing of the person's deep longing for God and the need to find Him, for sexual union is meant to be the sign on earth pointing us to union with God in Heaven. He tells her, "Go, and from now do not sin any more," to take from Him a living water to quench her thirst. He untwists and affirms her desire, revealing to her that her longing and ache is for Him, her true Bridegroom.

This is what we must do for the women in the world today. Their desires for protection and love too often drive them to date the "bad boys," ignoring their bad in the hopes that their attention and physical strengths will provide what the woman's heart seeks. But they use her and then throw her away. That ache for "shelter and affection" can only be fulfilled by God, and can only be protected by a man of God. And to bring them to that love! To bring them to the forgiveness and protection of Our Lord, that they may be washed clean and have the infinite hole their heart filled! For as in Hosea, Our Lord desires to unite Himself to us, and as in Ephesians, to present us to Himself as His spotless bride!

"She is running
A hundred miles an hour in the wrong direction
She is trying
But the canyon's ever widening
In the depths of her cold heart
So she sets out on another misadventure just to find
She's another two years older
And she's three more steps behind.

Does anybody hear her? Can anybody see?
Or does anybody even know she's going down today
Under the shadow of our steeple
With all the lost and lonely people
Searching for the hope that's tucked away in you and me
Does anybody hear her? Can anybody see?

She is yearning
For shelter and affection
That she never found at home
She is searching
For a hero to ride in
To ride in and save the day
And in walks her prince charming
And he knows just what to say
Momentary lapse of reason
And she gives herself away.

Does anybody hear her? Can anybody see?
Or does anybody even know she's going down today
Under the shadow of our steeple
With all the lost and lonely people
Searching for the hope that's tucked away in you and me
Does anybody hear her? Can anybody see?

If judgment looms under every steeple
If lofty glances from lofty people
Can't see past her scarlet letter
And we've never even met her.

Does anybody hear her? Can anybody see?
Or does anybody even know she's going down today
Under the shadow of our steeple
With all the lost and lonely people
Searching for the hope that's tucked away in you and me
Does anybody hear her? Can anybody see?"
--Casting Crowns