Anthony Porter had exhausted his appeals, his family had made his funeral arrangements, and he was just 50 hours away from execution when he won a reprieve from the Illinois Supreme Court in late 1998. The reprieve was granted not out of concern that Porter might be innocent but solely because he had tested so low on an IQ test that the court was not sure he could comprehend what was about to happen to him, or why.

Shortly after his reprieve, a group of journalism students from Northwestern University began to study his case as part of their studies. Their investigative report uncovered the fact that Porter had indeed not been guilty of murder, they even got the real killer to make a video taped confession, and Porter was exonerated – found to be innocent - and released from prison after spending 16 years in jail for a crime he did not commit.

It sounds like the plot line of a great novel or movie, but it is real. The inmate waiting on death row for word from the governor as the clock slowly ticks toward the hour of execution. Then, in the last moments, the phone call comes. It makes for great drama, but only as a spectator, not as a participant. Imagine being convicted of a crime you did not commit! Try to put yourself in the position of Anthony Porter – facing years in prison, and death for a crime you did not do! I don’t think we can begin to understand the despair that he must have felt.

When a person on death row is exonerated, they are determined to be innocent of the crime. We can safely assume that there was some reason for the dismissal of the case. Obviously, if the person is being set free, the one letting them go must believe that they are not guilty. Some new evidence, perhaps a recanted testimony, or a confession of the real criminal leads to the person being set free. Their record is washed clean, they are not only permitted to leave the prison, but they are declared innocent. That is what happens when a person is exonerated.

But today, as we continue our study of John’s gospel, we are going to see not exoneration, but a pardon. In a pardon, the person is guilty; there is no doubt, but the punishment for their crime is forgiven. They are released from their punishment, even though they are guilty. 

John, the disciple Jesus loved, records such an event for us in his memoirs of this life with Jesus. A person who is guilty, beyond any doubt, is set free.  Let’s look at John’s account from the 8^th chapter of his memoirs.

Last week, in the 7^th chapter, we examined Jesus’ actions at the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem. The city was filled with people who had come to this great and fun time in the capital city. For eight days the people moved out of their houses and camped in little lean-to shelters. It was a great time of relaxing with the neighbors, celebrating the harvest, and remembering God’s care for their ancestors centuries before. Think of it as our Thanksgiving celebration, spread out over 8 days. On the last day of the week of feast, as the priest was pouring out water from the pool of Siloam over the alter to remind the people of God providing water from a stone in the desert, Jesus stood and cried out in a loud voice, “Whoever is thirsty, let him come to Me, and drink; and rivers of living water will brim up in him…” It was a bold invitation before hundreds of worshipers gathered in the temple.

In John 7:53, we read, then everyone went to his own home. But Jesus, in verse 8:1, went over to the Mount of Olives. He didn’t have a home, so he spent the night, doubtless with his disciples, at the Garden of Gethsemane. But verse 2 tells us that “very early” the next morning, He was back at the temple, teaching a group of people. If you look over at verse 20, we are told that he was at the women’s gate, next to the treasury. Some of the people had responded to Jesus invitation the previous day, and it would appear that he had set up a meeting time with them first thing in the morning to talk some more. Wouldn’t that have been cool? To have heard Jesus’ invitation, gone up to Him afterwards and then had him say, “Hey, tomorrow morning, let’s meet by the stairs to the treasury building, and we’ll talk more then?” WOW! 

So Jesus is meeting with these new followers, when suddenly there is a ruckus in the crowd. Busting through the people are a group of church leaders, dragging and pushing a woman along until they break through to the center of the group and throw her at Jesus feet. “Teacher,” they snear, “This woman has been caught in the very act of adultery. The Law of Moses is clear. She should die for her crime. What do you think we should do?”

Verse 6 tells us that their focus is not on the woman, her sin, or even justice. They want to catch Jesus, to set a trap for Him. I can just imagine what the previous few hours must have been like for them. Staking out the home of a known cheat. Waiting for her to come out of the home of her lover – just so they can drag her to Jesus. It couldn’t be a better situation for them: The Law of Moses is clear – adulterers were to be put to death – both the man and the woman. But Roman Law prohibited the Jews from putting anyone to death. 

By placing Jesus in this situation, the really think they’ve got Him painted into a corner. If He says, “let her go,” then He’s soft on sin – violating the Law of God. The average Jewish person would never follow someone who was openly violating the Law. But if, on the other hand, Jesus said, “She should die,” they the crowd was ready to carry out His judgment, they had the stones in their hands – and then the leaders would quickly turn Jesus over to the Romans for inciting the crowd to break the law and kill the woman. Either way, they had Him!

But they didn’t know with Whom they were dealing.

Jesus ignored them. The text tells us that Jesus stooped down and began to write in the dirt of the courtyard. We are not told what he wrote, but I can imagine that He may have started out with, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” Verse 7 says, “they continued to ask Him.” And He continued to write. Maybe he wrote, “Thou shalt not covet. Thou shalt not lie. Thou shalt not covet your neighbors possessions.” We don’t know what He wrote for certain, but we do know that His words, “Let He who is without sin among you cast the first stone,” along with His writing in the sand, convicted the people who were accusing her, and one by one they left. 

There, in the courtyard, in the midst of the group that had come to hear from Jesus, stood this woman - battered and sinful, and the Son of God - stooped and writing in the sand. There was no doubt of her guilt. There was no limit to her shame. She knew what she deserved. When Jesus caught her eye, He said, “Where are the ones who accuse you? Is there no one to condemn you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I don’t condemn you either, go and sin no more.” 

What she had done, she had done at night, behind closed doors, in secret. She had been caught and dragged into the public forum in the very early hours of the morning. And now she turns to leave – the penalty of her sin pardoned by the Lord. There is only one way in and out of the womens’ court, where the treasury was located – it was through an east gate. As she leaves, toward the rising sun early on that morning, Jesus turned to those who had gathered to meet with Him, and says, “I am the light of the world, He who follows Me will not walk in darkness but have the light of life.”

Imagine the difference in that woman as she made her way through the crowd! She has been set free – pardoned from her sin! She has looked the righteous judge of the world in the face and He has shown her grace! “Oh, Amazing love! How can it be that Thou, my King, should die for me?!” Her entire world has been transformed by the grace of God, by the love of Christ. His words echo in her ear – “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.”

When I read those words I am reminded of Paul’s words from Romans chapter 8. “Therefore there is now then no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit has set me free from the law of sin and death.” The strict adherence to the Law of Moses, which the religious leaders wanted was all about condemnation and sin – they looked for ways to catch people breaking the law. But the grace of God has set us free from that bondage – the penalty has already been paid – we are no longer condemned.

This week, I was talking to a gentleman from this church, and he asked, “Bob, how is it that you can struggle with sin in your own life, (and believe me, I do!), and then still get up and preach on Sunday?” The answer is found right here – “Neither do I condemn you…” Do you know how liberating that is! We are free – free from the guilt and shame of our sins! Free from the bondage of our failures! Free from the condemning accusations of Satan!

 Now, that doesn’t mean that we can go and sin all we want – because God will forgive us – look at the rest of the sentence. Jesus said to here, “go and sin no more.”