Jesus Offers a New Beginning

Jesus was teaching in the temple when some men brought a woman before him. They said she had done wrong and demanded a punishment.

They were also trying to trap Jesus with their question. The woman stood frightened before the crowd.

Jesus bent down and wrote on the ground.

When the men kept asking, he told them that the one without sin should be the first to throw a stone.

Then he bent down to write again.

The men began to leave, one after another. Each had wrong choices of his own to remember.

Their footsteps moved away.

At last Jesus asked the woman where her accusers were. Had anyone condemned her?

She answered that no one had. Jesus told her that he did not condemn her either and that she should leave her sinful way behind.

He did not pretend that wrong choices were harmless. He gave her mercy and a call to live differently.

When we have done wrong, hiding or blaming someone else does not help. We can tell the truth, ask forgiveness, and choose a better way.

And when another person needs a new beginning, we can be kind instead of making their shame greater.