Go and Sin No More
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with penitential grief; and, with gratitude to her Deliverer, she bows at
the feet of Jesus, sobbing out in broken accents the emotions of her
heart, and confessing her sins with bitter tears.
This was the beginning of a new life to this tempted, fallen soul,
a life of purity and peace, devoted to the service of God. In raising
this woman to a life of virtue, Jesus performed a greater act than that
of healing the most grievous bodily malady; he cured the sickness of
the soul which is unto death everlasting. This penitent woman became
one of the firmest friends of Jesus. She repaid his forgiveness and
compassion, with a self-sacrificing love and worship. Afterward, when
she stood sorrow-stricken at the foot of the cross, and saw the dying
agony on the face of her Lord, and heard his bitter cry, her soul was
pierced afresh; for she knew that this sacrifice was on account of sin;
and her responsibility as one whose deep guilt had helped to bring
about this anguish of the Son of God, seemed very heavy indeed. She
felt that those pangs which pierced the Saviour’s frame were for her;
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the blood that flowed from his wounds was to blot out her record of
sin; the groans which escaped from his dying lips were caused by
her transgression. Her heart ached with a sorrow past all expression,
and she felt that a life of self-abnegating atonement would poorly
compensate for the gift of life, purchased for her at such an infinite
price.
In his act of pardoning, and encouraging this fallen woman to
live a better life, the character of Jesus shines forth in the beauty of a
perfect righteousness. Knowing not the taint of sin himself, he pities
the weakness of the erring one, and reaches to her a helping hand.
While the self-righteous and hypocritical Pharisees denounce, and the
tumultuous crowd is ready to stone and slay, and the trembling victim
waits for death—Jesus, the Friend of sinners, bids her, “Go, and sin
no more.”
It is not the true follower of Christ who turns from the erring with
cold, averted eyes, leaving them unrestrained to pursue their downward
course. Christian charity is slow to censure, quick to detect penitence,
ready to forgive, to encourage, to set the wanderer in the path of virtue,
and stay his feet therein.
The wisdom displayed by Jesus on this occasion, in defending
himself against the designs of his enemies, and the evidence which he
gave them that he knew the hidden secrets of their lives, the conviction