Why Jesus (Could Righteously) Let the Adulteress Go

10When Jesus had lifted up himself,. . .

Jesus then offers to the woman "caught in the act" the gift of "no condemnation", so that she  may "go and sin no more (John 8: 10-11).

John writes in a previous chapter:

"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life." (John 3: 14-15)

The "serpent" which Jesus refers to appears in the Book of Numbers. When the Israelites murmured against Moses and the Lord, the Lord lifted His protection over the wandering people, and the serpents in the wilderness who had never harmed them before began to attack them. The injurious bites threatened everyone with certain death. God, ever-loving and slow to anger, told Moses how to save them:

"8And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. 9And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived." (Numbers 21: 8-9)

Moses lifted up the brass serpent, which represents the curse of the law judged once and for all, and everyone who was bitten who then looked on the serpent, was healed from the snake-bite.

Isaiah prophesies what looking on Jesus does for us:

"Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else." (Isaiah 45: 22)

When we look on Jesus, who is our righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30), we find the rest which testifies to the universe and for all eternity that our sins have been put away, forever. He was beaten, that we may be healed (Isaiah 53), that we  may be established in righteousness (Isaiah 54), and that we  may reign in life (Romans 5: 17)

Jesus lifted himself up, and the woman "caught in the act" looked on Him, and He took her sins, along with the sins of all the world at the Cross.

John the Baptist prophesied this truth ahead of Jesus' baptism:

"The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." (John 1: 29)

This passage expresses "sees" in the present tense, and Jesus' taking the sins in the present tense.

In effect, everywhere that Jesus went, healing and doing good (Acts 10: 38), He was the Lamb taking away their sins, and the final payment for all the sins of the world took place at the Cross:

"2And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." (1 John 2:2)

Jesus is (present tense) the "mercy seat" for all sins: yours, mine, his, hers, the whole world's. His blood keeps on cleansing us, too (1 John 1:7)

There is power in the Blood, and even as Jesus endured his earthly humiliation, He was taking away the sins of the world, including the sins of the woman caught in adultery, and the Pharisees who had sins of their own.

Just look at Jesus -- He is your representative, and your sure sign, that all your sins are finally and forever forgiven.