Go, and Sin No More

I heard Chuck Porta teach a few weeks ago on the story of the Woman Taken in Adultery in John 8. His approach to verse 10, "Go, and sin no more," was unusual. He reviewed the classic interpretation-- "Look at all I've done for you. I will give my life for you, and on that basis I forgive you. Now, don't you dare go and do this again, or else. You have been fairly warned." Porta rejected that interpretation as being out of sync with the atmosphere of the rest of the story. Jesus did not humble the Pharisees only to revive their attitude.

Instead, Porta suggested we take the phrase as a breathing into the woman of the power to obey--spoken not harshly, but with great compassion, equivalent to "Be healed!" or "Be free!" or "Be loosed!" It was a benediction, not a curse. It contained within it the "Let there be..." of the creative Logos. The phrase was not an external principle to be obeyed, but a transforming internal authority to be a new person.

Porta's exegesis moved me deeply, not only because it deepened my knowledge of Jesus, but because it was a perfect example of the power of the Word versus the Decadent use of the Word. Attitude is everything. The Decadent use of the word demands that Jesus ultimately side with the Pharisees; legitimate use of the Word breathes life and a new beginning through every phrase. God, grant us the grace to use the Word as light and freedom!

(Picture: Guercino, 1621)