Definition: to discharge completely (as from an obligation or accusation)*
Approximate Number of Occurrences in Scripture (6)
Read: John 8:1-11 for full context of this account
John 8:10-11 (NIV) 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" 11 "No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."
That Was Then
As you read this salacious account of the woman caught in adultery, there are a myriad of lenses you could peer through (the defendant herself; her smug, sanctimonious prosecutors; the Levitical law she broke; and Jesus, the righteous judge). Curiously, two key witnesses are absent from this passage – her paramour/lover and more interestingly, her husband. No matter which perspective you tried this case from, nothing could prepare you for the verdict.
If you attend church sporadically or have a monogrammed pew, you likely heard this account preached. Jesus was in the temple courts preparing to teach a crowd of people when the town law professors and Pharisees brought a woman they caught in an adulterous romp and made her stand in all her glory to be judged before this ogling throng of church folk (certainly not a jury of her peers). If that weren’t mortifying enough, they sought the death penalty on demand. They not only intended for this to be her last memory, but that the crowd would remember nothing else about her life. Their case was open-and-shut. The evidence was indisputable, and they cleverly argued from precedent (the Law of Moses). John 8:4-5 (NIV) and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?"
It turns out that Jesus’ trial strategy was unrivaled as His one-line closing argument forced them to take the stand and convicted their own conscience. John 8:7 (NIV) When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." Further from their expectations than the blind-siding acquittal that was handed down was the fact that they themselves were compelled to declare the mistrial.
What a paradox! These erudite sophisticates suddenly found themselves more exposed before Jesus than the buck-naked adulteress they accused. That one rebuttal not only saved this woman’s life but cleared the temple court as everyone who heard began to go away one at a time, the older [repeat offenders] first, until only Jesus was left with the woman standing there (vs. 9). It was at this point when the official verdict of Not Guilty was delivered and she was free to go.
No matter who you most identify with from this account, we are all the woman caught in adultery and are standing “uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give an account” (Hebrews 4:13b). Thank GOD, we can be acquitted through Jesus according to Romans 4:7-8! - "Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him."
This is Now
Imagine being on trial for a heinous crime you didn’t commit. You’ve endured weeks (if not months) of nerve-wracking testimony and character assassination. Friends and family members who seemed fiercely supportive of you in the beginning have gradually rescinded their commitment. Defending your innocence proves to be a toilsome uphill battle that your legal counsel is unfit for. Your life is now in the hands of 12 strangers who will decide whether you’ll sleep in your own bed, kiss your spouse/partner, raise your children, eat your favorite meal, hang out with your friends or experience any semblance of freedom within the next few decades. After deliberating for what seemed like an eternity, the jury enters a verdict that causes your knees to buckle – “We, the jury, find the defendant Guilty on All Counts”!
For most of us this was merely a troubling mental exercise; but for the nearly 2600 people currently listed in the National Registry of Exonerations, it’s akin to receiving an all-expenses-paid trip to Hell. A staggering 68% of these jailed but innocent people are African American. Given that the Registry was founded in 2012 and only records cases in the US of people wrongly convicted and acquitted of all charges going back to just 1989, there are many others that are undocumented or worse yet, still incarcerated or deceased. **
This blog post celebrates the many people who dedicate their careers (and lives) to getting justice for those whom the system failed. People like Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld, Co-Founders of the Innocence Project, are responsible for over 367 exonerations since its inception in 1992. In addition to leveraging DNA testing to acquit wrongly accused individuals, they labor to reform the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice, as well as provide support to exonerees while they rebuild their lives post-release. Back then, Barry said “We knew that this new DNA technology would not only prove people guilty but prove people innocent”. Twenty-five years later, in proud retrospect, they cited on their webpage: “The exonerations of Ronald Jones, Rolando Cruz, and others who served time on death row in Illinois led to Governor George Ryan issuing a moratorium on death row sentences in 1999. Three years later, Governor Ryan gained national attention when he commuted the sentences of more than 160 people. That same year, then little known Illinois state senator Barak Obama introduced a mandatory recording of interrogations bill that became law. And the momentum continued to grow.” ***
There is not enough space to tell of the many others who dedicate themselves to the work of providing wrongly incarcerated men and women worldwide the hope of a new life via a trial that concludes with the words “you’re free to go with the court’s profuse apologies”.
Who Said That?!!!
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” ― Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. ****
What Do You Say?
"I am slow to judge and quick to forgive (or acquit). Even in painful or confusing situations, I pursue the path of peace by remaining objective - while leaving the justice to GOD."
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*www.merriam-webster.com
** https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/about.aspx
**** www.brainyquote.com