Jesus did not palliate sin nor lessen the sense of crime; but he came not to condemn; he came to lead the sinner to eternal life. The world looked upon this erring woman as one to be slighted and scorned; but the pure and holy Jesus stooped to address her with words of comfort, encouraging her to reform her life. Instead of to condemn the guilty, his work was to reach into the very depths of human woe and degradation, lift up the debased and sinful, and bid the trembling penitent to “sin no more.” When the woman stood before Jesus, cowering under the accusation of the Pharisees and a sense of the enormity of her crime, she knew that her life was trembling in the balance, and that a word from Jesus would add fuel to the indignation of the crowd, so that they would immediately stone her to death. {2SP 351.2}

Jesus undskyldte ikke synden eller neddyssede samvittighedens stemme; men han kom ikke for at fordømme. Han kom for at lede syndere til evigt liv. Verden betragtede denne vildfarende kvinde som et menneske, der burde foragtes og tilsidesættes; men den rene og hellige Jesus nedlod sig til at henvende trøstefulde ord til hende og opmuntrede hende til omvendelse. Det var ikke hans gerning at fordømme de skyldige, men at trænge ned i den menneskelige elendigheds og fornedrelsens dyb, og ophjælpe de faldne og syndige og at byde den skælvende, angergivne kvinde: "synd fra nu af ikke mere!" Da kvinden stod for Jesus, nedbøjet under farisæernes anklage og følelsen af sin store synd, vidste hun, at hendes liv var i den yderste fare, og at et ord fra (352) Jesus ville opflamme skarens vrede, så at de øjeblikkelig ville stene hende til døde.