Woe Unto You

When Jesus said "WOE" to the Pharisees and the religious leaders of His day, it wasn't a stern warning to them or a harsh rebuke. In Greek it is a word uttered in grief. In Hebrew it is the word oy which means a lamentation (a passionate expression of grief; weeping), it is a crying out after.. and it's ROOT is to crave or greatly desire or long after; to covet.

Then He called them hypocrites which means an actor, a pretender; one who decides, speaks and acts under a false part; -- one who is walking in a false identity... not walking in their true nature, who they were created to be.

Try reading those verses and hear Jesus' cry to them... His passionate longing after them... His desire for them to walk in who He created them to be.

Instead of hearing "judgment" and "disapproval" hear with ears of LOVE. Love that says "this is not who you are, come back to the knowledge of who you always have been IN Me -- image and likeness of God."

This was the message that He had for EVERYBODY in the crowd that day, not just the woman.

But these scribes and Pharisees had set out to accuse Jesus (John 8:6) and when He said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first," because were ruled by an accusing sin consciousness, by condemnation, they "HEARD" accusation in His words and left. They were accused by their own conscience schooled in the Law of Moses. Jesus didn't accuse them, He wasn't exposing sin in their life. He had already told them in John 5:45, "Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, in whom you have put your hope." Moses, the man, was not their accuser, but the Law of Moses accused them in their consciences.

And so, Jesus went on to say to the woman, the very thing that He wanted with all of His heart to say to all of them had they stuck around -- Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more. In other words, stop letting sin consciousness, or the knowledge of good and evil, deprive you of abundant life IN Me!