ESOCS Devotional 3 March 2026 – The Hypocritical Judging of Others
MEMORY VERSE: ““So when they continued asking Him, He lifted up Himself, and said unto them, he that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” John 8:7 KJV
TEXT: JOHN 8:1-11
But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
2 Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. 3 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, 4 they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. 5 Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?” 6 This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.
7 So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” 8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 10 When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”
11 She said, “No one, Lord.”
And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”
READ OTHER ESOCS DEVOTIONAL HERE
One fundamental phenomenon in the Christian faith is judgment. It is the process of forming an opinion or evaluation by discerning and comparing an act, as well as determining the consequences of that act. It can also be said to be an opinion, or estimate so formed regarding an act. It is bound up with the notions of justice and righteousness. But when judging is characterized by hypocrisy or incomplete knowledge of the offence, it then calls to question the sincerity or righteousness of the judge. Hence, the Master warns in Matthew 7:1, thus, “Judge not, that ye be not judged.”
In Jesus’ day, the corrupt religious leaders were so engulfed in their tendency to distort judgment to their own advantage. In our text, we see one of those occasions where those who opposed Jesus manifested the inconsistencies of the religion they had constructed for their own selfish desires. The woman was caught in adultery with a man. What justifiable sense did it make to single out the woman for punishment? What happened to the man? He probably was in their camp, and “needed to be protected.” Hypocrisy shamelessly displayed.
But here, and of profound importance is the response and approach of Jesus to their misguided action, “… “Let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” (v 7b). Their response was quite dramatic, as they all slipped away, one by one. This truthfully coincided with the words of the Master in Matthew 7:2, thus: “For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.” Let’s take heed to ourselves.
Reflections
- The Lord admonishes us to worry about the log in our own eyes, rather than the tiny speck in our brother’s.
Prayer
- Lord Jesus, give us the grace to refrain from judging others.
Further Reading: Amos 7:1-15; Micah 5:2-7; John 10:1-18
ESOCS Devotional 3 March 2026
