They're all holding their stones, and they don't know what to do, so they drop them. They brought her to Jesus, because they needed someone with... Authority. So they all drop their stones, and they leave one at a time.
Very important - it says: Jesus doesn't speak until they all left. After they've all left, there's this lady - topless, beaten up, ashamed, laying probably in the foetal position, covering her head waiting on the stones to come.
Jesus gets her attention, and He says: lady, where are your accusers? She looks around and she says: they've all left. Jesus said: then neither do I condemn you. Why? Because the Torah said: stone her; but the Torah also says that you have to have two witnesses to condemn somebody.
Jesus couldn't make her sin go away, so He simply made the witnesses go away - which automatically declared a mistrial.
That's the yoke of our Rabbi, which is why there's therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ.
It's not that you don't sin; it's just that according to the yoke of our Rabbi, there will never be enough witnesses to condemn you.
Then I had to ask myself this question: could my yoke say what His yoke said? And it couldn't! He looked at a lady who was caught in the act of adultery, and He was able, with compassion, to say: I don't condemn you.
My yoke (the yoke of my denomination) said: ostracise her, cut them off - that's it! That was the yoke of my denomination, but it was not the yoke of my Rabbi - and I had to repent. Could your yoke say that? What would your yoke say?
There's this one place, where this guy was hanging on a cross, and Jesus was having a really bad day. They had arrested Him in the middle of the night; put all these false charges on Him; and remember that at Jesus' trial - they couldn't get two people to agree - which is really interesting.
But they end up putting together these lies; and beating Him with such a beating that 7/10 people would have died from. They put a crown of thorns on His head; they slap Him, gossip about Him; spit on Him. All of His 12 best friends leave Him.
This is just a really bad day; but we call it Good Friday! Jesus is hanging on a cross, after nails have been shoved through His wrists and His feet. He knows He's going to die; but there's a guy next to Him who says three words: Please remember me.
Jesus said: that's enough for Me, you can go to heaven. That's the yoke of our Rabbi.
He says: and while we're at it, let's forgive the people at the foot of the cross too. Forgive them - they don't know what they're doing. That's the yoke of our Rabbi.
The yoke of our Rabbi was so full of compassion and grace, and slow to anger and abounding in love - it was even present in the Old Testament.
In Hebrews 11 is what is called the Hall of Faith – heroes of the Faith.
Abraham gave his wife to Pharaoh's harem. Imagine if CNN and the internet were around back then? All the Christians would have been saying: I don't even think he's saved. How can he be saved and do stuff like that?
Isaac did something very similar. Moses was a premeditated murderer – “I looked this way and that, and seeing no one, I killed the man, and hid him in the sand”.
The problem was, the next day the sand shifted - and you've got this leg sticking up into the air! God looked down and said: you'll do. I'll use you to write the Bible!
The yoke of my denomination, said: a premeditated murderer gets cut - they're disqualified. God says: no, no, no, the yoke of the Rabbi gets in there, and with grace restores their life, and uses them to write the very Bible we preach from.