Tony Alamo

In the time of Christ and the Apostles, the Sanhedrin was the supreme Jewish court of "justice." The high priest was its head. He and the Pharisees knew the law of God. The Sanhedrin was abolished after the destruction of Jerusalem 70 A.D. Yes, they knew very well the law of God and that it would never ever, throughout eternity, change. They knew also that Jesus came preaching this same immutable law of God. God is incapable of changing His law.


The Sanhedrin and Pharisees devised a plan to destroy the credibility of Jesus, a plan they felt was flawless. Their plan was to put Jesus between a rock and a hard place. They would ask Jesus a loaded question that, to them, would catch and do away with Jesus' credibility, no matter which way He answered it. The question had to do with a woman caught in the very act of adultery. Now the law of Moses required that she be stoned to death, and of course, her soul would spend eternity in hell. The penalty of everlasting hell never goes away unless this sin has been repented of and forsaken completely and forever. "And the scribes and the Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, they said unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?" (John 8:3-5).

If Jesus would have said let her go, He would have been saying that the unchangeable, eternal law of God does not apply any longer, and there would not be a Jew in Israel who would ever believe in Him again. Thus, His ministry would have been over. He would have been a false prophet, a false teacher, and a hypocrite, not from God, because He had always taught that the law was eternal and unchangeable. Jesus preached, "Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:19). Now if Jesus would have taken a rock and stoned her to death, He would have been tried for murder by the Romans and executed on the Roman cross. This same Roman penalty would have applied to the Pharisees, if they picked up rocks and stoned her, and they knew it. For the Pharisees knew very well the worldly Roman laws and penalties, as well as the Jewish law of the living God (the hypocritical Pharisees and scribes broke every one of God's commandments on a daily basis). Jesus knew these facts and reversed the situation.

Jesus stated, "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her" (John 8:7). Not willing to be hung on Roman crosses, and because "they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last" (John 8:9). They were afraid of Roman "justice." To the Roman heathen, adultery is not sin or punishable by death, because they acknowledged not God's holy law. This Roman, pagan disregard of God's commandments has influenced most of the world into unashamed, open rebellion against Almighty God. They make up their own laws as you see them do today. When Jesus told the scribes and Pharisees to cast the first stone, He was mockingly, but sincerely saying to them, are you not from the Sanhedrin? Are you not the authoritative voice of the high priest of Israel, the high priest of God? Are you not righteous? Are you not the ones to carry out this justice which is clearly written in the law of God by Moses? If you are righteous and holy, stone her to death as the law commands for you to do. Keep the law! Stone her! But make sure you're righteous, without sin yourselves, for this also is the law of God, that ye be holy, that ye be righteous! (I Peter 1:16)

Thus, Jesus never denied the law or the law's penalty, making Jesus the righteous keeper of the law, and the Pharisees and scribes, dogs. The Pharisees were sinners because they kept not the law. The woman knew that she was a sinner, and became convicted of her sin and afraid for the law's penalty of her sin. She then fearfully repented by crying out to God for mercy and received the merciful forgiveness of her sins from God, the Father, by faith in the atoning blood of Jesus. She was immediately taught by her merciful Saviour the instruction for continuous peace and assurance of her salvation. And those instructions are, "Go and sin no more," which means, she must give her entire heart, soul, mind, and strength to God from then on, to love her neighbor as herself, and to never break another commandment. She did go and sin no more. She was Mary Magdalene, who washed the Lord's feet with her tears.

The law of mercy for repentance is only found through faith in the powerful, atoning blood, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of this world. We must go to the cross repenting in order to receive merciful forgiveness for our sins, through Jesus, God's sacrifice who mercifully took our place.

Don't delay. Take your place now at that cross before it is everlastingly too late. We live in a very dangerous world. Life is uncertain — death is certain. The physical act of repentance must be accomplished while we are still alive. The truth of this is written in Scripture, "As it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). So before an unexpected last breath, before the silver cord of life is snapped, and before you go away forever, cry out unto the Lord. "Behold, now is the accepted time behold, now is the day of salvation" (II Corinthians 6:2).





Praise the Lord. May God reward you abundantly.

Pastor Tony Alamo


English Alamo Literature


Tony Alamo Christian Ministries Worldwide
P. O. Box 2948
Hollywood, CA 90078








If you do reprint, please include this copyright and registration:



"Prayer" Footnotes:










10. Heb. 11:6 return


12. John 14:6 return

13. Acts 4:12 return

return to top