Woman in Adultery

Jesus and Our Sin

Last week we discussed how divisions can happen

seeking our will and not the Will of the Lord.

To accept that Facts are not always Truth

and Truth is the Lord Jesus, His Word, What He said and is --- Is Truth.

Interesting that after all the stated divisions,

the Lovers who accepted Jesus as the Christ

the Haters who plotted to kill Him

and the Fence sitters who were varied from accepting Jesus as a Prophet to those likely rooting for the Pharisees intent.

Jesus is still teaching with no alteration of God’s Plan and the obedience to His Will along is evident.

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So we open today with an interesting set of Scripture

in fact in most of your Bibles you will notice something interesting

Chapter 8 starts with a verse number 53, not verse 1

that is actually considered Chapter 7 verse 53

but you will also see noted that

the earliest manuscripts do not include 7:53 - 8:11

the ESV notes it, the NIV will have lines separating it from the rest of the text.

what does that mean?

Well mostly it means that I need to inform you of that fact of Scripture

i am not going to risk creating any division or useless discussion

I simply feel academically responsible to point it out.

It does appear to be added to me as the syntax of the narrative changes

If these verses are not present that it would appear that 7:52 would flow to 8:12 as the same situation.

but with these verses insert it changes the narrative to separate situations

But keep in mind John 21:25

John 21:25 (ESV)

25 Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

so know that there is debate,

but also remember that the complete Bible

every word, mark, etc is God Breathed

2 Timothy 3:16 (ESV)

16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

Lets read our verses for today

John 7:53–8:11 (ESV)

53 They went each to his own house,

1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them.

3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst

4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery.

5 Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?”

6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.

7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”

8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground.

9 But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.

10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

Testing and Godly Response

There a few steps in verses that i want to make evident.

The Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees are seeking to trap Jesus

in fact it was Roman Law that no one but the Roman could order a death sentence and carry it out.

They thought they had a plan. Jesus says STONE her and he violates Roman law, and if He says NOT TO STONE then He violates Jewish Law

Jesus is not able to be tricked, so we study his actions

They wait to Jesus is in a public setting and He is teaching them

Now they drop the trap

The woman is alone. Where is the man?

Adultery cannot happen in isolation

This is not about the adultery

It is about trapping Jesus

they are seeking to create a dilemma for Jesus

to chose Roman Law or the Jewish LAW

They are likely seeking to make him a hypocrite to His own teachings

Lets look at the likely “violation”

Deuteronomy 22:23–24 (ESV)

23 “If there is a betrothed virgin, and a man meets her in the city and lies with her,

24 then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones, the young woman because she did not cry for help though she was in the city, and the man because he violated his neighbor’s wife. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.

There are a few items in this command that we do not know as fact and others that are missing.

We don’t know for Truth that this woman is a betrothed virgin.

We honestly don’t even have evident that she layed with anyone, it is entirely possible that is a set up also

Where is the man?

It says SHE WAS CAUGHT in the ACT

They BRING HERE into the MIDST OF JESUS meeting.

The SHOCK value was there for SURE

Then the command says you need to bring them both, yet we only know of the woman there.

How should we respond Today?

In the days of the LAW, as we see here, the LAW was interpreted by man.

Man has a tendency to sin, and therefore a tendency to twist God’s Commands.

We are looking at verses that show the proposed use

of man to convict, condemn, and control

Yet as Christian we must be about

GRACE, REPENTANCE, and RESTORATION

so HOW SHOULD WE RESPOND to OTHERS?

the easy answer is always

EXACTLY THE WAY THAT JESUS DID

i say it to you often.

We need to learn and study what Jesus DID, so that we can follow

the WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?

WWJD

Above all HE DID.....

Romans 5:8 (ESV)

8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

A good perceptive to keep in mind.

IF Someone sins against you, would you DIE FOR THEM?

Likely NOT!

so a tough question to ask from these verses is...

When confronted are you like Jesus or like the Teachers of the LAW?

Do you seek a pound of flesh or an ounce of GRACE?

[PAUSE]

Modeling Jesus

lets look at the first part of the question

What did Jesus do, so that we know What would Jesus do

Look at verse 6

John 8:6 (ESV)

6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.

Jesus Paused

I would suggest that Jesus bent down and prayed

and on the Ground..... i don’t know what He wrote.

and neither does any one else for it is not in the Scripture

many experts over the years have though He may have written

Jeremiah 17:13 (ESV)

13 O Lord, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you shall be put to shame; those who turn away from you shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living water.

or maybe

Exodus 23:1 (ESV)

1 “You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with a wicked man to be a malicious witness.

Jesus is the WORD, so it is totally understandable that he used the Word for this purpose.

So then it is important to look at WHAT WE DO KNOW.

He bent down, and wrote on the ground.

Jesus Pause, Prayed, Pondered

Before he Proceeded

Jesus actions prior to speaking are important.

He then speaks ....

John 8:7 (ESV)

7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”

Let Him who is without sin....throw the first stone.

Jesus did not say WHO IS WITHOUT THIS SIN

BUT WHO IS WITH OUT SIN

GREAT PIECE OF WISDOM FOR US.

Jesus in WISDOM caused the deceivers

the deceitful to PAUSE and PONDER

In a non aggressive action Jesus leads them to think again about what they are doing.

What happens?

They start to walk away one at a time.

the Older ones --- possibly the wiser ones

walk away

and then Jesus has His moment

to Glorify God, by Growing Others

Growing through Grace

John 8:10–11 (ESV)

10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

This is the first time that Jesus speaks to the accused.

I understand and teach that Jesus knows all at all times,

but it is important to note that he didn’t ask her if she was guilty.

Jesus didn’t seek any verification of Gossip

or try to sort out Facts from Truth

He simply asks where are you accusers, where are those who sought to condemn you

She is little confused and this is coming off a high emotional jolt of

being stoned to death.

In the height of the scene, i imagine she was broken, crying, she was broken.

Jesus comes to her

and asks her to look up

look around

There are no more false witnesses

and then Jesus gives the Words that Flow with grace and love

Go now and leave your life of sin.

We are to season our Words in our Daily Walk

we are to have our words flow with grace and love

Salvation

Jesus is always about salvation

He came to earth to offer Salvation

He came to teach the way to Salvation

He came to open the way for our Salvation

and the model we see is not a weak wimpy man looking to be stepped on by others

Strength — True strength is shown in control.

Jesus demonstrated for us in these verses

People will attempt to trick us

and they will use others to do so

OUR response must be like Jesus

to Pause and Prayer to God the Father

to Ponder in our own way of writing in the sand

and the way we treat others must be in the way that Jesus modelled.

We call out evil with God’s wisdom

we love the sinner

we love the offended

and we do NOT CONDEMN them

we simply remind them to leave there life of SIN

May we live our lives differently

May we learn to Pause, and Pray and Ponder and then proceed

May our actions and words flow with GRACE and Love

Lets Pray