Judge Jesus
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INTRODUCTION:
My wife is a psychopath: she can eat a single candy bar over the course of a year. If you give me a candy bar, it will be eaten before I get home. Which is the single biggest problem in our marriage, she hides the candy from me and the kids, but I’m going to find it. She walks in and I have chocolate on my face. WE got caught. We are guilty. If there was a court in marriage I would have to go before the judge and make the case.
TENSION: We like the judge way better when they
CONTEXT: Reminder, the feast of the tabernacles just happened. Jesus just said he is living water. The bad guys sent the police to arrest him. There are arguments over if he is the messiah or not mainly because he was Galilee and they never stopped to ask if he was born in Bethlehem.
45 The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” 46 The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!”
Why didn’t you arrest him? - Answer, that was a great sermon. Even they knew there was something special everyone knew this.
HAHA - this is my hope someday.
47 The Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived? 48 Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? 49 But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.”
They realize, even the guards have believed him - (The best the world can throw at him still believe in him) They are in full panic mode.
authorities or Pharisees - have any of the experts actually believed this guy? - Even today, many of the scholars of the Bible don’t believe in the Bible. But God said you need to have faith like a child.
Verse 49 is a little confusion, but they are saying these people who don’t know the law are accursed. They are guilty.
Now who were the people who were actually wrong about Jesus?
50 Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, 51 “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” 52 They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”
Nicodemus - We met him in John 3 when he talked to Jesus. He came in dark yes, but he came! He heard Jesus say John 3:16 with his own ears. Started to change things.
Our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does? - Innocent until proven guilty. We should hear him out. Very reasonable request. But this is how we know these men were out for blood.
Galilee too? - They accuse him. Kinda like Tampa and Brooksville.
No prophet arises from Galilee - WRONG. List prophets: Jonah, Nahum, Hosea, Elijah, and Elisha. They likely knew this, but were so blinded by their rage they missed it.
Jesus is the only truly innocent one.
Jesus is the only truly innocent one.
Might I suggest why it was so hard to arrest Jesus is because he was the most innocent man that ever lived. You and I, people could find something to pin us on, but not for Him.
[The earliest manuscripts do not include 7:53–8:11.]
DISCUSSION ON WHETHER IT IS BIBLICAL:
Oldest copies come from Egypt and were dated between 100-200AD - Which is incredible.
This story doesn’t show up until around 500AD.
Most scholars say it wasn’t part, or in some other places. Yet many still say it was likely a true story, so this might be a story that was handed down generation to generation. In the story itself it appears Jesus’ disciples weren’t there to see this. So like Hebrews, we might not be sure who wrote the story, but I believe it happened and will preach it as such.
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.
Went to his own house - could be important in a minute. But this means that festival was over if they could go to their house.
Mount of Olives - Where Jesus stayed the last week. He prayed there. I wondered if Jesus was praying late that night.
Early in the morning he came again to the temple- This was the meeting place and close to the mount of olives. Seems like he came by himself. Spend time there before the crowds.
All the people came - it didn’t take long for word to spread Jesus was there. He was sitting and teaching 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.
The scribes (only time in John) and the Pharisees brought a woman - (I thought they were all at there own homes? Weird.)
caught in the act of adultery - Caught, means grabbed hold of. They literally went in and grabbed a hold her while committing the action of adultery.
How shameful and disgraceful. Imagine in your worse most sinful state you were found out and dragged in front of people.
5 Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?”
They were correct(mostly). Adultery deserved death, doesn’t say how though. So for most cases, they tradition was they would place the adultery in manure and publically strangle them to death. The only time it specifically said stoning was in Duet and it was for a woman who was betrothed. So this likely was a young woman.
So what say you? - Imagine this scene now, an angry mob. A young woman who might have been indiscreetly grabbed and now scared they were going to kill her on the spot.
John 8:6 (ESV)
6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him.
But this was gotcha question: First off, where is the man!? Last time I checked it takes two to tango.
Next, they weren’t allowed to stone people. Hence the reason why Jesus was crucified and not stoned. Rome did not allow it. So if he said yes, Rome would arrest him for inciting a riot killing this girl. If he said no, they would then accuse him of not following the law and thus not from God.
So what did Jesus do?
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.
Weird response. Wrote on the ground. Imagine you coming to the sheriff with someone who deserves the death penalty and while listening to you. He bends down and plays in the dirt. What is Jesus doing? has he lost it? Was he trying to buy time?
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.”
HAHA - tattle, He is being mean to me me…Because I hit him.
ask - questioning them. Saying give us an answer.
He stood up - first time. Looked them in the eye.
Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her - Masterful. Normally the ones who were eye witnesses would be the ones to throw the stone.
Notice, he doesn’t say she is innocent.
We are guilty,
We are guilty,
8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground.
My theory: Jeremiah 17:13 “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.”
What did we just talk about? Jesus just told people he was the living water. They rejected. He is now writing their name on the ground for destruction.
Many think it was the sins of them. We aren’t sure. All we know is it says he wrote “against” them.
Jesus just writing in the sand. Only time in Scripture.
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?”
heard it, they went away - they understood in that moment, they had no right to cast that stone because they were guilty under the law.
Beginning with the older ones - young adults are more self righteous. Older folks understand their faults.
Jesus left alone woman standing - So Jesus still bent over, woman standing. He stands up again. Looks at her and asks a question he already knew the answer to: Where are they? Has no one condemned you?
BTW, if it was a false accusation, they would be held liable to be stoned.
No one stepped up to condemn you?
We are guilty, but not condemned.
We are guilty, but not condemned.
This is where we start to see this woman as a picture of you and me. We are guilty, but if God is the one who justifies who can condemn us?
The world says, you are a good person, no! you are wicked. You deserve death, but Christ has said there is no more accusers.
Interestly - Jesus said let him without sin cast the first stone? Who could have condemned her? Jesus. And he was the only who didn’t.
11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”
No one, Lord - no one can condemn you but Christ.
Neither do I condemn you, - Jesus could have. Why didn’t he? Because someone was going to die for that sin, but it wasn’t her. The reason why she wasn’t condemned is because Jesus was condemned for her. So that she could go free.
Now on sin no more - So it isn’t a liescne to sin, quite the opposite.
We are free to stop sinning.
We are free to stop sinning.
Notice the order: Not stop sinning and I won’t condemn you. It’s your not condemned, so stop sinning.
CONCLUSION:Rocks
Levi - paint - trie dto get it off and counldn;t
rocks - joke, now don’t throw it at me.
Do you remember that show: Judge Judy. Absolutely the craziest cases. Those cases don’t compare to what Jesus dealt with. Because he knows every wrong we have ever done. Have you ever been caught red handed in anything, with your hand in the cookie jar?
