Caught in the Act

Introduction

Illustration: What do you do when you receive an email claiming to be from your bank? You should at least investigate a little into its authenticity, because the bank has authority over your funds, so not only does it matter if they are trying to reach out to you, there’s incentive to other people to try to use the banks authority to scam you.

Now an email from the bank has authority, but it certainly isn’t the most authoritative document. What about the Bible? We believe as disciples of Jesus that the Bible is inspired by God. That means that God gave the authors of Scripture the words and they wrote them down and so they therefore communicate what God wanted to say to us. In the words of Paul to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:16-17

2 Timothy 3:16–17 CSB

All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

So what if something claims to be a part of the Bible, and we find out that it isn’t? If you open your Bibles to the end of chapter 7 of John, you might find a note something like this: [The earliest manuscripts do not include 7:53-8:11]. That means that out of all the many copies of the Gospel according to John that have survived to the present, all the earliest ones don’t have this story in them. What does that mean? Well that means we have reason to suspect that John didn’t write this story. This is backed up by the fact that it reads like it was written by someone else in Greek. I won’t bore you with the details, but basically there are Greek words used here that John never uses anywhere else, and there are Greek words John uses everywhere else that He doesn’t use here. So put that together with this story’s abscence from the early copies of John and most of the Scholarly folks think this was added to John’s gospel at a later date.

So what do we do with this information? Why do I even bring it up in the first place rather than just getting to the point of the passage or maybe even skipping it. I think it’s important to talk about these issues, because they are issues. Lots of opponents of Christianity like to use instances like this to try and undermine your trust in the Bible. Worse they accuse pastors like me of keeping secrets from you by not talking about it, even though most pastors probably avoid it just because it’s time they don’t want to spend talking about Scholarly debates from the Pulpit. But I think our trust for the Bible is important, and I actually think that knowing this story was probably added to John doesn’t undermine my faith in the reliability of the Bible, in fact it enhances it.

Why do I say that? Because we have so many good quality copies of the books of the new testament that we are able to investigate stuff like this, and instead of finding a thousand things added to or removed from the Bible we find, like, two of them. Two significant ones I should say. This one and the long ending of Mark. If we found nothing it would almost be suspicious. Why didn’t anyone try to add something to Scripture? But the fact that we find a couple and that they are able to be tested and analyzed means that we have a lot of evidence of what the Bible actually says.

So then what do we do with this narrative if we know it wasn’t originally a part of John’s Gospel? Should we ignore it entirely? I argue that we shouldn’t ignore it, but that we shouldn’t treat it the same way we treat other parts of John. There’s reason to believe after all that whoever did write it might have gotten this from a genuine story of something Jesus did and words Jesus said. But because we don’t know exactly where it comes from we should take everything it says with an extra grain of salt. Meaning that we should back up everything we learn from it from other passages of Scripture. Thankfully I think every part of this narrative accords perfectly with what Jesus teaches elsewhere in the New Testament. So let’s dive in and see what this passage has to teach us about Jesus and about being His disciples.

John 8:1–11 CSB

But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn he went to the temple again, and all the people were coming to him. He sat down and began to teach them. Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, making her stand in the center. “Teacher,” they said to him, “this woman was caught in the act of committing adultery. In the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” They asked this to trap him, in order that they might have evidence to accuse him. Jesus stooped down and started writing on the ground with his finger. When they persisted in questioning him, he stood up and said to them, “The one without sin among you should be the first to throw a stone at her.” Then he stooped down again and continued writing on the ground. When they heard this, they left one by one, starting with the older men. Only he was left, with the woman in the center. When Jesus stood up, he said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, Lord,” she answered. “Neither do I condemn you,” said Jesus. “Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.”]

So what then do we learn from this passage? We learn the principle of Jesus that we shouldn’t pass judgment on other people before we’ve passed judgment on ourselves. That our responsibility is to address our own faults and not the faults of others. We also learn the importance of learning from Jesus’ example that we should offer mercy to those who do not really deserve it. Finally we see from this story that we should respond to the grace of God by seeking to truly turn around and live for Him.

Judge Yourself First

Illustration: The most annoying things that kids do are the things that we do.

Perhaps the most frustrating thing about it is that it’s hard to be angry with your child for doing something that you know you do. Actually, let me rephrase that. It’s hard to justify being angry with your child for doing something that you know you also do. It’s for that reason that the best advice I think I can give to someone who wants to raise good kids is this: be a good person. Work on yourself first, because the fact is kids do what we do a lot more than they do what we say.

Have you ever wondered why that is? For example my father is a smoker. All the time growing up my Dad would tell all of us that we shouldn’t smoke. He’d complain about the side effects and explain that he wanted to quit but that it had a strangle hold on him and that we didn’t want to end up like he did. But here’s the thing, my brothers both smoke. My sister smoked but quit I think while she was still in high school. I will admit though I never made a habit of it that I tried smoking in school. We did what Dad did and not what he said.

I think on a deep level we all sort of have an internal “hypocrisy sensor.” I think kids maybe even more than adults can tell when someone is just talking the talk and not walking the walk, and we subconsciously know not to trust that person or believe what they say. I think this is why Jesus was so angry with the Scribes and the Pharisees. They were supposed to be the people who taught Israel God’s Word and how to live right. Instead they set off everyone’s hypocrisy sensors. Jesus exposed them for this, and there are few better examples of Him doing so than in our passage for this morning. Let’s read verses 3 to 9.

John 8:3–9 CSB

Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, making her stand in the center. “Teacher,” they said to him, “this woman was caught in the act of committing adultery. In the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” They asked this to trap him, in order that they might have evidence to accuse him. Jesus stooped down and started writing on the ground with his finger. When they persisted in questioning him, he stood up and said to them, “The one without sin among you should be the first to throw a stone at her.” Then he stooped down again and continued writing on the ground. When they heard this, they left one by one, starting with the older men. Only he was left, with the woman in the center.

So these Scribes and Pharisees come to Jesus not genuinely seeking to do God’s will, but seeking to trap Him. You may be wondering in what way is this a trap. Here’s the thing, the Israelites in the time of Jesus’ ministry were not a free nation. They were ruled over by Rome. Though the Romans in many ways gave nations the right to make a lot of their own decisions, one right they reserved for themselves was the right to put criminals to death. In other words, the Jewish people were not allowed to punish criminals with a death sentence. So when they brought this woman to Jesus they put Him in a scenario where He had to either defy the Roman government by endorsing the stoning of an adulterous woman, or He had to go against the Law of Moses proving their belief that He was a heretic and didn’t follow the law.

But Jesus is too clever for them. Instead He turns around the situation completely on them and challenges the one without sin to be the first to cast a stone at her. This means that they now have to take responsibility for being the ones to execute this woman. More importantly, Jesus challenges them to look inwards and judge themselves before they judge this woman.

This is certainly not the only place that Jesus expresses this idea of judging yourself before you judge other people. The clearest example from Scripture comes from Matthew 7:1-5

Matthew 7:1–5 CSB

“Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged. For you will be judged by the same standard with which you judge others, and you will be measured by the same measure you use. Why do you look at the splinter in your brother’s eye but don’t notice the beam of wood in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the splinter out of your eye,’ and look, there’s a beam of wood in your own eye? Hypocrite! First take the beam of wood out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take the splinter out of your brother’s eye.

In this case the men wisely upon self reflection realized that they were not innocent. They left one by one starting with the oldest, probably because the old custom was that the eldest was the one to throw the first stone.

One of the most important things we need to understand to be faithful disciples of Jesus, and in order to share His good news well with other people, is that we are not innocent. It can be tempting to pick up our metaphorical stones to hurl at other people. The ones who voted for the wrong person. The ones who live in a more obviously sinful way than you. The ones who do some particular thing that rubs you the wrong way. People who cut you off in traffic. Yet Jesus extends mrecy to all of them and expects us to do the same.

This doesn’t mean that justice never comes. It just means that we let go of being the means of justice. That we drop our stones and let Jesus do the judging. Romans 12:17-21

Romans 12:17–21 CSB

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Give careful thought to do what is honorable in everyone’s eyes. If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for God’s wrath, because it is written, Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord. But If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. For in so doing you will be heaping fiery coals on his head. Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.

So we recongnize that we were just as lost as everyone else before Jesus found us, and offer them the same hope and eternal life that was offered to us. We all need Jesus. Every day. Let’s not forget that when people we find difficult cross our paths. And in the meantime let’s work on the planks stuck in our eyes.

Desire Mercy

Illustration: From a young age we all have a sense of justice, don’t we? If you don’t believe me go watch a bunch of young kids play and count how many times the word “fair” is said. Specifically “that’s not fair.” We all want things to be fair, don’t we?

For that reason I think sometimes it’s hard to “desire mercy.” We want things to be fair, we want people to receive the consequences for their actions. So when we have an opportunity to extend mercy to someone who has done us wrong, well that can be difficult to say the least.

Yet that is the challenge that God extends to us in the Bible. In some places by His direct command. In this case by His example. Let’s see what happens when Jesus is left alone with this woman caught in adultery. Let’s look at verses 10 and 11.

John 8:10–11 CSB

When Jesus stood up, he said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, Lord,” she answered. “Neither do I condemn you,” said Jesus. “Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.”]

Let me make something clear here. The Hebrew Scriptures do say that someone caught in adultery should be put to death. Leviticus 20:10

Leviticus 20:10 CSB

“If a man commits adultery with a married woman—if he commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife—both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.

So by the law of the land this woman was deserving of death for what she had done. Jesus is the only one present without sin. He would have been justified by the law to stone her. Whether or not the death sentence is appropriate for adultery is something we don’t have time to get into in this sermon, but that’s besides the point I’m trying to make here.

So if the law says she should be stoned than that means that Jesus has shown this woman a significant amount of mercy. He chose not to condemn her despite her being worthy of condemnation. Jesus scared off all her accusers so that there would be no more witnesses to condemn her and then told her probably the greatest words that she ever heard from the greatest man who ever lived.

“Neither do I condemn you.”

This attitude of Jesus is backed up by other places in the gospels. For example, when Jesus was in the habit of meeting with tax collectors and sinners He says this to the Pharisees who call Him out:

Matthew 9:13 CSB

Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

There are a lot of people in the world who think they have it figured out. That think they are good people. These are not the kind of people most likely to come to Jesus. Those who are most likely to fall on their face before Jesus are the ones who are desperately aware of just how lost they are and just how much they need them. To those people Jesus extends mercy that they do not deserve.

So if we want to be like Jesus, than we need to learn to desire mercy. To give people second chances they don’t deserve. To be willing to extend grace to people even when they hurt us and treat us poorly.

True Repentance

Illustration: Thankfully I’d say not everyone here has probably been in this situation, but one of the most frustrating scenarios we can find ourselves in is giving someone a second chance only to have them do the same thing again.

In a way it’s almost more frustrating than the first time someone hurts you. Probably because you’ve given someone the chance to understand what they’ve done wrong and make it right. So if someone turns around and hurts you again, it’s not only them doing the thing itself but an extra pain of ungratefulness and betrayal on top of the offense itself. Like if you caught someone stealing money from your purse and they swore they would never do it again and then they do it again, wouldn’t it hurt more the second time?

Surely none of us want to be someone who betrays the trust of someone who has given us mercy and grace, right? Well what about when God extends mercy and grace to us? If you are in Christ that means God gave you a clean slate, as the Bible says so eloquently your sins were as scarlet but He has washed you white as snow. So do we turn around and betray the forgiveness given to us? Listen to the final words that Jesus has to say to the woman caught in adultery.

John 8:10–11 CSB

When Jesus stood up, he said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, Lord,” she answered. “Neither do I condemn you,” said Jesus. “Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.”]

You seee Jesus is merciful, loving, and forgiving of sins. He gives us so much more grace than we can even imagine, He even forgave this woman caught red handed in the act of adultery. But He doesn’t just forgive us and leave us where we are. Jesus doesn’t want us to be stuck in a cycle of sin and forgiveness. Jesus tells this woman to go and sin no more. Of course we must ask the question, do we find this elsewhere in Scripture? Yes in fact we do, Jesus said the same thing to the paralytic He healed by the pool of Bethsaida. John 5:14

John 5:14 CSB

After this, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well. Do not sin anymore, so that something worse doesn’t happen to you.”

There’s a proper response to the forgiveness of Jesus. The temptation can be when we see that Jesus will forgive us any sin if we ask for forgiveness freely to just go on sinning. To not worry about doing wrong because we know it will be forgiven. I think this sort of attitude comes from a misunderstanding of what the Bible means when it says that we need to repent. Maybe this isn’t as common as I think, but I feel like there are some out there who treat repentence like it’s basically feeling bad about what you did and saying sorry. Well you may have heard this before, but the Biblical word “repentence” means more than that. The word repent in the Bible means to turn around and return to God. In other words it doesn’t just mean regretting the things we do wrong, but actively turning our lives around and living for God.

So in other words when Jesus tells people to sin no more it’s the same as telling them to repent. The forgiveness this adulteress experiences in this story is the same that is offered to all of us. If we repent, we will be forgiven and inherit eternal life.

The point is this, if we follow Jesus we should expect to see life change. Not just living the same life but adding church attendence. What changes should we expect to see? Well Jesus told us that we would know a tree by its fruit, meaning that we would know whether someone was His disciple by what sort of things their life produces. Paul fills in what the fruit of the Spirit looks like. This is in Galatians 5:22-24

Galatians 5:22–24 CSB

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

This is the life that we should be trying to lead with the help of the Spirit if we’ve truly turned around and returned to God through Jesus.

Conclusion

So though the authenticity of this story is in doubt, I think we have seen clearly that God can still use it to teach us something about Jesus and about discipleship to Him. Everything we find in it is backed up elsewhere in Scripture, and I must not be the only one that looks here and genuinely sees the character of Jesus shining through in this story. So what do we learn through this narrative? We learn first the importance of judging oursleves before we judge other people. By starting with the man in the mirror so to speak. Not being quick to condemn others and make ourselves into hypocrites. We also see Jesus going first in mercy, showing us what it means to desire mercy and show it to others who we feel don’t deserve it. Finally we see that when God shows us mercy and offers us grace the right way to respond is to turn around and try to live the way that God intended us to. To repent and seek God instead of our own good.

At the end of the day I don’t think there’s any such thing as talking too much about forgiveness and grace. It’s central to the gospel, Jesus’ good news about the Kingdom, and we want to do our best to understanding. It’s not easy though. It’s not easy to try to live up to the forgiveness we’ve been given and live to please God in all that we do. It’s much easier to stay the same. It’s perhaps even harder to extend that forgiveness to others when we have been wronged, but the Bible warns that a failure to forgive others leads to a failure to be forgiven. So then we must learn from this passage and others like it the heart of the Father and Son and how we can do our best to live and love like they do.

So as we bring this service to a close let us pray for the strength and direction of the Holy Spirit, who is the only one who can truly change our hearts and help us to grow in Holiness.