Caught in a Trap

Is there anything more humiliating than being caught in a compromising position?

· Caught cheating on a test

· Caught by a state trooper for speeding

· Caught in a lie

We have all felt the humiliation of being caught red-handed.

“Jimmy, I have not been caught red-handed!” Well, you have been caught red-handed if you trusted Jesus as Lord because He met you in the brokenness of your sin.

By the way, did you know the Bible teaches us that we are not to delight in the demise of someone or delight in someone else being caught red-handed?

Tonight, as we continue in John, I would like for us to look at John 8 and see a woman caught in the very act of doing something that was strictly illegal in God’s Law. She was undeniably guilty, and the Law prescribed the punishment for what she was caught red-handed doing.

Exodus 20 : 14 14 “You shall not commit adultery.

Deuteronomy 22 : 22

22 “If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then both of them shall die—the man that lay with the woman, and the woman; so you shall put away the evil from Israel.

As we examine John 8, we are going to look at three people or groups of people:

· THE HARD-HEARTED HYPOCRITES

· THE BROKEN WOMAN

· THE MERCIFUL MASTER

#1        THE HARD-HEARTED HYPOCRITES

John 8 : 1-6a

1But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.2 Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them.

3 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst,

4 they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act.

5 Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?”

6 This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him.

These hard-hearted Pharisaic hypocrites had two problems that can be seen immediately.

A.    The hypocrites did not want to LISTEN to the Master.

John says that Jesus had gone to the temple early in the morning to teach the people. These people wanted to hear what the Master had to say, but these hypocrites were not there.

We get confused about the terms hypocrite and backslider.

A backslider is born-again child of God who has let sin come between God and him or her.

A hypocrite has never been born again. They are the apostates that we studied in the Book of Jude.

A hypocrite knows the truth but rejects the truth. Hypocrites are the tares sown in among the wheat.

These jokers cared not what Jesus was teaching which is easily seen burst into the temple interrupting Jesus and dragging this woman in front of Him.

I have done extensive research on this.

I understand that the Pharisees were big Elvis Presley fans. Did you know that?

Do you know what their favorite song was? Suspicious Minds. That’s right.

They were always trying to trap Jesus, and every time they tried, including with this woman, they would interrupt whatever Jesus was doing singing as loud as they could,

“You’re caught in a trap; you can’t walk out.”

You see they hated Jesus and were always trying to catch Him red-handed so they could put Him to death. They knew what the law prescribed, and if Jesus deviated from that prescription, in effect, He was participating in her guilt, and He would have been stoned too.

There is no doubt this woman is guilty. She was caught in the very act of adultery, and these jokers were not interested in hearing the Master teach about the Kingdom of God; they were interested in trapping Jesus.

They wanted to trap Him to accuse Him. This woman was guilty. She should have been stoned to death, and they did not want to hear the Master; they wanted to trap the Master.

B.    The hypocrites loved the Law as they wanted to apply it.

These hypocrites manipulated God’s Law to their advantage, but God’s Law, God’s standards, cannot be manipulated.

What God said in His Law is what God meant. You should have already noticed their manipulation of what God said.

Exodus 20 : 14 14 “You shall not commit adultery.

Deuteronomy 22 : 22

22 “If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then both of them shall die—the man that lay with the woman, and the woman; so you shall put away the evil from Israel.

Adultery was an offense worthy of capital punishment. If you were adulterous, you were to be put to death.

The Pharisees were all over that part of the Law, but what had they manipulated or changed?

Where was the man they caught the woman with? Both should have been brought, but they changed the Law to meet their standards. Why?

Can I speculate for just a minute?

I believe the Pharisees arranged the entire affair, and I would not be the least bit surprised to know that it was one of them that was sleeping with her, and that is why they did not bring the man with them. The man was one of them.

God’s Law and His Word are set in stone. Changing that Law or Word to meet our needs or standards is eternally dangerous.

Revelation 22 : 18-19

18 For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book;

19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

The Pharisees hated one thing, I believe, above all else about Jesus. They hated the fact, and it had become obvious by this stage of Jesus’s ministry, that Jesus sought sinners, and not only did Jesus seek sinners, but He went to where they were.

They did not seek Him. Jesus sought them, and the Pharisees hated that. Jesus did not seek the Pharisees because the Pharisees had rejected the truth, and dear friend, I, for one, am glad Jesus seeks sinners.

#2        THE BROKEN WOMAN

John 8 : 3-5

3 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst,

4 they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act.

5 Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?”

This woman was caught red-handed. She was guilty. She was desperate. She was broken.

One of two things was about to happen. She was either going to be executed, or her life was forever going to be changed as she, like Hester Prynne, would have been forever branded an adulteress.

She had no defense. She was guilty, caught in the very act. She was totally alone. Think about what that means as I speculate again.

If the woman tried to say she was with one of the Pharisees and that they had trapped her, what would she have been admitting?

She would have been admitting her guilt, but to prove what she was saying, what would she need?

She would need two witnesses, and do you think the Pharisees were going to testify against themselves? This woman was desperately guilty without a defense.

I actually believe she realized what was going on, and that’s why she did not say anything while they were accusing her before Jesus because she had no witnesses to verify who the man was that was with her, and it did not change the fact that she was guilty.

Her verdict was obvious..

If you are lost, you are in the same position as this woman was. You are guilty. You have been caught red-handed. Your eternal verdict is obvious. You are guilty.

Romans 6 : 23 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This woman was guilty. She was without excuse, and if you have not trusted and put your faith in Jesus as Lord, you are guilty and without excuse.

You have no defense just as this woman had none. You have an appointment with the Judge.

How desperate are you? Are you broken enough to come to Jesus?

#3        THE MERCIFUL MASTER

John 8 : 6b-11

But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.

7 So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”

8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.

9 Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

10 When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”

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

You see this woman had no witnesses in her defense, or so she thought, but Jesus knew what was happening, and He judges, in an instance, the hypocrites and the woman.

Let me show you what I mean.

A.     Jesus JUDGES the hypocrites.

The Pharisees are laying their trap. They have Jesus where they want Him. They had asked Him what should be done, and Jesus responds in a peculiar way by stooping down and writing on the ground.

He was not listening to a word they were saying.

Before I speculate again, I want you to understand that the verb translated wrote in verse 6 means to write against.

Think about that.

Jesus stooped down and was writing something against the Pharisees.

Now, let me ask you a question.

The Pharisees caught this woman in the very act. There are only two possibilities. Was one of them committing adultery with her? Were they just a bunch of peeping toms? What were they doing in her bedroom?

The Bible says they caught her in the act. I am going to speculate, but I believe, instantly, Jesus recognized their guilt, and I believe when Jesus, the Word, stooped down and began to write, I believe He wrote these guys names and the parts of the Law these hypocrites had violated including naming the one of them that was in bed with this woman.

Do you know what I think He wrote?

Matthew 7:1–5

1 “Judge not, that you be not judged.

2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.

3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?

4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye?

5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

The Pharisees, as we are supposed to do, had the authority to judge sin, but they, like us, do not have the authority to condemn the sinner. Only God has that authority.

Jesus wrote something like that on the ground, and I believe He addressed each one of those hypocrites by name, and He looks up and says, paraphrasing, “If what I am writing is not true, go ahead and throw your stone.”

Then, He went back to writing and notice what the Bible says.

John 8 : 9

9 Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

From the oldest to the youngest, they were convicted by the witnesses against them. What witnesses? The Word, the Spirit, and their own consciences, and they all dropped their rocks one at a time and walked away.

Yes, the woman was guilty, but so were the hypocrites, but instead of repenting, they turned from Jesus and walked away. They were exposed to the truth and could have come to Jesus at that moment, but they did not. They rejected Him and walked away.

B.     Jesus judges the woman’s sin and shows MERCY and GRACE toward her.

John 8 : 9b-11

And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

10 When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”

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

AMEN!!!! Now, we still have a problem. This woman is guilty, and she is facing the Judge.

Every person will have that one-on-one encounter with Jesus as Judge.

If you respond to Him in the affirmative on this side of eternity, you will be judged according to His mercy and grace.

If you deny Him, you will be judged according to the Law.

This woman had no one left to bring a charge against her. The Pharisees, representing the Law, were no longer condemning, and Jesus tells her the greatest statement ever.

Jesus says, “I do not condemn you either.”

Let me ask you an important question.

Why did Jesus say, doctrinally and theologically, I do not condemn you either?

Jesus could say that because He was about to bear her condemnation on Calvary’s cruel cross.

She could not be condemned for adultery because Jesus was about to bear her condemnation on the cursed tree. Jesus was taking that woman’s punishment.

Yes, she was guilty. Yes, the sentence was pronounced by the Law, but the Merciful Master fulfilled the law’s demands against this woman so that she could have eternal life.

2 Corinthians 5 : 21 21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

This woman was absolutely guilty. She was caught red-handed. She was caught in the very act. She was guilty, but dear friend, so was I. I was caught red-handed, and what I deserved Jesus took in my place, and He did the same for you because you were caught red-handed too.

He was crucified for us, and God totally poured His wrath on that woman’s adultery, and on my sins and yours too. God took her adultery to the Cross and said Father forgive them.

God did not spare His Son, and because Jesus knew the plan, He did not condemn this woman; instead, He died for her as her substitute. AMEN!! AMEN!!!

She was guilty. The Law demanded death, but she did not feel the thud of rocks because Jesus bore the stripes of punishment on dark Calvary.

Now, before we get too excited and lose sight of the story, there is one more little part to this that is incredibly important.

Jesus did not condemn the woman, and I believe that woman believed what Jesus said to her about not being condemned, but then Jesus adds a little caveat that is the proof in the pudding.

John 8 : 11

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

Go and sin no more!

Dear friend, a repentant life is evidence of a forgiven soul, evidence of someone submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Listen.

Jesus was going to bear her condemnation, but if she denied what Jesus told her by continuing to live in sin, eventually, she was going to get caught red-handed again and face those consequences.

Repentance is evidence of a new life. If we truly accept Jesus as Lord, it produces a change in our lifestyle, and if you have not changed your lifestyle, if your desire to sin is the same as it was when you made what you called a profession of faith, you need to get saved.

Listen to what Paul says about repentance and sin for a Christian.

Romans 6 : 1-4

1What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?

2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?

3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?

4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

If you are truly saved, according to the Bible, you will not desire to live in sin. You will walk in newness of life. In other words, you will have a new lifestyle.

Does that mean you will not sin? No, it does not meant that, but it does mean if you are walking in that new life that you will recognize sin for sin and repent of it as soon as possible before God pulls His belt off. AMEN?

I believe this woman never committed adultery again. I believe she repented from that lifestyle, and I believe the community noticed that she was different. I believe she lived for Jesus.

She could have been part of the 120 gathered in the Upper Room. Who knows? She lived for Jesus. Repentance is proof that we are living for Jesus and not living for the flesh.

A repentant lifestyle is not going to produce an attitude that desires to satisfy the flesh. A repentant lifestyle submits to the Lordship of Christ, and when you do sin, you will submit to the Holy Spirit’s conviction and confess that sin and turn from it.

If you are sitting here and saying, “Well, I am never convicted of anything.” Dear friend, you need to get saved.

The reason the Holy Spirit is not convicting of you sin is because He is not living in you, and the call for you from Him to accept Jesus Christ as Lord.

This woman repented, and dear friend, any conversion that does not produce repentance is no conversion at all.

What do you think conversion means? Conversion means a change, and if you are not changed, you are not converted.

The Apostle Paul says that we are saved from sin, and sin should no longer hold us captive.

That woman caught in adultery is a perfect example. She was caught red-handed that day. She was guilty. She was set free from the condemnation of her sin, she repented, and she was never held captive by that sin again.