John 7_53 thru John 8_11 Lady is not for stoning
Drowning man – saved but the savior drowns. Attacked by a tiger – a man drowns in a well.
Atonement
§ Connection between Jesus’ death and our sins
§ Metaphors for Jesus’ death
o Law court – the judge takes the prisoner’s place
o Sacrificial altar – Christ is the paschal lamb
o Battlefield – victor over sin and death
o Prisoner exchange – negotiate for the redemption of a general
o Slave manumission – bought at a price
o Wisdom and power of God
o Canceling a bond – paid is stamped on the bonds of our sin
§ Does Jesus himself ever interpret His cross for us?
§ I believe he does
John 7:37-38
§ Round One: Story opens here
§ Seven days of celebration called Succoth – Feast of Booths –Jesus attends
§ Jesus made this claim - very like Isaiah 55:1-3
Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’ ”
§ Caused a bit of a stir
§ Officers were sent to arrest him
The Trap
§ The next day: Jesus could have avoided the Temple – didn’t
§ The Temple complex
o Thirty-five acres
o Three sides had a long enclosed walkway
o North end was a fortress housing Roman soldiers who would regularly patrol the top of the walkway
o Temple was a place where social unrest often started
For centuries Middle Eastern cultures understood the honor of the family to be attached to the sexual behavior of its women.
In conservative traditional villages women who violate the sexual code are still sometimes killed by their families.
John 7:53-8:11
7:53 [Everyone went to his home. 8:1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
2 Early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and began to teach them.
§ Round two begins.
§ His courage. A day after he was almost arrested - re-enters the arena - not intimidated by his opponents
§ A crowd gathers
§ Jesus sat down – established himself as a Rabbi – teacher
3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court,
§ Pharisees make their move
o Not a hypothetical – brought a live woman
o On their turf - assumed that there was no way out for him
§ couldn’t be more dramatic
o The Pharisees, woman, the crowd, soldiers
4 they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act.
§ How did they catch her?
§ Their real agenda?
o Male is not brought
o Law - both be put to death
Leviticus 20:10
‘If there is a man who commits adultery with another man’s wife ... the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
o Issue for them is not sin so much as it is trapping Jesus.
o Woman
§ is a pawn - used and thrown away.
§ no opportunity to tell her story or explain what happened.
5 “Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?”
§ Issues.
o Jesus claimed to be the living water promised by God to His people
o The Law at that time meant - included the prophets and the Psalms
o Challenge was on Pharisee’s turf – the Temple
§ They had to respond
o If they could humiliate him in public
§ Pose a question - interpreting the Law - could not answer without destroying himself
§ His popularity would fade quickly
§ Assumed he had two options
o Romans had denied the Jews the right to put people to death
o Yes
§ Upholds the Law and contradicts his way of life – with sinners
§ stone her - an outcry triggering enough commotion that the Romans would arrest him for inciting a riot – Pax Romana
§ if not arrested and killed - at least very unpopular
o No.
§ If he denies Moses
· Breaks the Law
· setting aside God’s Law
· Must be brought to justice
§ Besides the Romans are watching
· If we stone her - probably arrested and killed.
§ He could say “I know what the Law of Moses says but the political realities are such that it would be unwise”
§ They got him – or so they think
§ Corrupting influences are always potential in organized religion
o He subtly debates the nature of justice
§ Is it a strict application of the Law
§ Is it the definition of justice found in the Servant Songs of Isaiah?
o Jesus fights for compassion
6 They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground.
§ According to Jewish law any day after a feast was to be observed as a Sabbath
o Eighth day of a festival – Sabbath
o Writing is work
o Writing in sand is OK – it’s not work – current interpretation of the Law
o I’m no fool
o What does he write? Maybe “kill her”
7 But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”
§ With a stroke of genius he springs the trap.
o Not against the Law.
o Knows the written Law
o Familiar with the current interpretation
§ Having made the judgment in accordance with the Law he announces the means of execution
o The one without sin goes first.
o Puts a face on everyone in the mob.
o Romans would want to know who started it
8 Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.
§ Time to let a few things sink in
§ Shame-pride culture
o claiming to be sinless - prideful and hard to prove
§ Tells both the men and the woman
o “you are wrong.
o Both of you have sinned.
o Both of you need to change your ways.”
9 When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court.
§ Quickest way to get in trouble – even today – is to humiliate powerful people in public
o The part of the Pharisees anger directed towards the woman
§ Lands squarely on Jesus
o At great cost he has shifted their anger to himself
§ And he didn’t even know her name
o Isaiah 53:5 “with his stripes we are healed”
§ Alone with the accused woman
§ Terrified woman had expected to die
10 Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?”
§ Amazing ability to read both people and situations
§ Brilliant - dealing with conflict.
o From complete social and institutional weakness
o turns the tables
11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.”]
§ Jesus Doesn’t
o Instinctively reject a woman - violated the sexual code. “different reflexes.”
o romanticize the woman.
o trivialize her sin
o condemn her as a person
§ Jesus Does
o Offer her a very costly demonstration of unexpected love.
o Uphold the sexual ethics of the biblical tradition - removes its penalty
o Recognize the woman is ruining herself by her infidelity
o Charge her to reform her lifestyle
§ Release
o from a life that is contrary to the will of God
o always has the goal of life according to the will of God
Scribes and the Pharisees – The “Shepherds of Israel”
§ Show the corruption - always potential in organized religion
§ Law matters – people do not.
o They will use the woman
§ and then kill her
§ She is a pawn in a power play
§ To discredit Jesus
§ To reaffirm their authority
§ Her public humiliation was irrelevant
§ Turf matters more than truth, justice or people
o Used the combination of sex, a woman, sin, public humiliation, and a double standard
o No a murderer or a thief instead a woman caught in adultery
o The man was allowed to disappear – but no help for her
Jesus – Lives Out the Core Meaning of the Cross
§ Insight into his understanding of the significance of his own suffering
§ Alone was entitled to judge.
o He was the only one present who was sinless
o Could have by his own statement thrown the stone
§ Grace by definition is undeserved
o Did not condemn her. Nor did he condone her action.
o Jesus’ compassion is shown: her sin in no way diminishes his willingness to be hurt to save her.
§ Calls both sides (law breakers and law keepers) to reform their lives
o It is not an acquittal for the accused. He affirms the Law
o Jesus accepts the sexual code of the Law
Matthew 5:17-18
“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
o But He removes its penalty.
§ It is a refusal to judge.
§ He redirects their anger to himself.
§ In doing so he directs the penalty to himself.
Do you understand? The Law still says that we are sinners. Jesus says that He will take our punishment!
§ He has interpreted his own cross
§ End of the story is missing
§ What does the woman do? How did she respond?
o She knows Jesus will suffer for what he has done for her.
o Will the knowledge of the price he will pay bring about life change?
o Hostility shifted to himself
o She knows that they will come back with a bigger stick
o Unexpected love that saved her life
What will we do with Jesus’ costly love - offered on the cross to the world
(John 3:16)
§ Some Suggested Responses
o Follow Jesus’ example and
§ Love people more than turf
§ Love people more than rules
§ Love people more than power
§ Love people more than appearances
LAW IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
Romans 13:8
... for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
Romans 13:10
Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Galatians 5:14
For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Galatians 6:2
Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.
James 2:8
If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.