The Woman Caught in Adultery
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
Tonight we are coming back to one of the teaching of Jesus, but this one was forced upon Him.
Often the religious leaders sought to test Him, to find a reason to accuse our lord of wrong doing… again and again it showed they did not recognize who he was or they would not have done this at all
In our passage we find Jesus in the Temple area, in Jerusalem and he is teaching the people.
And in this time we find that a difficult situation presents itself...
So lets look at John 8:1-11
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.”
-1
As we look at verse 1 we find Jesus at a familiar place, he is at the mount of olives and wonder what He is doing there.
I would think that very early in the morning hours Jesus would be in a solitary place and He is praying, so this place we know of His great place where he prayed and his sweat became as great drops of blood.
This must have been a favorite place for him to pray as he was in and around Jerusalem.
And the Bible says verse 2, that as early morning came, Jesus came again to the temple area. tells us this of an account like this, we know we can find Jesus in the temple area during many of His times there at the Temple. It is a place where people came ot meet God, to make offerings, to seek help…
Why wouldn’t they expect to find God there and they did, more often than they knew off.
People came to him and the Bibel says He taught them.. Jesus sitting refers to the idea that He spent time with people, he took extended periods of time to bless those He loved.
Now verse 3 tells us something is of an issue…
3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst
So much for a quiet morning in the temple… the religious leaders, two groups of them, the pharisees and the scribes, the experts in the law. These groups are to together, working to hope to catch Jesus in some heresy and bring charges against Him.
The issue is a woman caught in adultery. I have always had the question, how did they know and where is the man who is involved in this sin.
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?”
This is all about the test… They come to Jesus and call Him Teacher, it is a insincere politeness they are addressing him by… They felt that if Jesus broke with the tradition of the law, they could condemn him. But if he called for her punishment, they could condemn him under Roman law for inciting a riot and the murder of this woman when the Jews had no authority to kill anyone only Roman leaders could call for the death penalty.
4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery.
This is all about the test… They come to Jesus and call Him Teacher, it is a insincere politeness they are addressing him by… They felt that if Jesus broke with the tradition of the law, they could condemn him. But if he called for her punishment, they could condemn him under Roman law for inciting a riot and the murder of this woman when the Jews had no authority to kill anyone only Roman leaders could call for the death penalty.
One other consideration that D. A. Carson points out is this... stoning for adultery probably was not used much in the time of Jesus. The old law probably was quite unpopular with the people. Enforcement of such ethical standards by severe punishment patterns was quite selective at best
The New American Commentary: John 1–11 IV. A Biblical Addition: The Woman Seized in Adultery (Pericope de Adultura [7:53–8:11])
But even beyond the matter of legal entrapment, Carson likely is correct in suggesting that stoning for adultery probably was not used much in the time of Jesus. The old law probably was quite unpopular with the people. Enforcement of such ethical standards by severe punishment patterns was quite selective at best
5 Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?”
But without a doubt, they wanted to hear what Jesus
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.
You see without a doubt their intent and Jesus is ready to challenge them in a way they would never have considered or understood… it literally will leave them speechless.
But for the moment, Jesus is just writing something on the ground. There are lot of theories out there as to what he has wrote in the dirt… the law, listing their sin… the list can go on and on...
Now verses 7-8
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.
What ever Jesus wrote we don’t know; or if they didn’t know what it was or didn’t care.. but they persisted in asking Jesus about what should be done about this horrible lady as they have labeled her.
I use the word horrible, they might have used sinful or something but regardless they cared nothing for her. even if she died, to them she deserved it and God would sort out the rest.
But Jesus posses a question to them,
Let Him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone a her....
Now let me share
7 The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
According to the Torah (), the actual witnesses were responsible for casting the first stones.
But Jesus goes beyond that and says those accusing witness cannot be subject to any accusations of sin, so they had to be sin free.
Jesus sees through their self righteousness judgment of others. They cared not for her at all, their intent was to destroy both him and her if possible
And then he returned to writing in the dirt....
Now finally verses 9-11
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.”
They heard what Jesus says, the legalisits heard this message and they are uncomfortable, they do not want to project themselves as blameless and thus might be in judgment themselves.
So one by one they left… The eldest, to the youngest. In a group where the oldest are considered the wisest and are to be respected, them being the first to leave actually diffused the matter… The accusing group had no authority at this point..
Now the attention turns to the woman and Jesus. Jesus will ask her where are her accusers?
But in reality there are two questions here, one hiding in the other. Where are they who have accused you.. And has anyone officially accused you...
Having been left alone the truth is obvious, She said no one..
His message was simple, Neither do I , go and sin no more...
Is Jesus acquitting her sin?
Remember charges brought against a person meant there had to be two witness, everytihng was established on two or three people. Now He knew here heart, her life but what led her to Him today was unjust.
His reply to here is simple at that point, go and sin no more.
Our job always is to live our best as possible, but never pretend to be perfect or to judge others.
The standard Jesus demanded was that authentic accusers themselves not be subject to accusation. When Jesus uttered this startling declaration, he returned to his writing in the dir
The New American Commentary: John 1–11 IV. A Biblical Addition: The Woman Seized in Adultery (Pericope de Adultura [7:53–8:11])
According to the Torah (Deut 17:7), the actual witnesses were responsible for casting the first stones. But Jesus went beyond the usual interpretation of that prescription and demanded of the accusing witnesses that they themselves not be in breach of God-given precepts, namely, that they be without sin. The standard Jesus demanded was that authentic accusers themselves not be subject to accusation. When Jesus uttered this startling declaration, he returned to his writing in the dirt.