The Verdict Part 1

Introduction

Meriam-Webster Dictionary defines a verdict as "the finding or decision of a jury on the matter submitted to it in a trial. While in theory, this definition appears to be straight forward. However, unfortunately, the American Justice System's history has proved that getting this process right consistently is extremely difficult.

According to the Equal Justice Initiative, “our death penalty system treats you better if you’re rich and guilty than if you’re poor and innocent. As a result, a stunning number of innocent people have been sentenced to death[1].” The world-renowned lawyer Bryan Stevenson and founder of the Equal Justice Initiative said, “the Death Penalty is lynching step-child. We moved lynchings from outside to inside during the 1940s and ’50s[2].”

Since 1973, 1,529 people have been executed in the US. Over this same period, 172 have been exonerated and released from death row, which means for 9 people executed, 1 person has been exonerated[3].

Furthermore, “the same factors drive wrongful convictions in non-capital cases and death penalty cases, including:

Erroneous eyewitness identifications

False and coerced confessions

Inadequate legal defense

False or misleading forensic evidence

False accusations or perjury by witnesses who are promised lenient treatment or other incentives in exchange for their testimony[4].”

This situation is further complicated when we bring another brilliant lawyer and writer into our conversation by the name of Michelle Alexander. In her groundbreaking work, The New Jim Crow, she tells us that there has often been a lack of correlation between crime and punishment from a historical perspective. “Sociologists have frequently observed that governments use punishment primarily as a tool for social control, and thus the extent or severity of the punishment is often unrelated to actual crime patterns[5].”

It is no wonder that verdicts in America have been and continue to be points of conflict and controversy when so many factors outside of the evidence of the case determine the delivered verdict.

Let this summary of verdicts and wrongful convictions frame our perspective as we approach the Gospel of John. John's distinct approach to the life and ministry of Jesus is to prove the deity of Jesus. John does this by showing us different encounters people have with Jesus that demanded a response.

· We see Jesus encountering John the Baptist, and John responds by saying, "Behold the Lamb of God!"

· Next, Jesus encounters His first disciples and demands a response with the command "follow me."

· Then we see Jesus encounter Nicodemus and demands a response by telling him, "you must be born again."

· Jesus has an encounter with the women at the well that demands a response with the statement, "if you drink of living water, you will never thirst."

· Jesus encounters a man who had been paralyzed for 38 years and demands a response when Jesus says, "take up your bed and walk."

(This leads us to our narrative for today. Where Jesus is presiding over a death penalty case, in the Gospel of John 8:3-5)

[1] Equal Justice Initiative 2021 Death Penalty Innocence and Error; retrieved from https://eji.org/issues/death-penalty/ on January 10, 2021.

[2] Equal Justice Initiative 2021 Death Penalty Innocence and Error; retrieved from https://eji.org/issues/death-penalty/ on January 10, 2021.

[3] Death Penalty Center, “Execution Database”.

[4] Equal Justice Initiative 2021 Death Penalty Innocence and Error; retrieved from https://eji.org/issues/death-penalty/ on January 10, 2021.

[5] Alexander, Michelle. The new Jim Crow: mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness. The New Press New York, NY. pg.7.

John 8:3-5

John 8:3-5 (NASB) 3 The scribes and the Pharisees *brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, 4 they *said to Him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. 5 "Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?"

(For the next few moments, I would like to share from the subject, "The Verdict.")

I. Setting vv. 1-3 Jesus returns early in the morning from the Mont of Olives, and begins teaching in the Temple.

Right away, we need to understand that chapters 7-8 in John's Gospel should be looked at as one literary unit. This allows us to see Jesus teaching in the temple, in the right light.

The day before, Jesus stood up in the middle of a religious feast and told the crowd, "If any one thirst, let him to me and drink!" The authority of his teaching excited the crowd, but at the same time, it enraged the Pharisees'. Consequently, the Bible states that there was a division within the crowd over Jesus. One group praised him, while a different group wanted to seize him. Chapter 7 concludes with the religious elite arguing over the crowd's reaction and what they need to do about Jesus. Therefore the narrative we are discussing of the woman caught in adultery flows directly out of this conflict and controversy.

Chapter 8 opens the next day, with Jesus arriving early the following morning to begin teaching in the temple. The momentum continues from the previous day, and it isn't long before a large crowd gathers around Jesus, eager to hear more of his teaching. But the Pharisees are still angry from the previous day and are looking for a way to discredit Jesus.

Herein is why the Pharisees burst into the temple, disrupting Jesus's sermon dragging a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery.

In the middle of Jesus' teaching, a commotion breaks out, and we see the Pharisees dragging this woman kicking and screaming into the temple.

There is no doubt that this woman would have been afraid and probably crying. Can you imagine the shame and humiliation this woman would have felt, being publicly exposed like this? Her clothes are disheveled; her hair is a mess; the smell of sex still on her body.

In their blind religious rage, the Pharisees use the vulnerable woman's life as a pawn in their attack on Jesus. This is why it's dangerous when a thirst for power and prestige drives those who should be serving others. People lose their humanity and become a means to an end.

Now, let's remember the context of this incident. This incident takes place right after Jesus told everyone that thirst to come unto to him. Thirst is an internal longing that we naturally look for something external to quench.

There had to be an unsatisfied thirst that was bigger than this one incident. So often, actions like this are symptoms of a larger problem. We don't know the details of her story.

· We don't know the source of her thirst.

· We don't know if she was abused as a child and now has a distorted picture of herself.

· We don't if she was married and her thirst was created by a husband who neglected her.

· We don't if the man she was caught in adultery with was promising her a life she had been longing for.

· Whatever the reason was, this woman had a thirst that led her into this secret adulterous lifestyle.

This woman was in a thirst trap! But it is her thirst that allows this woman to relate to all of us. We may not want to admit it, but we are all thirsty for something. We all know what it's like to either have a thirst we have allowed to trap us in a situation that we thought alienated us from Jesus.

The truth of the matter is that this woman's condition represents all of us. This woman represents all of us, who knows what it is like to be trapped by your thirst—trapped in addiction, by a thirst for a new reality, trapped in the cycle of destructive relationships, by a thirst to feel loved, trapped in pornography by a thirst to escape your current situation, trapped in unhealthy eating habits, by a thirst for comfort. Thirst will drive a person to do things they never said they would do. This is the condition of this woman as she stands in the middle of the temple.

This woman is thirsty, and there is no better place for a thirsty person than in the presence of the One with living water!

(The temple is silent as tension fills the air.)

II. Conflict:

The temple has now become a courtroom. The Pharisees are the prosecutors, they have laid out their charges, and they are looking for Jesus to deliver a verdict.

John 8:4-7 (NASB) 4 they *said to Him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. 5 "Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?" 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. 7 But when they persisted in asking Him.

Listen to the careful wording of the Pharisee's questions. This woman was caught in the act of adultery; The Law says that we should stone her. What do you say?

The law they are referencing from Leviticus 20:10 requires the man and the woman to be put to death, but the Pharisees catch the woman in the act, and the man is nowhere to be found. This is the problem with legalistic people because the natural tendency is to use God's word to underwrite their sinful practices.

Nevertheless, Jesus is in a difficult situation. When this question was asked:

· All eyes would have been on Jesus, anticipating his response.

· If Jesus says "let her go," they would have accused Him of being an enemy of God and against the Law

· If Jesus says, "stone her," the commotion that it would have created would have caused the Roman soldiers to arrest Jesus. Because of the religious-political nature of the times, Roman soldiers always had a presence at the temple.

"So far as human reason can perceive it was the most profound moral problem which ever could or can confront God Himself. That problem of how justice and mercy could be harmonized"[1].

But while Jesus is writing in the dirt, the Pharisee' sensing a victory in the silence of Jesus, persistently challenge Jesus, "What do you say?". The Pharisees have been trying to entrap Jesus for some time, and now it looks like they finally got him!

(We now see Jesus display an ultimate act of wisdom.)

[1] Pink, Arthur W. Exposition of the gospel of John ©1975. Zondervan Grand Rapids, MI.p.421

III. The Climax: John 8:7-9 (NASB)

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." 8 Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. 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.

In this verse, we see the failure of retributive justice. Retributive justice is a perspective that works based on deliberate punishment and reward. "It denotes a fixed and certain recompense for work done. It's the two points of the principle of the desert as it relates to rewards and equivalence as it relates to punishment".[1] In other words, this is what the law says, and for justice to be served, someone must pay. This is the philosophy of our justice system in America. Someone has to pay!

But Jesus responds to their desire for punishment with the words, "He who is without sin among you, let him be the one to cast the first stone." This exposes the main flaw in retributive justice: where is this point of equivalence, and who is the judge? The point of equivalence is what punishment fits the offense. Then there is the point that Jesus is stressing here, who has the right to judge. The wisdom in this simple yet profound statement is impressive. Jesus agrees with the law and said stone here, but established who had the right to do it.

The Bible says that everyone began walking away, and "He was left alone and the woman where she was, in the midst." I would argue that this woman is finding out that she feels more vulnerable and exposed standing alone in silence in the presence of Jesus than she felt when the men seized her in the act. When our flaws are exposed to people, it feels one way, but when we have a come to Jesus moment, it feels heavier.

I find it interesting that the very choices we make that alienate us from Jesus have a way of leading us into a confrontation with Jesus.

(Now that Jesus is alone with this woman, Jesus delivers The Verdict.)

[1] Travis, Stephen. Christ and the judgement of God: the limits of divine retribution in New Testament thought. Jointly published by Paternoster and Hendrickson publishing ©2009 pg.7.

IV. The Verdict: John 8:10-11 (NASB)

10 Straightening up, Jesus said to her, "Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?" 11 She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more."

It is this response that Jesus shows us by example why all who thirst can come to him and drink of living water. Water not only cleans, but it also replenishes and restores, for God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

Notice how this verdict places who Jesus is above what this woman has done. To this point, this verse speaks to the restorative heart of Jesus and how Jesus wants to respond to us. When we stand before him, authentic and repentant. This displays the superiority of restorative justice over retributive justice. "Restorative justice focuses on relationships, reconciliation, and reparation of harm that was done. It does not counter harm with new harm, but with a healing response".[1]

A subtle element to Jesus's response is that the law required two witnesses before its sentence could be executed, yet those witnesses must assist in the carrying out of the sentence. But not a single witness was left to testify against this woman. Thus the law was powerless to touch her. This cleared the way for Jesus to act in love, mercy, grace, and truth[2]!

In this, we can see that Jesus has enough love, mercy, and grace to handle whatever issue we bring to him! When Jesus said neither do I condemn you, Jesus was showing the love and compassion governs our relationship with Him.

· Jesus has a love that is longsuffering and kind.

· Jesus has a love that we can't be separated from.

· Jesus has a love that looks past our faults and sees our true need.

· Jesus has a love that sees the best in us when we are at our worst.

This love is the energy behind the mercy that Jesus extends.

· Jesus extends mercy that seeks to heal and not condemn.

· Jesus extends mercy that seeks to redeem and restore.

· Jesus extends mercy that doesn't give us what we deserve.

Here is my main point or thesis. The verdict teaches us that although we may have put ourselves in this mess, Jesus is still available to help. "If any one thirst, let him to me and drink!"

[1] Travis, Stephen. Christ and the judgement of God: the limits of divine retribution in New Testament thought. Jointly published by Paternoster and Hendrickson publishing ©2009 pg.8.

[2] Pink, Arthur W. Exposition of the gospel of John ©1975. Zondervan Grand Rapids, MI.p.425