The Adulteress's Story
Notes
Transcript
John Newton’s Story: Amazing Grace
John Newton’s Story: Amazing Grace
John Newton wrote a hymn in 1772 that today is definitely the most recognized Christian hymn in history, but is likely one of the most recognized songs in general history.
He wrote “Amazing Grace” while he was a pastor in Olney, a smaller town north of London.
Nearly 25 year had passed since the words of that song became true in Newton’s life.
Newton was born in 1725 to a devoutly Christian mom and an emotionally absent, sailor father.
At 7 years old, his mom died, leaving him without a faithful Christian witness in his life.
At 11, Newton followed his dad to the sea and spent the next 20 years as a sailor in a variety of positions.
Though his mom was a faithful follower of Jesus, Newton turned his back on his mother’s witness.
He was arrogant, rebellious, undisciplined, and deeply self-focused.
Much of the later years of his sailing career was aboard slave-trading ships.
He was a part of the unjust and inhumane slavery industry, which in many ways fit his character well.
While the captain of one such ship, Newton and his crew ran into an intense, multi-day storm where they were forced to constantly pump water off the ship to keep it from capsizing.
After 11 days fighting the storm, exhausted and ready to give up, Newton called out to the God his mother had told him about.
He found a New Testament somewhere on the ship and God led him to Luke 11:13
13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
This hardened, selfish, rebellious, and hateful man finally understood the goodness of God and His unimaginable love.
Newton trusted in Jesus.
25 years later he wrote these precious words:
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound,
that saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind but now I see.
He has been accused over the years of being too harsh with the word “wretch”.
Surely that was just hyperbole, wretch is such strong word.
But Newton understood who he was before he met Jesus, and that word more than fits.
He would have likely pointed to Ephesians 2 in order to make his point:
1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins 2 in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient. 3 We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also.
This is no alright person. Not just someone who stumbles from time to time.
Broken, rebellious, sinful, corrupt, and, yes, wretched.
That is what makes the “but” in verse 4 so amazing
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
What is so amazing about God’s grace is that it takes wretched sinners like you and me, who are dead in our trespasses and sin, and makes us alive with Christ.
Forgiveness, freedom, love, favor, redemption, restoration, rebirth…all because of Grace.
All those who know really know Jesus have a story of Amazing Grace.
Let’s look at the story of a woman who received that grace from the very lips of Jesus.
53 They went each to his own house, 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.”
Explaining the Text
Explaining the Text
Most of your bibles are going to have some form of note on these verses, either before or in a footnote.
They will say something to the effect of:
The earliest manuscripts do not include 7:53-8:11
Not to spend too much time on this, but it is important to understand what we are reading here.
Gutenberg didn’t invent the printing press unto 1440 AD
So in ancient times, if you wanted a copy of a particular manuscript of document, it would have to be copied by hand.
This is how the bible was handed down and distributed in those early days.
Accuracy was immensely important, which can clearly be seen in how consistent the manuscripts we have are with one another.
But there were occasions where things that were in the early manuscripts began to show up in the newer ones.
John 7:53-8:11 is one of those.
Which means the disciple John, who wrote the gospel account, likely did not include this story in his original account.
So why is it here and why are we giving it attention?
Historically, this account in the life of Jesus, though not included in the original gospel narrative, is widely accepted as an actual event in Jesus’s life that was commonly told.
So at some point, a scribe merged the widely circulated story into the gospel of John.
The consistency of the story in relation to the rest of John and the power of the story to express the grace of Jesus is the reason we can confidently study this passage and trust that God will use it to challenge and encourage us.
Telling the Story
Telling the Story
Jesus was teaching at the Temple and a crowd had gathered around him.
A group of religious leaders come, dragging a half-naked woman into the middle of crowd.
She had been caught in the act of adultery and they wanted to know how Jesus thought they should handle her.
John points out the intention of the group. They intended to trap Jesus.
Would he uphold the law of Moses that condemned the woman to being stoned to death? Thus showing him to be a merciless judge.
Or would he stand up for the woman, turn his back on the commands of God? Thus losing his credibility as someone others should listen to.
We read how Jesus responds.
But I want to tell the story of the woman today
1) She woke up a SINNER.
1) She woke up a SINNER.
Most commentators make the case that the woman was set up.
It was understood that in order to convict someone of adultery they must have been caught in the act by at least 2 witnesses.
1 witness was not enough and it wouldn’t have been legitimate if it was only hearsay.
So the religious leaders likely orchestrated things to happen in such a way where they could catch her in the act.
Also the fact that only she is in front of the crowd “on trial” would suggest that the man was potentially in on the whole plot.
He was also guilty and would have faced penalty as well.
But he isn’t mentioned.
Even if the whole thing was set up by the religious leaders, the reality is, at some point the night before or that morning this woman had willingly chosen to sleep with someone who wasn’t her husband.
There is not question of whether or not she sinned.
She doesn’t defend herself, it seems rather like she is bracing herself for what she expects to happen.
They have caught her in the act, there is no disputing.
And Jesus doesn’t declare her innocent. He actually tells her to stop sinning in the end.
As she lays in the middle of this crowd, she is guilty, and she and everyone around her knows it.
There is no excuse.
There is no lessening the charge
No plea deals
No hiding behind good behavior.
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
That is a verse that is often shared when explain the gospel to someone who doesn’t know the Lord.
All have sinned. All…everyone…has sinned…has rebelled against God.
10 as it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one. 11 There is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away; all alike have become worthless. There is no one who does what is good, not even one.
There is an underlying believe in our culture that everyone of us is basically good.
Yeah we might trip up every now and then, but we aren’t murdering people and robbing banks.
There is this sense that even when we do do something that could be considered wrong or sinful that there is always some reason behind it.
I am stressed. I had a difficult childhood. It is just a part of my personality.
There is also the pervasive idea that what has been viewed as sin for thousands of years is now no longer sinful because we as humans have discovered new ways to few the world and humanity.
Yes I am talking about LGBTQ+ issues, but also the many other forms of sexual perversion in our culture that we have become enlightened to as acceptable.
Here’s what we need to understand.
As that woman lay before Jesus and the crowd that morning, though there was reason to have sympathy on her because of her situation.
She lay before the creator of the heavens and the earth guilty and condemned for her rebellion against Him.
For those who have not come to Christ, who have yet trust in Him for salvation, you are the woman.
Don’t deny it
Stop trying to hide it
Stop trying to explain it away.
You are a sinner!
2) She is JUSTIFIABLY EXPOSED and INDICTED.
2) She is JUSTIFIABLY EXPOSED and INDICTED.
You can’t help but feel for the woman right?
She is dragged before Jesus, straight out of another man’s bed.
She is being used by these religious folks to trap Jesus.
Our emotion toward her can cause us to see her sin as just not that big of a deal.
Sure she messed up, but it wasn’t all her fault.
And she is being used, it wouldn’t be right for her to be judged when they have bad motives for bringing her to Jesus.
Our emotion can also lead us to misunderstand Jesus’s words and actions.
Jesus doesn’t hold the woman accountable for her sin.
Because of His love and mercy he gives her a pass, a get-out-of-stoning-free card.
He puts those cold-hearted, religious zealots in their place by pointing out their hypocrisy and the goodness of this woman who just screwed up a little.
The power and beauty of this story is lost if we look at it like that.
She was not in the wrong place that morning.
The words of the religious leaders were not untrue.
The indictment that was being made was justified.
The stones that those in the crowd held, ready to throw them at the woman, were justified stones.
She deserved them…all of them.
It would have been right for her to die.
Just like it would be right for you and me to die because of our sin.
We want to believe that God would welcome us into heaven simply because of His love and goodness.
But God can’t be good if He lets wrongs go unpunished.
God can’t be just if He just pushes off judgement and punishment to avoid making anyone feel bad or avoid sending anyone to hell.
This idea that we have in our minds is what the German martyr Deitrich Bonhoeffer called “Cheap Grace”:
“Cheap grace means grace sold on the market like bargain clothing. The sacraments, the forgiveness of sin, and the consolations of religion are thrown away at cut prices. Grace is represented as the Church's inexhaustible treasury, from which she showers blessings with generous hands, without asking questions or fixing limits. Grace without price; grace without cost! The essence of grace, we suppose, is that the account has been paid in advance; and, because it has been paid, everything can be had for nothing. Since the cost was infinite, the possibilities of using and spending it are infinite.
Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, forgiveness without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate. — The Cost of Discipleship
Cheap Grace is not the grace of Jesus.
It isn’t what the woman in our story experienced
It isn’t what those of us who have trusted Christ have experienced.
And it isn’t what any of us really want to experience if we really consider it.
She is EXPERIENCES real AMAZING GRACE.
She is EXPERIENCES real AMAZING GRACE.
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.”
Jesus doesn't answer their charge initially, only writes in the dirt. We don't know what he wrote.
they push him for an answer and he stands and says "quote"
the power of that statement is that the only one that is true of, the only one without sin is Jesus.
is this cheap grace? No this my friends is costly grace.
"Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: "ye were bought at a price," and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.” — Cost of Discipleship
It was costly because Jesus was telling the woman that her sins are covered.
The penalty is paid by her faith and through the grace of god that would be shown to her, given to her when Jesus died and rose again.
Jesus didn't gloss over her sin, make light of of it, he took it.
Those stones were meant for her punishment.
And each one that fell was a declaration
you are forgiven
you are free
you are righteous
you are no longer condemned
you are loved
you are redeemed
you are welcomed
your shame is covered
1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
Each of those stones would have been double Jeopardy. Jesus had paid the price, costly grace...amazing grace.
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found, Was blind but now I see.
Is this your story?
Is this your story?
Do you feel the weight of your sin?
Have you been hiding, excusing, or explaining your sin for long enough?
You do not need to carry your shame…come to Jesus.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
You can do that right now.