“Go and Sin No More, Case Dismissed”

Text: John 8:1-11

8:1 But 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. 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.”

The New King James Version. (1982). (Jn 8:1–11). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

Date: August 15, 2021

Place: ALIBC

Occasion: Third Sunday

Title: “GO AND SIN NO MORE, CASE DISMISSED”

Introduction:

This month we are focusing on the teachings of Jesus. Last week we came to appreciate the blessings of the Lord. We are blessed not only because of the acquisition of material things but we are blessed already if God doesn’t do another thing for us. We are blessed because of the beatitudes that Jesus taught on the Sermon on the Mount. The world can’t understand what Jesus taught but we do. It’s a blessing to be poor in spirit, to mourn, to be meek, to hunger and thirst after righteousness, to be merciful, to be pure in heart, to be a peacemaker, to be revile and persecuted, to be spoken evil and falsely against for great is our reward in heaven. Today’s lesson is a message on how we should not be so eager to condemn others.

This is a serious problem in our society today. We have become a self righteous society and many people think their way is the right way and so they make themselves the judge, jury, and executioners of others, when they should be forgiving others and praying for them. This is even a problem in the church. We make ourselves the moral high ground that others should follow rather than pointing people to the love, grace and forgiveness that Jesus affords to all. None of us are so right that we should look down upon anybody else. None of us have dotted every I or crossed every T. If truth would be told, we all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We all are quick to point out others fault, especially if God gives us a little education or success, we look down on others, but I serve a God who is kind and merciful to all. I serve a God who is patient with all. I serve a God who has looked beyond all my faults and saw my need. This is the same kind of attitude that we should have towards others. If we fail to be merciful towards others, eventually God is going to pull the covers off of us and expose our short comings to the world. We see this happening every day in the political arena. We see scandal after scandal because our leaders aren’t living up to God’s standard but instead they have made themselves the moral standard until they fall and God exposes them.

On average, there are 40 million lawsuits filed every year in America. We file lawsuits for everything. We never attempt to reconcile or forgive others, but we just suit, suit, suit. We even set-up other individuals so we can later come back and suit them. All of this trickery and deception is what God hates and it’s what makes life so difficult to live in our society today.

In our narrative today Jesus teaches us the power of recognizing sin and that sin should not be overlooked but the the one who sins should be forgiven and given a chance to become redeemed.

The Jews had conflicting views about Jesus. Many had experience His teachings and witness His miracles and they believed that He was the Messiah. But they could not understand why He would not just crush the Roman armies and take over Israel as their King. They had no idea that His assignment was to first crush sin by dying on the cross and later resurrecting from the grave. They loved the moral high ground and they constantly wanted Him to take it and so they could glory in themselves for being righteous.

The scribes and the Pharisees were self righteous. They taught the people one thing but they fail to perform what they were teaching. They pretended to be good but their hearts were full of wickedness and Jesus knew this. So they tried to discredit Him by saying that Messiah could not not come from Galilee but they fail to understand that He was of the lineage of David and that He was born in Bethlehem even though He had lived in Galilee.

So it was Jesus’ custom to spend the nights in the Mount of Olives and during the day He would enter into the temple to teach the people. As Jesus sat down to teach His sermon, He was interrupted by the scribes and Pharisees. This was an attempt to question and discredit Jesus and to cause the people to stop following Him. Jesus had become too popular and the Pharisees were jealous of His popularity.

They brought this woman into the temple and sat her in the midst. This woman was accused of being caught in the very act of adultery. She was brought in but the man was no where to be found. This all seemed a little odd to me. Was this a set up to get Jesus caught between a rock and a hard place? Who goes around trying to see people having intercourse? Could the man committing the act with her have been one of those accusing her? And wouldn’t that be a double standard?

The Mosaic law said that this woman should be stoned and they wanted to know what Jesus would say. This woman was being used as a scapegoat so that they could get to Jesus. Maybe she was guilty of sin, but somebody else around there was guilty too and they were not so eager to expose him, probably because he was one of them.

So the Lord stoop down and wrote on the ground. Many theologians have speculated about what He wrote on the ground. Some suggest He wrote the sins of the accusers. Others propose that He wrote the words of Exodus 23:1, “Do not [be] a malicious witness.” Still others say He simply traced His finger in the dust while preparing to respond, but that seems unlikely. Nobody know what He wrote, but the Father. But we do know what His response was.

Verse 6 says, This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. (He wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear them.) I believe Jesus turned a death ear to those accusers as if to say you have no case, case dismissed. He could judge because He is God, but also He could forgive because He is God. He could dismiss the case. He could call it a mis-trial. They had no case. He saw through what they were trying to do. Their lawsuit had no grounds to stand on. If He was going to condemn this woman, then with that same finger He wrote on the ground with, He was going to have to point out all their sins too, one by one. 7 So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him (cast the first stone) throw a stone at her first.”

Was this woman guilty? Maybe so. But everyone else in this narrative was guilty too, except for the Lord. ? Everyone of us in here this morning is guilty of something, but I’m so glad that God has turned a deaf ear to all my accusers who only want to condemn me and not forgive me. If truth be told. All of your haters have fallen short of the glory of God. Whatever you are trying to overcome today, I got good news, God will see you through.

Again Jesus wrote on the ground and this time they were convicted to their core and they began to walk away one by one starting with the oldest to the youngest. Perhaps those older guys realize that God had been merciful to them for a long time. And the younger inexperience and immature guys hadn’t been through enough yet realize the goodness of the Lord, but they walk away as well. All of them walked away.

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.”

When she referred to Jesus as Lord, She acknowledge her sins and she accepted His forgiveness and she receive Him as Savior.

What Jesus did for this women is no more or less of what He did for King David who committed adultery when He slept with Bathsheba and murdered her husband Uriah.

David said in Psalm 51:

1 Have mercy upon me, O God,

According to Your lovingkindness;

According to the multitude of Your tender mercies,

Blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,

And cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I acknowledge my transgressions,

And my sin is always before me.

4 Against You, You only, have I sinned,

And done this evil in Your sight—

That You may be found just when You speak,

And blameless when You judge.

5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,

And in sin my mother conceived me.

6 Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts,

And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;

Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

8 Make me hear joy and gladness,

That the bones You have broken may rejoice.

9 Hide Your face from my sins,

And blot out all my iniquities.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,

And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

11 Do not cast me away from Your presence,

And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,

And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.

13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,

And sinners shall be converted to You.

The New King James Version. (1982). (Ps 51:1–13). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

If Jesus hasn’t condemn you, don’t let man condemn you.

Isaiah 55:6-9

6Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: 7let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 8For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. 9For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Romans 10:5-13 He says,

5For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. 6But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) 7or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) 8But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 9that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 12For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Because I’m a whosoever, I can go and sin no more.

I can go and walk by faith.

I can go and know I’ve been redeemed.

I can go and know I’ve been delivered.

I can go and do all things through Christ that strengthens men.

I can go and not worry about my haters.

It’s all because of Him.

He’s my Savior.

He’s my Redeemer.

He’s my Comforter.

He’s my all and all.

His name is Jesus.

Help me lift up Jesus.

Call on Him Jesus…

“GO AND SIN NO MORE, CASE DISMISSED”