Would
you turn in your Bibles with me this morning to the Gospel of John. We will be
taking our text from the 8th chapter today. John
8. As you are finding that passage allow me to read a few verses from
the Old Testament book of:
Deuteronomy 22 NKJV
22 “If a man is found lying
with a woman married to a husband, then both of them shall die — the
man that lay with the woman, and the woman; so you shall put away the evil from
Israel.
23 “If a young woman who
is a virgin is betrothed to a husband, and a man finds her in the city and
lies with her,
24 “then you shall bring them
both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with
stones, the young woman because she did not cry out in the city, and the man
because he humbled his neighbor’s wife; so you shall put away the evil from
among you.
It
was to this portion of the Law of Moses, (Leviticus 20:10), that the scribes
and Pharisees were referring when they approached Jesus in the Temple early one
morning.
John 8 NKJV
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.
Can you imagine what it must have been like
to be taught the Word of God by the Living Word of God. It must have made the
Word come alive in the people. Never had they heard anything like it …
God wants us to put ourselves in the Word …
it’s all about you …
3 Then the scribes and
Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her
in the midst,
The Holy Spirit is begging us to ask some
questions here. God wants us to imagine ourselves as onlookers; as bystanders;
as perhaps one of those people to whom Jesus was teaching. What would you have
observed if you had been there during this encounter? What questions would you
have?
·
Why did these scribes and Pharisees bring this
woman to the Temple? If they have two or more witnesses they are supposed to
take her outside the gates of the city and stone her to death. They know the
law …
·
Where is the man? Last time I looked … the
act to which they refer takes two people and they are going to claim they saw
her in the act.
·
And … You mean they are interrupting Church
for this?
o
The Bible clearly says that the sound of the
hammer should never be heard in the Sanctuary.
o
Church is not the place to air dirty laundry,
make accusations or judge others.
o
You never go to the Temple trying to get God
to kill someone for you.
o
This has to be a setup … sounds like the
devil to me.
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?”
Yep, it’s a set up …
·
It’s what I like to call:
o
Well-rehearsed lies …
o
Reckon how long it took them to come up with
this one?
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.
Sometimes it may seem like Jesus isn’t
listening but, He always is.
·
He always has a Word for you …
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.”
There was only one person in their midst that
was without sin … it was Jesus Himself. What is Jesus saying?
·
You aren’t worthy to judge the sins of
others.
·
Leave the judgement of other people’s sins in
the hands of Jesus.
8 And again He stooped down
and wrote on the ground.
It has been suggested that Jesus was writing
either the individual sins of these men or perhaps the names of the women with
whom they were flirting or sleeping with. We don’t really know what it was, but
we do know whatever Jesus wrote made an impact on every one of them.
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.
Nowhere here do we see or hear Jesus
condemning these men. He simply said, “He who is without sin among you, let him
throw a stone at her first.”
·
Honest, caring, loving truth and even
correction and rebuke is not spoken in
condemnation.
o
The book of Hebrews says that no correction
is pleasant in the moment but afterwards yields the peaceable fruits of
righteousness. (Hebrews 12)
·
Truth presented in humility, (Jesus quietly
stooping down before them), leaves the situation open for the Holy Spirit to
bring about conviction in the hearts and minds of men and women.
·
Men condemn, criticize and reject … God
convicts, encourages and embraces repentant hearts.
These men didn’t know it, but bringing a
sinner to Jesus is the best thing anyone could do for them.
·
When we remind Jesus of sinners, let’s hope
He will save them and set them free.
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.”
Take
note:
·
Jesus
never said the sin was ok.
·
He
did not excuse sin or make excuses for the sin.
·
Jesus
didn’t say,
o “I understand why
you did it.” Or
o “Weren’t those men
horrible.”
·
Jesus
gave her the Gospel:
o “I do not condemn
you”
o “Go and sin no more”
John 3:17 For God did not
send His Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through Him
might be saved.
Have
you been saved?
·
The
devil will condemn you
·
The
world will condemn you
·
Religion
will condemn you
·
You
can even condemn yourself
·
But,
condemnation and feeling bad about being bad won’t save you!
Only
Jesus can save;
·
He
will never condemn you
·
But
He will
o Convict you
o Deliver you
o Save your soul
o And help you to
change the way you’ve been living.
Stop
listening to the well-rehearsed lies of
the devil about you and about others.
Listen
to the Living Word … He is your best friend!
