Intro Play CD All She Saw Were the Stones Ray Boltz
I The setting and springing of the Trap 8:1-6
A The Setting of the trap
1 Jesus has been teaching about life
i Eternal
ii Abundant
iii This teaching divided the people
a People either loved Him
b Or they hated Him
2 The teachers the Scribes and
the Pharisees hated Him
i The "teachers of the law"
(or "scribes") were so called because
a They made copies of the Scriptures
b They taught and applied the law
to every day life
c These men were the theologians
and the lecturers of the Jewish
religion
d these people had added
additional teachings to scripture
ii The Pharisees were moral, zealous,
and self-denying, but self-
righteous (Luke 18:9)
a They did or could not see past
themselves
b They were legalistic
3 The trap was set in the morning
i It was premeditated in that a They thought of the paradox that
would catch Jesus
b They looked at Jesus’ teaching on
love
c They looked at the requirements of
the law
d They used the political
situation to their own ends
ii It was planned
a They found the bait
b They did not care about her
> Dragged naked from her bed
> Into the streets
> To the temple
B They spring the trap
1 They forced their way into the centre of
the group
i Dragging this poor woman through the
crowd
ii They make her stand in front of Jesus
naked
2 They interrupt His teaching by asking a
question that was created to be an
impossible dilemma for him.
i If he say’s let her go then
a He is seen as condoning her sin
b If he condones it then he is guilty
of that sin by implication
c He would then be deserving of the
same punishment
ii If he say’s stone her as the law
requires then
a His teaching of love and
forgiveness goes down the drain
b He is guilty of breaking Roman law
c He could be sentenced by the Romans
to death
C Now what do You say Jesus
1 They thought they had Him
2 How does Jesus respond
II The response of Christ 8:7-11
A First He ignored them
Illus Imagine the converstation
Pharasees’s Hey Jesus what are we to do with this woman ..... Hey mister we’re talking to you ....... hey we’re important people and we’re talking to you .........
Jesus sorry you’re speaking to me, oh I didn’t realise, what was the question?
1 He knew their motivations
i He knew their hearts
ii He knew they were not interested in
the things of God
2 This must have saddened him
B He turns the dilemma question around back
to them
he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, {8} Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
1 If anyone of you is without sin
i Some commentaries say it is sin
in general
ii Others say it is the specific
sin of adultery
iii This sin Looks at the
motivation of the heart
2 Jesus continues to write on the ground
i What did he write
a Some say it was nothing
b Some say it was the
individual sin of those
accusing this woman c Me I liked to think it was
the individual names of
their girlfriends
ii He invites those with a clear
conscious to “be the first
to throw a stone at her."
3 They all leave
i v9 At this, those who heard
began to go away one at
a time, the older ones first,
ii The accusers "began to go
away one at a time, the older
ones first."
a The older ones either
had more sins for which
they were answerable
b or they had more sense than
to make an impossible
profession of
righteousness.
C Finally we are left with the two most
important people in the story Jesus and
the woman
1 Put yourself in the place of this woman
i Expecting the pain of the
stones of those as guilty as her to
pound her body
a Yet nothing happens
b The accusers leave
ii She is left in the presence of the
one person who could accuse
and condemn her
a Maybe she is fearful
b She is embarresed
c She is hurting
> Physically
> Emotionally
> Spirtually
2 Look at Jesus now
i Get into his heart
ii Feel His
a Love and compassion
b Feel His forgiveness
c Feel the grace that he bestowes
iii v10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" {11} "No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."
D we are all like this woman
1 We all have sinned (Rom 3:23 NIV)
2 We are all deserving of God’s judgemet
and condemnation
3 Yet he has shown us His love and mercy
III Our response (Application)
A Satan is out to trap us
1 He will use people
2 He will use places
3 He will use situations
B One of the biggest complaints against the
church is that they have hurt us
1 Sometimes it is because of sin in the
churches life
2 Sometimes it is because we as a church
have fallen into the dilemma set up by
satan
C How do we respond to these situations
1 We respond with forgiveness
i Jesus showed the woman forgiveness
ii We need to show forgiveness
iii We all need forgivness
a Christ came to forgive the
sinner
b He died so that forgivness
could be made possible
iv Jesus also taught that if we can
not forgive others he can not
forgive us
2 We respond by showing mercy
i Having compassion for those
who are hurting
ii Showing a constant love that does
not fail
iii Being compelled to love
because of the love that God has
given us
3 Finally we respond in grace
i With undeserved love
ii Grace that allows the Holy Spirit
to work in the lives of others
iii The same grace that God has shown
us
Conclusion
We are to apply that same grace and love to those around us who are seeking Christ’s love and forgivness
Victor Hugo’s Novel “Les Miserables” tells a story of a man named Jean Valjean, who served nineteen years of hard labour for the crime of stealing bread. When he was finally released, Valjean was a hardened, tough ex-convict.
But one day his life was transformed by forgiveness. A kind bishop invited him to stay in his home for the night. After the bishop and his sister were asleep, Valjean stole the family silver and ran off into the night. The next morning, he was captured by three policemen and bought back to the bishop.
“So here you are!” the bishop cried to Valjean. “I’m delighted to see you. Had you forgotten that I gave you the candlesticks as wee? They’re silver like the rest, and worth a good 200 francs. Did you forget to take them?”
After the policemen had gone the bishop gave the candlesticks to Valjean, who was speechless and trebling. “Do not forget,; do not ever forget,” the bishop said, “that you have promised me to use the money to make yourself a new man
