Title: “Kissed by the Son.”
Introduction: I am reading my Bible through again this year. I have just completed reading the Book of Leviticus. That is a “Tooth for Tooth Book.”
In order to appreciate our chosen text for today of John Chapter Eight, we must take a closer look at the Law that was given for the Levites to enforce.
The Book of Leviticus: the constitution of the nation of Israel.
The Tribe of Levi was commissioned by God to be the judge, jury, and the executions of the Law. Please note the harshness of the Law. The words “Kill them,” and “Cut them off,” are repeated over and over again in the Law.
Kill them: The Witch…
(Exo 22:18 KJV) Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.
Kill them: The Animal Sacrifices representing sinful man.
(Lev 1:5 KJV) And he shall kill the bullock before the LORD: and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
Kill them: Nadad and Abihu.
(Lev 10:1,2 KJV) And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD.
Cut them off: For looking at nakedness...
(Lev 18:29 KJV) For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people.
Cut them off: For eating meat with blood.
(Lev 17:10 KJV) And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people.
Cut them off: For consorting with wizards.
(Lev 20:6 KJV) And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.
Kill them: For cursing your Father or Mother.
(Lev 20:9 KJV) For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him.
Kill them: For committing adultery.
(Lev 20:10 KJV) And the man that committeth adultery with another man’s wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
Kill them: For committing acts of homosexuality.
(Lev 20:13 KJV) If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
Kill them: For committing other sexual perversions.
(Lev 20:15-16 KJV) And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to death: and ye shall slay the beast. And if a woman approach unto any beast, and lie down thereto, thou shalt kill the woman, and the beast: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
Kill them: For not keeping the Sabbath.
(Lev 23:30 KJV) And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people.
Kill them: For committing murder.
(Lev 24:17 KJV) And he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death.
Kill them: For taking God’s name in vain.
(Lev 24:14 KJV) Bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp; and let all that heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him.
In order to understand the mindset of those that would cast the woman who was taken in adultery at the feet of Jesus, you must understand the cold reality of the Old Testament.
In this text of John Chapter Eight, Old Testament law meets New Testament grace!
New Testament!
Jesus Said:
(John 8:7 KJV) So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
We will divide our thoughts in to three groups. 1. What Jesus did not say. 2. What Jesus did say. And 3. What Jesus wrote in the sand.
What Jesus did not say:
This was none of your business.
It was the business of the Levites to enforce the Law.
What Jesus did not say:
Where is the man?
Both the man and the woman were to be stoned. Where was the man? Jesus did not ask. You will not be able to be able to hide behind someone else on the Day of Judgment. Although the man should have been equally charged, the woman still stood alone in her condemnation.
What Jesus did not say:
The woman is not guilty.
Jesus would tell the woman to “go, and sin no more.” Jesus pronounced that what she had done was “sin.”
What Jesus did not say:
She is not worthy of death.
He did say, “Cast the stone.” She was worthy of death.
What Jesus did not say:
Let her go free.
Jesus did not “wink away” her sin. There will be a future Day of Judgment. This was not the day!
Now let us look at what Jesus did say:
What Jesus did say:
Let him that is without sin among you...
Why did not God give this revelation in the Old Testament? Why didn’t he say in the Book of Leviticus, “Let him that is among you without sin cast the first stone?”
Because this was the first time that “Him that was without sin,” had ever been among them!
The great truth that Jesus was presenting was this, “Only God is without sin, and I am God! I stand alone without sin!”
What Jesus did say:
Let him first cast a stone at her...
Oh yes, there would be a day of stone throwing. The stone would be thrown by God the Father. God the Son would become the recipient of that stone!
What Jesus did say:
Where are thine accusers?
One Day, Satan will be bound and changed forever as the accuser of the brethren will be thrown into the bottomless pit!
What Jesus did say:
Where are thine accusers?
When the woman looked up, she saw Jesus only. What a glorious day!
I preached this message this past Sunday at my prison ministry. I asked the inmates, if anyone had ever pointed an accusing finger at the them? Of course, the answer was “yes.” That is why they had received a sentence of a prison term. The beauty of Christianity is fixing your eyes on Christ alone and hearing these words, “I do not condemn you!”
What Jesus did say:
Neither do I condemn thee?
Great verse!
(John 3:17 KJV) For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
What Jesus did say:
Go, and sin no more.
The verse implies that Jesus saying to her, “Begin a new direction with your life. Get off of the broad road of destruction and embark on the narrow path of righteousness!”
It is not that we will never sin again, but the life that we now live, as Paul, is “not I, but it is Christ that lives in us.” Galations 2:20.
Jesus Wrote…
(John 8:8 KJV) And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.
>We do not know what Jesus actually wrote in the ground. But I do know that this verse about Christ:
(Psa 85:10 KJV) Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
Have you experienced the “Kiss of the Son?”
At the time of John Chapter Eight, there were only two laws known to man. The Law of Rome to bring about the death of a man condemned. And there was the Law of Moses, that condemned men of their sin.
In John Chapter Eight, Jesus would now introduce another law. It was the Law from the Lawgiver of the Tribe of Judah, the Law of Christ:
(John 3:16 KJV) For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Again, I ask you, “Have you been kissed by the son?”
