What’s So Special About Jesus?
Scripture: John 8:1-11
Text: John 8:11
There was once a boy named Willie. He was a red-headed, freckle-faced 15 year-old boy. Willie was the kind of high school student who was always in trouble - always winding up in the principal’s office. He was the kind of boy that, if he was absent, the day went by smoothly. But if Willie was there, it was a long, hard day. There wasn’t much good ever said about Willie. Willie was the product of a broken home - several times over. He had been abused and often neglected as a young child. And Willie felt like no one cared too much for him.
One day Willie went to one of his teachers whom he knew was soon going to change his life and go off to seminary to become a preacher. Willie said, “I want to ask you something. Some people say that what I need to do to solve my problems is to go to church and to believe in Jesus. I don’t see why. I know those people and believing in Jesus doesn’t seem to do too much for them. Maybe you can tell me, what’s so special about Jesus?”
What would you tell Willie? What IS so special about Jesus? Maybe you’re sitting there wondering the same thing.
You’ve heard about him a lot.
You’ve gone to church.
You’ve read about him in the Bible.
You’ve done all the things you think you’re supposed to do.
You believe in Jesus - but you’re not really sure why.
This morning I want to tell you why Jesus is so special to me. The answer is in the scripture lesson we read.
Most Bibles label this story as “The Woman Taken in Adultery.” I want to suggest to you that that’s not what this story is about. Look at verse six. It says:
They (the Pharisees - the legalists of the day) - they were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him - for accusing Jesus.
You see this story isn’t really about a WOMAN, or the act of ADULTERY.
It’s a story about JESUS and his RESPONSE to the Pharisees.
Not to the world, but to the religious leaders of that day. And, it’s about Jesus’ response to a sinner - to a woman that these religious leaders were trying to use as a pawn in their tricks and their schemes.
There’s a huge lesson here for us and how we are to live our lives. And it’s the very heart of why Jesus is so special.
Jesus is special because:
1. He LOVES us when it seems like no-one else does.
There’s a song I sing sometimes - I was going to sing it today, but decided not to - it’s called “You gave me love” and the main line in it says, “You gave me love, when no-body gave me a prayer.” That’s Jesus!
You see, these religious leaders, they got hold of this woman. And by the way, according to Mosaic law, both the man and woman were to be stoned. The man was conveniently missing. That has lead some scholars to believe that this whole thing was a set up that the man was in on.
Whatever the case, the Pharisees - these wonderful religious leaders - they were ready to carry out their duty - do what must be done - I imagine they might have had a stone already in their hand.
They brought this woman, and they planted her before the whole crowd. It says, “They *made* her stand before the group.” Now note: they had no compassion for this woman. They did not care why she did what she did. They didn’t care about understanding her heart. All they wanted to do was to TRICK Jesus into going against the law so they could get him. They were simply using her as a pawn in their scheme.
But now look what Jesus does. Here’s a response. The last part of verse six, Jesus bent down and started writing in the ground with his finger. What kind of implicit message do you suppose Jesus was sending through his actions. Here are these very important religious leaders who come to Jesus with a very important question. And in response to their question, he bends down and starts writing in the ground with his finger. (When I get to heaven I’m going to ask Jesus what he wrote!) I think he might have just been doodling - the kind of doodling you do when you are just tired of someone and you really just want them to go away. I think Jesus just wanted them to go away. You know, we ask that question “What Would Jesus Do?” WWJD. Here’s one of the answers to what Jesus did!
But you see these accusers were so sure that they really had Jesus this time, verse 7 tells us they KEPT ON questioning him. They wouldn’t leave him alone. Can you imagine the drama of it all? A hush falls over the crowd - everyone is waiting expectantly for an answer. I’m sure there are those who hope Jesus says something that will let this woman go free because they see themselves in her plight. I’m sure there are those who are angry enough that they just want someone they can take some of their anger out on. And I’m sure there are those there who really couldn’t care less - they’re just there to see what happens - to see what all the commotion is about.
And finally, Jesus weary of their foolishness, straightens back up and says, “Fine! Alright! But let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” That does it!! What life-giving words for this woman who is standing there trembling for her life. And what words of pointed conviction for those who call themselves “religious”!! How would anyone dare to cast a stone after such a pronouncement.
Oh my! I think at that moment you might have heard a pin drop on the sand. And possibly there was just the thud, thud, of stones dropping to the ground one by one as from the oldest to the youngest, this woman’s accusers walked away. Now at this point, some people believe she was alone with Jesus, but that’s not what the Bible says. The Bible says, she was still there - standing in the middle of the crowd - with Jesus. And then Jesus stands up again!
He’s not only physically standing up! Jesus is literally standing up for this woman. He is defending her - watching out for her, caring for her. The Pharisees thought Jesus would condemn the woman - and Jesus turns their conniving schemes back on them because this woman MATTERED to Jesus.
And you do too. It’s for people like us - sinners - that Jesus came in the first place. No-one else cared about her - but Jesus did.
Now you might be saying, “Well, I know that. I know Jesus cares for me. I know he loves me. We sing about it all the time. We talk about it. But still, it’s hard for me to believe - way down deep. It’s hard for me to accept that this Jesus, actually cares for me. After what I’ve done, I really don’t deserve God’s love. No....you’re right....you don’t. None of us do. But God’s love is about His GRACE, not our GOOD DEEDS.
One very active church member was asked one time why he did so much work in the church. And his reply was, “Because I want to keep on the right side of God.”
That’s kind of like the mom who was enjoying the beautiful sunset with her young son and she said, “See this beautiful picture son. God painted it just for you.” And the little boy replied, “Yes, and to think he did it all with one hand.” Surprised, the mom asked her son, “What do you mean dear?” Well mom, the Bible says that Jesus sits on God’s right hand.
Well, I can assure you no-one is sitting on God’s right hand. And our activity, and good deeds, don’t put us on God’s good side.
It doesn’t matter what we do or don’t do, we can’t do enough to make God love us and we can’t not do enough to make God not love us. (Okay - let me say that again!)
We can’t do enough to make God love us. And we can’t not do enough to make God not love us.
It’s like the minister who told of t he time his daughter came to him in his office with a piece of paper and on both sides on every line over and over again were hand-written the words, “I will not talk in class. I will not talk in class. I will not talk in class.” As she presented the paper to her father, her father noticed how nervous and scared she looked. The father looked at his daughter and asked her how long she’d been carrying the paper around and she said for two days and that she needed his signature on it. He asked why she hadn’t brought it to him earlier. The girl said, “I was afraid.” “What were you afraid of?” asked the father. “I don’t know,” said the girl. “Were you afraid that I would beat you?” No, of course not. “Afraid that I would scold you?” Well, no. Afraid that I would preach to you? ... Then this is what the preacher said to his daughter, “Sarah, even if you were so bad that your name was all over the newspapers because you were such a bad person, and you were everything that you should not be, I would not love you any less. And even if you had your name all over the newspapers because you were such a good person and you were everything wonderful that you should be, I would not love you anymore. Do you understand? Sarah looked at her father and said, “You see Dad, that’s what I was afraid of. You always tell me things that don’t make any sense.”
And God’s love doesn’t make sense, does it? He came as Jesus and no matter what we’ve done, or haven’t done, he loves us! No one else will love us like that.
2. Jesus FORGIVES us when no one else will.
Jesus turned to the woman and asked where her accusers were. And they were all gone! And Jesus said, “I’m not accusing you either!!”
Do you really believe Jesus has forgiven you of ALL of your sin? Have you asked Him to? What’s the one thing in your life, that if people knew about it, they wouldn’t like you, or wouldn’t accept you? Jesus knows all about it. And he loves you anyway, and he forgives you. And if Jesus forgives you - who are we to stand in judgement of that. YOU ARE FORGIVEN.
Some of us are still punishing ourselves for things we did long ago that God has long since forgiven and forgotten.
God is more concerned about what we will BECOME than in what we have DONE.
Leads to my final point.
3. Jesus BELIEVES in us when noone else will.
See what Jesus said to this woman after he had forgiven her. “Now go and sin no more.” Do you think she did that? Do you think she never sinned again? Of course not. Everyone sins. BUT, I doubt she ever went back to her old way of living. How could she? Here she was facing DEATH, and Jesus gave her LIFE. She was GUILTY and Jesus gave her FORGIVENESS. She was in despair, and Jesus gave her HOPE. He believed in her and he believed in her future.
You see, if we let him, God uses our sins to deliver us and glorify his son Jesus - the one he sent to die for us. There’s a beautiful southern gospel song that says, “Still he saw not what I was, He saw what I could be.” Does that mean we continue to sin so God can use even our sin - NO!! Of course not. Jesus’ desire is that we SIN NO MORE. But when we do sin, and we confess and repent of that sin, there is a Savior.
I’ll finish with this story:
An old man had been a master sculptor in his day. He still liked to work with the clay, but his eyes were no as good anymore and his hands shook and were painful from arthritis. He would work for a while with the clay, and then he would stand back and look at what he had done. “That’s ugly,” he would say, “I’m never going to be good again.” But that night while he was sleeping, his son - now a master sculptor - would go into the room and look at what his father had done. Then with his skilled hands, he would make a move there, an adjustment here. So in the morning , when his father walked into the room, he would look at the statue and say, “You know, I guess that’s not as bad as I thought.” And back he would go to work some more with the clay.
Sometimes, when we look at what we’re doing for God, or even just how we’re trying to live life the best we can, we say, “That’s ugly. It will never make a difference.” And we tell ourselves we’ll never try again. But Jesus, the master, takes what we have done, and with his grace and mercy, makes what we have done, something magnificent. Jesus will take the ugliest part of you and make it a thing of beauty if you stay like clay in his hands.
That’s what’s so special about Jesus.
He loves you.
He forgives you.
He believes in you.
If you’re here today and you haven’t experienced what’s so special about Jesus, He’s calling you today to find out. He has no favorites. He knows no status symbols. You may be rich, you may be poor. You may have been “good” all your life. Or you may have done some of the most despicable things imaginable. The Pharisees weren’t good enough and the sinful woman wasn’t bad enough. BOTH, in their own way, experienced God’s love, because BOTH were given the chance to change. Both were lead toward repentance - admitting and confessing their sin.
Nothing in all of history moves the heart of God like repentance.
If you’ve placed your trust today in yourself, what you have, or somebody else, you will always be disappointed. If you place your trust in Jesus, you will never be disappointed. Because He loves you, He forgives you, and he believes in you.
“‘Tis so Sweet to Trust in Jesus.”....
