Your Rock: Gripping It or Letting Go
John 7:53-8:11 (NKJV)
(Have a basket of rocks available so everyone can take one during the service when offered.)
* This passage stated not to be in the earliest texts.
* Text and context even questions whether it was written by John.
* Some translations and commentaries omit it in this location, but place it at the end of the book.
* We approach the passage with caution, the same caution we should approach any of the Holy Word.
* No single passage creates a doctrine, but is take in light of the whole under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
* Augustine stated this was left out of the early Greek text for the prudish idea that it would encourage adultery.
* However, you will note that Jesus doesn’t condone her sin. He didn’t minimize it. He came to die for it.
* This is a story about a woman caught red handed.
* Illustration (caught red handed)
* It’s a story about a crowd who had their worship service interrupted.
* It’s a story about religious leaders trying to trap Jesus.
* It’s a story of grace and forgiveness.
53 And everyone went to his own house.
1But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
* Jesus once said, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head." (Matt. 8:20)
* Basically Jerusalem State Park. No doubt it was a time of rest and prayer.
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.
* Prayed up and rested, Jesus began to teach in the temple.
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.
* Picture the scene. The people in the Temple listening quietly as Jesus taught.
* There is a loud disturbance. Men are yelling and a woman wailing.
* Breaking through the crowd, this posse drags a woman into the temple, cast her on the floor in front of Jesus.
* Her attire is not proper for public display and indicates her illicit activity.
* Her shame is evident, as eyes of condemnation fall upon her.
* The crowd reacts with disgust. This is not what they came to church for.
* This is not what they wanted their children to see when they brought them to the Temple.
* You can see the distaste in every face. She doesn’t belong here!
* One of the religious leaders speaks. "We caught this woman in adultery. The Law states to stone her. Jesus, do we obey the law or do we obey the Romans? What’s your take on the situation?"
* The Law of Moses condemned both the man and the woman caught in adultery to death by stoning.
* It also required two witnesses to the act. Context indicates at least two witness were present.
* However, Roman law forbade local legal authorities to execute someone without approval of the Roman government.
* They reacted harshly against mob mentality and were especially tough on the leaders.
* Would Jesus follow the Law of God or Roman laws? Would this condemn him in the eyes of the people who loved the Law or the Romans, who enforced their own law?
* One stated, "Jesus was between a rock and a hard place."
* The leaders of the Jews were not interested in the Law here.
* They were not interested in the adultery. They cared nothing for the woman, or truth.
* They were interested in trapping Jesus.
* Jesus responded by simple stooping and writing in the sand. Maybe he hadn’t heard them.
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.
* Many have speculated on what Jesus wrote in the sand.
* Some say, the Law. Some believe names and dates. Some believe "Do not be a malicious witness." Exodus 23:1.
* Mere speculation can be dangerous. What we know is the reaction: conviction.
* The sum of Jesus’ words and actions brought as a sense of self-evaluation and guilt.
* The older ones (and perhaps wiser ones) were the first to realized that they had fallen into the trap that they themselves had prepared for Jesus.
* There would be no stoning today. The show was over.
* They quietly walked away, one by one, until all were gone.
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 Jesus finished writing, only two people remained; himself and the woman caught in adultery.
* Jesus asked, "Where are your accusers?"
* Her answer, "I have no accusers remaining."
* Jesus said, "I don’t condemn you either."
* Did Jesus condone her sin? No. He added, "Go and sin no more."
* Basically, "Repent, and stay out of the mess that got you in this trouble."
* Did Jesus expect her to live in sinless perfection? No.
* Consider, she was in the Temple, a place of repentance.
* Yet, she was drug there, embarrassed and humiliated.
* Most would agree she was not in the psychological or emotional condition to reform her life.
* You can be assured she wasn’t in a spiritual condition to be saved.
* She wasn’t repentant. She wasn’t remorseful. She mostly wanted to get out of there.
* However, a moment with Jesus should not go wasted.
* Jesus’ purpose was for every person He encountered to take a step towards God.
* Please come and take a stone. Please hold your stone in one hand and grip it tightly.
* For some, like this woman, it may be the first step. For others, the ultimate surrender. For most of us, it is something in-between.
* Jesus didn’t come to condemn. 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."
* Jesus knew the Law already stood to condemn us. He came to make a way for us.
* He sent her with a stone of truth. The truth? "You will not be able to save yourself. You cannot ’go and sin no more.’ You need a Savior."
* Some may need a stone of that truth today. Jesus died for you. He was righteous enough to condemn you, but instead, He took your condemnation on the cross and paid the penalty.
* Consider the group that stood ready to stone the woman.
* Some may have dropped their stones there. There would be no stoning today.
* Some may have kept their stones. When you find a good one, keep it for next time.
* They carry the stone of condemnation.
* Ill. (Celebrate Recovery) "I don’t want thieves in the church." "But they fit in good with the hypocrites."
* "They are not like us. At least I don’t do that, or that!"
* "My sins are better than your sins."
* Whatever Jesus wrote, it wasn’t about looking at others. It was all about looking at ourselves.
* The crowd didn’t hurry home to see if their spouses were cheating on them. They were thinking of their own sin.
* Some dropped the stone "No, I don’t want to think about that now."
* Other’s carried the stone home, "Let me think about this a while."
* To some, it was the stone of conviction.
* Right now, you may have something come to your mind. That’s the Spirit of God.
* God is saying, "Bring your stone to me. Leave it at the alter."
* Note: When the woman was brought to the Temple, Jesus didn’t add to her shame by staring at her with the crowd.
* Note: When the crowd came under conviction, Jesus did leer at them either. He stated the truth and let the truth do its work.
* These people had a step to take towards God. Would they lay down their stone or trip over them?
* Then there was the learning crowd. They came to hear from Jesus, to learn a lesson.
* And they did.
* Perhaps when they were leaving, they reached down and picked up a stone that was dropped by a Pharisee.
* Why? They wanted to remember. They didn’t want to forget.
* They wanted to remember that their sins were forgiven.
* They didn’t want to forget that they were to be forgiving towards others.
* Now, every time they looked at that stone on the coffee table, they would remember.
* Every time they looked at the stone, they would look inside. They would give thanks.
* They would release all bitterness.
* You? What is your stone? Is it a sin? An attitude?
* Is it hatred for someone? Do you despise someone for what they did or said?
* Is it something you need to let go? Is it time you finally let it go?
* Is it something you haven’t forgiven yourself for?
* Is it something that you believe has warped and ruined your life?
* Jesus died so you could let it go.
* Bring it to the alter and leave it here during the invitation song.
* Or, is it something you need to take with you as a remembrance?
* Is it to remind you not to have that judgmental spirit?
* Is it to remind you that you have been totally forgiven by Jesus?
* Everyone who left Jesus that day was faced with the opportunity to take a step towards God.
* The adulteress could learn she needed a Savior.
* The Pharisees could learn their secrets sins would be revealed.
* The self-righteous would learn that their sins were as smelly as the pagans’ sins.
* The crowd would learn that Jesus’ forgiveness had no ends.
* You are deciding whether to keep your stone, bring it to the alter, or simply lay it in your pew and abandon it as if God has not spoken to you today.
* You will either, with your decision, take a step towards God or away from Him.
* It’s not about the preacher. It’s not about the sermon. It’s about what the Spirit of God is saying to you right now.
* Stones can be a good our bad thing. They are amoral.
* So whether your stone needs to be laid down or carried with you depends on what it means to you.
