God of the Second Chance
Scripture Text: John 7:53 – 8:11
Introduction: How many of you would be honest enough to say that you gave blown it in the past? Sure, we all have because we are all sinners? Now, when you blow it, how great does it feel to get a second chance? Whether it’s a relationship, a project at work, or an assignment at school, it’s an amazing thing to have a second chance to make it right.
Last year I had an awesome opportunity for a second chance. I’m now in my last year of seminary and have almost completed my MDiv. As one of my requirements I had to take some counseling classes. About halfway through my first counseling class I got behind and was not able to finish the final project. Even with an extension from my prof. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to pull it off so I emailed him and told him I would just take the F for then and retake the class in the fall. He agreed with my plan and told me to ask the school for an Academic Replacement when I finished the class the second time. When it was granted the school removed the F and replaced with the A I received on the second attempt.
That is huge, and it is exactly what God did for me through Jesus. The Bible says that I came to God dead and in bondage because my sin, yet through the cross He offered me a second chance. In the same way that my school allowed me to replace a bad grade with an A, God allowed me to replace death with life, captivity with freedom, bleakness with hope, and separation from Him with a promise that He will never leave or forsake me.
That same second chance is offered to all who will receive it, and that is the focus of our passage. We will see how freely He offers Himself to those who have blown it, and we will also be challenged to imitate Christ’s response to a broken world. Because those who have been forgiven much should be the most willing to extend grace and mercy to those who are in need of it.
I. Setting the Stage – 7:53-8:2
The Feast of Tabernacles was the most popular of the three major Jewish feasts. The feast lasted for seven days and during that time people would have lived in booths outside of their homes. Many were loosely constructed and placed in courtyards or on the roofs of their houses. The festival was a time to celebrate the harvest and God’s provision for His people while they fled from Egypt. The description of the festival can be found in Leviticus 23:33-43. This very well could have led to a vacation, or Spring Break, type of atmosphere making it relatively easy for the Pharisees and Scribes to find the bait for their trap. Along with the contribution of the atmosphere, the booths would have made catching a couple in the act of adultery a little more likely, although the whole incident was probably a set-up.
Chapter seven ends with the conclusion of a teaching session by Jesus after which we are told that everyone went home. Jesus, however, went to the Mount of Olives. Very early the next morning Jesus was found once again in the Temple courts teaching a crowd that had assembled.
II. Setting the Trap – 8:3-6
The lesson is interrupted as a group of Pharisees and Scribes burst into the crowd and shove a woman right into the middle of it claiming to have caught her in the very act of adultery. As she stands there embarrassed, trying to not make eye contact with the crowd her accusers shout her sin for everyone to hear. Then they ask what Jesus thinks they should do citing that the Law says she should be stoned. At this point John tells us that this is all a trap. These men are not looking for justice; instead they want to pull Jesus into a snare.
It’s ironic that these men cite the Law of Moses because they were not following it themselves. Had they been looking for justice here there was a proper way of handling the situation. The woman should have been taken first to her husband and then to the Jewish court. They also failed to bring the man who was involved. Though it is possible that he was able to flee from the scene it is more probable that he was in on the plan and therefore not submitted to the humility of being brought out for judgment. If these men were really looking to follow the Law of Moses it would have been required for both the man and woman to be judged, but again these men were only looking to use her to eliminate their rival (Leviticus 20:10).
This story reveals the wickedness that can grow within the hearts of even God’s people. These men were supposed to be leaders and teachers, and yet here they are endangering this woman’s life in order to set a trap for Jesus. This is the same kind of darkness that Micah confronted the leaders of his day with, “Listen, you rulers of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel. Should you not know justice, you who hate good and love evil; who tear the skin from my people and the flesh from their bones…” (Micah 3:1-2) Just like the Pharisees, those in Micah’s day were doing the very opposite of what they should have been doing. Leaders should have an inward desire to see their people honor God. When those people fail to do so, leaders should lovingly seek to restore their people to a life that honors God. The Pharisees, however, loaded the people down with a legalistic burden they could not bear, and when they failed judgment often came swiftly and without mercy. If we are not careful, though, we can become just like them.
This then, brings up the question of what should we do in a situation like this. Are we to acts as judges the way the Pharisees wanted to, or is there another alternative? I believe the Bible overwhelmingly points to us seeking to reconcile the person to God rather than dishing out condemnation.
Look at these verses:
Luke 6:41-42
Matthew 18:15-17
James 5:19-20
The theme of the Bible is: grace, mercy, and restoration to God. Unfortunately, sometimes those of us who have known God the longest are the first ones who forget this. We point out sin instead of the cross and we spread gossip instead of the Gospel. We must always be aware, though, that our job as the church is not to condemn, but to point people to God.
To these men this woman was nothing but a tool to be used to get Jesus out of their way. There trap was simple: put Jesus into a situation where no matter which way He goes He still springs the trap. If He agrees that she should be stoned He loses favor with the people and His reputation for grace and mercy is forever ruined. But, if He says to let her go He is in defiance of the Law of Moses and would be condoning her sin. The trap is now set. What will He do? To their astonishment He bent down and began to write in the sand.
III. Springing the Trap – 8:7-9
They may have expected a nervous pause, a few moments where Jesus searches for the words to answer their question, but instead Jesus calmly bends down and begins to write in the sand. Agitated, they continue to question Him insisting on an answer. The answer they get springs the trap, but only after it has been turned back on them.
Jesus straightens up long enough to simply say, “If any of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” He then bends back down and again begins to write in the sand. Silence falls over the crowd until one by one those who drug the woman before Jesus begin to slip out of the crowd. This leaves Jesus with his original crowd and a dazed woman who is probably still staring at the ground.
Two questions tend to come up at this point. Why did Jesus write in the sand? And, what did He write? Some would suggest that He was searching for words, not sure of what to say. This would go against who Jesus is. As the very Son of God this encounter was no surprise to Him and He knew just what He was going to say to them. By this point in the Book of John Jesus had already displayed omniscience at least three times (1:48, 2:24, 4:17). For Him to suddenly be stumped would be out of character for Him. It very well could have been that He was giving the men time to think. First, He leaves them to ponder their accusation and the impact their trap has had on this woman standing before them. Then, as He writes the second time He leaves them to turn their attention to their own sin.
What did He write? We will probably never know on earth. There are speculations, but that is all that they are. One suggestion is that He wrote out the sins of the accusers. Another is that He wrote something about the seventh commandment, “You shall not commit adultery.” A third suggestion is that He may have written out the name of the man who committed adultery with the woman. Yet another suggestion is that He wrote something about mercy or forgiveness. And a final suggestion is that He just doodled in the sand.
Whatever He wrote must have contributed to His words. In essence He told them they could stone her, but only on the condition that they had never wanted to do the same thing themselves. The word he used here means not only without sin, but without a sinful desire. The combination of His words and whatever He wrote caused them to drop their stones and their case. Starting with the oldest, they slipped away one by one.
IV. Setting Her Free – 8:10-11
“Where are your accusers? Is there no one left to condemn you, Jesus asks?” “No, she quietly answers.” He told her that He would not condemn her either and challenges her to go and leave her life of sin behind. On the surface it may seem that He was too easy on her. She was guilty of adultery and without any rebuke at all He just lets her go. That is the line of thinking that got this passage removed from Scripture according to Augustine, and it is incorrect.
Jesus did not, and could not go easy on her sin. He knew very well the price that her sin would cost Him. We do not know what was going on in this woman’s heart and mind as this scene played out, but He did. It is possible that she inwardly had come to saving faith and repentance. We cannot expect a modern conversion from her. There are other instances where we can see Jesus receive others like her. Zacheus, the woman at the well, and the thief on the cross are a few examples. When sinners come to Jesus in faith He forgives, and that could be what happened in her heart.
Another possibility is that His words meant that He would not pass judgment right at that moment. In essence He was giving her time to reflect on the sin that she had been confronted with and respond to it fully later. Either way His final words to her are not easy. He tells her to go and leave behind her life of sin. He wasn’t patting her on the head as if everything was alright. He challenged her to make a total change, to repent and like us follow Him.
So, how did she ultimately respond? We’re not told, and to be honest it doesn’t matter. You see, the point is not how she responded, but how will you and I respond?
CONCLUSION: Bring us back to your proposition.
A. Our God is the God of Second Chances
In John chp. 3 Jesus said that He did not come to condemn, but to save. We should have the same attitude. He offers others the same 2nd chance that He gave us. He doesn’t expect them to fix themselves before they come to Him. He offers each of us a second chance right where we are and once we accept that He begins the process of making us like Him.
B. We Need to See People the Way God Sees Them
Jesus saw value in the woman because she was created in His image. That is the way He sees all of us. Instead of judging people by what we see on the outside we should see the impact Jesus can have on them.
This doesn’t mean that we excuse their sin, He didn’t. We should call them to repent and follow, but in a way that expresses unconditional love.
C. We Should Focus on Pointing People to Christ instead of Condemning Their Sin
We really don’t have the time or energy to focus on judging people. Our effort should be to point them to Christ. He is the only one who can bring real change to their life. It is through the cross that they will be able to be what God meant for them to be. Until they come there we are only addressing the symptoms when we focus on their sin. We need to give them the cure, Jesus.
