November 25, 2012
Grace - Part 3
2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them.
3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in the act of adultery.
They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus,
“Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?”
Their voices yanked her out of bed. “Get up you harlot! What kind of woman are you?” She was caught, caught in the act of adultery. There was no denying it, it was obvious what was going on. She was guilty, she knew it, he knew it, they all knew it.
She was pulled and dragged from the bedroom, throwing on some clothes as they grabbed her to bring her to the temple. People were looking out of their windows and doors, staring her down. They were going to pronounce her sentence. It was an open and shut case. She would be guilty.
She was brought into the midst of an early morning Bible study, being led by the great Teacher, Jesus. All eyes were upon her. She wanted to look around at her accusers and catch a glimpse at them. They were of all ages, from student to retired priest. They were all there, all pointing a condemning finger at her.
They asked Jesus for His opinion on this case. Why? John tells us, 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.
For the first time all morning there was silence. Nobody spoke. They were waiting for an answer. Jesus didn’t speak, He stooped down and wrote in the dirt. Jesus was already sitting and was teaching. It was common for teachers to sit and teach. So, as the people approached Him, Jesus was already sitting down, but before He stood up . . . He stooped down!
We would expect Jesus to stand first, we would expect Him to stand up and maybe step on something so everyone could hear Him. As He stooped down, He was lower than every person who was there. He was lower than the woman. They were already looking down on the woman, but now they have to look even lower.
Jesus was prone to stoop. He stooped to wash the disciples feet, He stooped to embrace the children, He stooped to heal the sick, He stooped to pull Peter out of the sea, He stooped to take His lashes and He stooped to pick up His cross.
In the Old Testament, the word for grace comes from the family of the word ‘to stoop.’ Grace bends and lowers itself to give to another. Then Jesus drew in the dirt. We all wonder and guess what He drew or wrote, but we don’t know.
What we do know is when God first stooped and touched dirt. The result was the creation of humanity. Maybe it was a reminder that we all come from dirt, and one day will return to dirt. Maybe he diverted attention from the woman, since they would all be focused on Jesus.
They kept pushing and asking for an answer. John tells us ~ 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up. . .
Now He stood up now. He’s straight and tall. John finds it important to tell us that information. He doesn’t stand for long. The only reason He seems to stand up, is to defend her, since nobody else has the courage to do so.
Understand the law. Moses wrote in Deuteronomy 22 ~ If a man is found sleeping with another man’s wife, both the man who slept with her and the woman must die. You must purge the evil from Israel.
It’s a clear cut law. Yet Jesus ~ 7 said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”
This is how I interpret these words from Jesus, “Go ahead and stone her, go ahead, but let those who have never sinned throw the first stone. 8 Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.
Nobody speaks, we don’t know what He wrote, but again, there’s silence. It only took one question. 9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.
Jesus wasn’t finished. Listen to what He said ~ 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
‘Woman, where are your accusers?’ What a question!! Our voices have a way of accusing us, don’t they. Our voices from the past. Voices from our mistakes. Voices of criticism, voices of condemnation, voices which remind us of the sin and mistakes, dishonesty, stupidity, irresponsibility, foolishness . . . you fill in the blanks. You aren’t good enough. The voices in the world and in our heads seem to patrol our thoughts. Reminding us we’ve been caught . . . over and over and over . . . again. Do these voices ever shut up?
No, they don’t. Because satan never shuts up. This is what he does for a living. The accuser, satan, makes a career out of accusing us. He holds stones in his hands, that he’s caught us. Calling us names, calling us every and anything he can, so that we’d believe we are no good. But let me ask you this question ~
you’ve heard the accuser, but have you heard the Christ?
Because even though voices are accusing you, Christ protects you. What He did for that woman, He does for you. Didn’t He stoop low enough to be born in a manger, or stoop low enough to work in a carpentry shop, didn’t He stoop in anonymity for 3 decades? Did He not stoop far enough in a storm on the sea? Did He not stoop far enough that all of the sins of the world would be placed on Him and He would die a death on a cross? Yet, after He stooped, what did He do? He stood up, right there in the tomb. And the stone was rolled back and Jesus looked into the face of the accuser and Jesus stands between us and the accuser.
Jesus now stands in heaven, always willing to make intercession for you and I before the throne of God. He does this for us.
Jesus stood beside her, but He lives within you. This has been the desire of God since the beginning of time. Jesus living within you.
In Ezekiel 36:25-26, God said, 25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and all your idols.
26 I will give you a new heart and I will put a new spirit within you.
This is from God. He puts a new heart within you. He removes the old heart, the heart of sin, poisoned with the pains of life, and He replaces it with the heart of Jesus Christ. So, when God hears our hearts beating, He’s hearing the heartbeat of His Son, Jesus. You can call it a spiritual heart transplant.
Tara Storch understands this miracle. In the Spring of 2010 her 13 year old daughter, Taylor, was killed in a skiing accident. For Todd and Tara, for every parent; it was their worst nightmare; the decisions, the tears, the questions. They decided to donate Taylor’s organs to needy patients.
Enter Patricia Winters. Patricia desperately needed a heart. She was so weak that she couldn’t do much more than lay in bed all day. Taylor’s heart gave Patricia a fresh new start on life. But Taylor’s mom had one request ~~ she wanted to hear the heart of her daughter. So, she and Todd flew from Dallas to Phoenix and met Patricia and they were able to listen to her heart.
See video from You tube
Tara and Todd heard the heart of their daughter. Taylor’s heart was in a new body, but it was still her heart. They heard the still beating heart of their daughter. It dwells within a different body now, but the heart is still the heart of their precious child. And when God hears your heart, does He not also hear the heart of the still beating heart of His Son? After all, when you gave your heart to Christ, Christ gave His heart to you.
And just like the apostle Paul said, it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives within me (Galatians 2:20). Paul sensed the change in his life. He knew it and he experienced it. This is the promise of Christ. Lucado says this is the Gospel in a nutshell. Christ in you. The hope of God, and your body becomes the temple of the Holy Spirit and your mind becomes the mind of Christ. God’s dream isn’t just for you to get to heaven, but for heaven to get inside of you.
Think about all that we do, and Christ is in us. Paul added ~ If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation, the old has gone and the new has come - 2 Corinthians 5:17.
Isn’t that cool? The old Michael passed away, and now there’s a new Michael, a new heart, a outlook on life. The old Michael was crucified with Christ, and the new Michael was raised from the dead in Christ.
God raised us from the dead, along with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus - Ephesians 2:6.
Do you see what Paul is saying? This is a tough one to get, but please understand this. Along with Jesus, who did God raise from the dead? US! And on top of that, God has seated us alone? Right! Wrong!! No, with Him, with Jesus in the heavenly realms, because we’re united with Jesus. That’s powerful and fantastic!!
Look at how god sees us, He has brought us into His own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before Him without a single fault - Colossians 1:22.
How in the world can that be said about you? How can that be said about me? Some of us wake up snapping at others. God looks at us as holy, blameless, without fault. How can this happen? It can only come through the grace of God. We don’t earn it, so we can’t lose it. It’s a gift from God to us. We’re the beneficiaries of His kindness and forgiveness. Because we’re redeemed, we are also accepted by God. We’ve been adopted and acquitted.
So, the accuser no longer can accuse you. What case can he make against Christ? He has no power over you. There’s nothing he can say about you, because you have the heart of Jesus beating within you. As God said, 33 Who will bring a charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.
34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died, more than that, who was raised to life - is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. – Romans 8:33-34
In the case of the woman caught in adultery, what did Jesus do? He stooped, then He stood, then He spoke. And what does He do in our case? He died, He rose, and now He speaks. The same thing. He placed His heart within you. You’re beyond accusation.
You’re asking, ‘if I have the heart of Christ within me, then why do I still have my bad habits and sinful desires? If Jesus’ spirit lives within me, then why am I stuck in depression. If Jesus lives within me, why do I struggle to forgive? If Jesus lives within me, then why do I do the things I don’t want to do?
Transplants take time to take hold. Patricia Winters has to take time to get used to her new heart. Just because it takes time doesn’t mean the transplant hasn’t occurred. It’s going to take time. It’s going to work. Because it’s not up to you and it’s not up to me. And God has made a promise to us ~ God who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ - Philippians 1:6.
It’s not up to you, it’s up to Him. We will all struggle, we will all stumble. But are our struggles and stumbles signs of God’s condemnation? Absolutely not! God will correct us and convict us, but not condemn us. As Paul said in Romans 8:1, There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
So, now you know what you need to say to the accuser? What did Jesus say to the woman? 10 “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
And she looked around and all she saw were rocks and the backs of people. And she said, 11 “No one, sir.”
So, Jesus declared, “Then neither do I condemn you, go now and sin no more.”
He didn’t say, go and sin no more and maybe I won’t condemn you. He placed her in a state of grace, in a place where there is no condemnation.
This is what Jesus says, as well, to you and I. Even today when those voices come for you. You can say Jesus stoops for me, Jesus stood for me. Jesus speaks for me. And Jesus has given me a brand new heart.
