Lay down your stone
JOHN 8:1-8:11
Introduction-
This morning we have brought in many new members.
They have acknowledged that they wanted to be a part of this body of Christ we call the church.
The church by God’s definition is many members playing different parts that accomplish the task that God sets out for us.
The church was established by God, and Jesus Christ is the head of the church.
Christians (those who have confessed Jesus Christ as Lord) are not meant to live out their faith isolated from each other.
They are called out to look after each other in love.
Church membership is one of the things that believers can do to align themselves with other believers.
Church membership is accountability to God and to your church family. It comes with commitment to God and commitment to your church family.
Joining a church is serious business in the eyes of God because you express a willingness and commitment to walk with God and allow yourself to be disciplined and discipled.
You also acknowledge that you are a follower of Christ and Christ is your model for how you will live and how you will treat others.
I would like you to turn to John 8:1-8:11. This is our text for this morning. I want you to not only listen to this verse, but visualize this verse. If your study the Bible, you may know that some of the early manuscripts did not have this verse. But I refer to last week when I said that I believe every word of this Bible and believe there is a lesson for us in these passages.
John 8:1-8:11
Jesus was in the Temple courts(church) ready to teach.
The Scribes and Pharisees bring this lady who was caught in the act of adultery.
They stood this women in front of everyone and Jesus to embarrass and humiliate her.
According to the Law of Moses, this woman was to be stoned to death.
“Now what do you say Jesus?”
They were trying to trap Jesus
If He stoned the women, the Romans would come against him because they did not believe in the death sentence.
If He didn’t stone her, the Jews would come against him for disobeying the Law of Moses.
“Caught in the act”- Jewish law required that someone had to actually witness the offense.
Where is the man?
Unless I missed something, adultery takes two people.
They kind of left out the part that both people would be executed. The man by strangulation and the women by stoning if she was a betrothed virgin.
Jesus answer was for the Scribes and Pharisees, but also for the church. He was proving He was God and couldn’t be backed into a corner by the righteous ones and was teaching a lesson to God’s people.
This woman stood before all of those people.
The defense presented their case and it was a good one! Caught in the act!
(Jesus bent down and wrote on the ground. They kept firing questions at Him. He stood up.)
“If anyone of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her” (Hold out the stone and wave it)
Pause and look around.
People begin leaving and tossing down their stones. The elders first to the point only Jesus and the women were left.
“Where are they? Has no one condemned you? No one sir, she said.”
“Then neither do I condemn you, Jesus declared. Go, now and leave your life of sin.”
The righteous ones holding there stones, just waiting to throw them at someone else. Yelling and pointing out the faults of someone else.
Jesus tells them- “Go ahead, the one without sin throw the first stone.”
You watch the news, you see people in Israel throwing rocks at people constantly. It’s what they do because it is what they have.
Here we don’t throw physical rocks at people, but we do a lot of stone throwing!
I want to tell you something!
God is not Democrat or Republican! In heaven we won’t be called that either. We will all be children of God.
We will be there because of what Christ did for us.
We will be there because we accepted Christ as Savior.
We will be there because of the Grace and Mercy of God.
We offend each other by throwing rocks of political suicide.
“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
John 13:35
I am not saying that we have to agree with everything down the pike, but we miss God’s plan when we throw rocks and forget and about grace and mercy that God has given us.
Listen to me,
Jesus forgiveness is not based upon our innocence. (repeat )
She was caught in the act.
We have been caught in the act.
Roman 3:23-
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”
There is no difference between Jew and Gentile because of what Christ did for us on the cross.
We have all sinned! We are born sinners because of the fall of man. We become what God intended because of Jesus Christ.
The mob of righteous stone throwers had to lay down their stones when Jesus said – let the first without sin throw the first stone.
She was guilty
The accusers were right
She did not have a defense.
“All” means everyone of us, the forgiveness that Jesus offers is not because we are innocent!
It is in spite of our guilt, He offers forgiveness.
1 John 1:9
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” Amen.
If the church will become more like Jesus, we will help others become more like Jesus
Jesus disciple the 12, and the church disciples the body of Christ.
We cannot forget where we came from.
We cannot forget that we need forgiveness and have received forgiveness from Jesus.
The church (everyone of us) needs to help each other and love one another.
Acts 8:30-31
“So Phillip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked him, do you understand what you are reading? And he said, how can I, unless someone guides me? And he invited Phillip to come up and sit with him.”
Maybe, put down the stone and open your heart.
Second thought
Jesus forgiveness is not limited to the severity of the sin
Adultery- Some would say-I would never do that!
Truth is we live in a society that really has no regard to authority and looks at the church with all its dysfunctional people and they do not know what to do with that!
I am not putting my approval on sin but I know that there is no sin too great for God to forgive if you sincerely give it to him and ask for forgiveness.
In that day, it was a serious crime punishable by death- but Jesus forgave her!
Isaiah 1:18-
“Come now, let us reason together says the Lord, though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.”
God’s grace and God’s forgiveness is always greater!
Maybe we should model Jesus and not the righteous Pharisees this morning.
Jesus did not condone her behavior- He offered her forgiveness.
He didn’t say do as you please- He said Go now and leave your life of sin.
Jesus had her dead to rights- He knew it, she knew it. He offered her a second chance.
How many of us have gotten a second chance from the Lord?
How many of us have had a person that God brought into their lives to help us get back on track?
How many here this morning are glad that God has not given up on them?
How many are not too proud to admit that God is still working on them?
Put down the stones!
God is the judge, and allow yourself to be used to love someone into the kingdom of God.
We can all do that!
We all need that!
Billy Graham
Christ can take the most sin-laden, selfish, evil person and bring forgiveness and new life.
Forgiveness is one of the most beautiful words in human vocabulary. It offers God a chance to do something in a person’s heart and life.
God’s holiness demands sin to be punished. (That is a fact! One day we will all be judged by God) But God’s love has provided a way of redemption through Christ. He gives us 2nd chance. His desire is redemption over judgment.
Amen.
