Good Morning Everyone!
What a joy it is to worship God, and now to study His word.
We are going through 70X7 series during our MGroup Campaign. This is our 4th Sunday and today we will be looking at John 8:1-11.
Illustration:
In a courtroom trial in South Africa, an elderly black woman stands slowly to her feet. She is more than 70 years old. Facing her from across the room are several white security police officers. One of them, Mr. Van der Broek, has just been tried and found guilty in the murder of the woman's son.
Now the woman stands in the courtroom and listens to the confessions of Mr. Van der Broek. He had come to the woman's home, taken her son, shot him at point-blank and then burned the young man's body while he and his officers partied nearby.
A member of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission turns to the woman and asks, "So what do you want? How should justice be done to this man who has brutally killed your son?"
"I want three things," begins the woman calmly, but confidently.
First, “I want to be taken to the place where my son’s body was burned, so that I can gather up the dust and give his remains a decent burial.”
She pauses, then continues. "My son was my only family. So, I want for Mr. Van der Broek to become my son. I would like for him to come twice a month to the ghetto and spend a day with me so I can pour out on him whatever love I still have remaining in me."
Finally, she says, "I would like Mr. Van der Broek to know that I offer him my forgiveness because Jesus Christ died to forgive. This was also the wish of my son. So, I would kindly ask someone to come to my side and lead me across the courtroom so I can take Mr. Van der Broek in my arms, embrace him and let him know that he is truly forgiven.”
As the court assistants come to lead the elderly woman across the room, Mr. Van der Broek faints, overwhelmed by what he has just heard. As he struggles for consciousness, those in the courtroom, family, friends, neighbors - all victims of decades of oppression and injustice - begin to sing… "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.”
Brothers and sisters, our topic this morning is, Forgive Like Jesus! John chapter 8 opens with Jesus teaching a crowd of people in the Temple (8:1-2). We see that, as Jesus continued teaching people about God and the Scriptures, more and more people were coming to listen to Him. But, the Jewish religious leaders were not happy that Jesus was getting the attention they want. So, they were looking for ways to discredit Jesus and His teachings.
We see two main things happening in our passage this morning. Let us look at them one at a time: First,…
Hypocrisy Leads to Accusation (vs.3-9)
Hypocrisy is pretending to be what you are not in reality. It comes in many varieties, but the worst kind is self-righteous hypocrisy. A self-righteous hypocrite is someone who condemns the behavior of others, but engages in the same behavior himself. In other words, a person who does not practice what he/she preaches. In Luke 18:9-12 we find the description of these self-righteous religious leaders: “9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ Brothers and sisters, hypocrisy leads to accusation.
1a. Jewish Religious Leaders Set a Trap to Accuse Jesus (vs. 3-6a)
In vs. 3-6a, we see that Jewish religious leaders were trying to trap Jesus. They brought a woman before Jesus who was caught in the act of adultery. There is no doubt that she had committed adultery. Jewish leaders were right. That’s why she didn’t put up any defense.
During those days, among the Jews, adultery was considered the worst possible sin a person could commit. Adultery is the sin of fornication committed by someone who is married. It is a violation of the marriage bond. So, in the mind of the Jews that was the worst sin.
But, the Jewish leaders’ accusation raises some questions here. First, why did they expose the woman publicly? There was no need to do that. And there was no need to bring her to Jesus. It is quite clear that their intention was not simply to expose her sin and punish her. They were actually seeking to accuse Jesus and question His teachings. Second, where is the man? Adultery by definition requires two people. They should have brought the man who had broken the law just as much as the woman. According to the law, both the man and the woman who commit adultery are to be stoned to death. In Leviticus 20:10, it says, “If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife - with the wife of his neighbor - both the adulterer and the adulteress are to be put to death.”
The Jewish religious leaders were not concerned about following the Law. And they didn’t care about the woman at all. To them she is simply “this woman.” She was just the bait to trap Jesus. If He says, "Forgive her," then they will be able to accuse Him of going against the Law. And if He says, "Stone her," then it will be a reversal of everything He has been teaching on mercy and forgiveness of God. So, they laid their trap, and were waiting to see what will Jesus do?
1b. Jesus Revealed Hypocrisy of Jewish Leaders (vs. 6b-9)
In response to the accusations made against the woman, Jesus did something strange. In v. 6b, “But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.” Instead of debating with them or just walking away, He looked down and began to write something on the ground. The Bible doesn’t say what He wrote, but He was writing something on the ground with His finger.
The Jewish religious leaders continued asking Jesus; Come on, tell us teacher, what do You say? When they kept on questioning, He got up and said to them,“Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Then, there was silence. With that statement, Jesus accomplished two purposes. First, He avoided their trap. Second, He exposed their hypocrisy, though in a relatively gentle manner. Jesus said that only the sinless was worthy of casting the first stone. In other words, Jesus was telling them to put their stones down.
The Jewish religious leaders wanted to have this woman stoned to death for her sin. But, Jesus made them put their stones down because He alone is without sin and qualified to throw any stones. So, those Jewish religious leaders who came to condemn the woman, ended up condemning themselves by not casting their stones.
The message came through loud and clear. They were convicted by their own consciences and they went away. In v. 9, it says, “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.”
No doubt the Jewish religious leaders were troubled by what Jesus said. They wanted to talk about the woman, but Jesus wanted to talk about them. That’s why Jesus did not say, “Let her be stoned.” He said, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone.” There is a huge difference. Jesus knew that the real issue wasn’t the woman, it was the hypocrisy of those Jewish leaders.
Application:
Brothers and sisters, we all have the tendency to point our finger at others. In Luke 6:42 we read, “How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.” We need to be careful in pointing figure at others.
When someone commits a wrongdoing, it is so easy for us to criticize or condemn them. But, let us not be so quick to accuse others. Instead, let us pray for them, and show compassion. In Mark 11:25, instead of condemning those crucifying Him, Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” It’s not always easy, but that’s what God wants us to do. There is a saying, "To err is human; to forgive is divine." But how often do we practice this truth?
The second thing that we see in our passage this morning is,…
2. Forgiveness Leads to Freedom (vs. 10-11)
In v.10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
2a. Jesus Did Not Condemn the Woman (vs.10-11a)
Why didn’t He condemn her?
John 3:16-17 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
God’s purpose is not to condemn sinners. If God’s purpose was to condemn sinners, then why did Jesus come to earth and die? Romans 8:1 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” His purpose is to forgive and save sinners. That’s why Jesus treated the woman so differently comparing to the Jewish religious leaders. They were condemning and threatening to stone her. But, Jesus did not condemn her; instead, He let her go.
2b. Jesus Let the Woman Go (v. 11b)
Jesus didn’t let this woman go because He was not righteous enough to condemn her. He simply made it clear that He was the only one who was righteous enough to condemn her. In v. 11b, He said, “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
Jesus did not condemn the woman to death; nor did he say that her adulterous deed was no longer a sin. He openly revealed her sin when He told her to leave her life of sin. He clearly pointed out that she had sinned by committing adultery. But, He let her go because He forgave her sin. Jesus didn’t tell her to do a list of things before she would be forgiven. He simply said, ‘Go now.’ Brothers and sisters, Jesus’ forgiveness led to her freedom.
When Jesus asked the woman to leave her life of sin, He wasn’t expecting her to become sinless or perfect. He was asking her to ‘stop making sin the habit of her life’ or "no longer go on sinning.’ Jesus was basically drawing a line between her past and her future. He forgave her sin, and asked her to live a life of holiness. Likewise, Jesus forgives our past sins, but He expects that we would not continue with our habitual sin in the future. Brothers and sisters, Jesus’ forgiveness leads to our freedom from the bondage of sin.
Application:
I would like to encourage you to consider this exercise. It may seem drastic, unreasonable, and perhaps not doable right now, but give it a try as you get home later today:
Set aside 10-15 minutes for yourself.
Grab a pen and a piece of paper.
Write down on the paper who you need to forgive (names).
Write down what they did to you, and how it made you feel.
Take some time to pray for that person.
When you are ready, read the paper out loud, and declare “I forgive …….. in Jesus’ name!”
Tear up that paper and throw it in the trash.
Brothers and sisters, as you forgive those who have wronged or offended you, you will have a sense of freedom in your heart and mind.
Closing:
This morning, as we looked at how Jesus forgave the adulterous woman, let us take some time to examine ourselves. We all are present somewhere in this story. You may be like the woman - condemned by everyone and needing forgiveness. Or, you may be like the Jewish religious leaders - accusing others, but unable to see your own need. Let us try to answer these questions as we examine ourselves: Is there something for which you need forgiveness? Are you living a life of habitual sin right now? Is there something that you need to leave behind? Is there someone you need to forgive?
Brothers and sisters, as we have been forgiven by Jesus, let us forgive like Jesus!
Two things we have learned today from John 8:1-11:
Hypocrisy Leads to Accusation.
Forgiveness Leads to Freedom.
Let us Pray!
