Most of us here are familiar with that hit song written by Burt Bacharach, “What the World Needs Now.” And of course, as bad as I am with notes, I’m even worse with lyrics, but in this case, I do remember the next few words—“Is love, sweet, love.”
And admittedly, the song strikes a chord with everyone, I think, and even those of us who are believers. Of course we would like to refine and further define precisely what kind of love it is that the world needs—not just any love, not just romantic love, but the love of Christ, the self-sacrificing, tangible actions which meet others’ needs. This is truly what the world needs now, we might think,
But this morning we come to a story which must more definitively epitomizes exactly what it is the world needs, what we all need, to experience and practice to be fulfilled in what God has always wanted for us. And though God’s love is certainly the over-arching theme, there is much more that the world needs to be and to experience what God really intended it to be and experience, and most of it is more wonderful than most worldly and sentimental definitions of love might lead you to believe.
So exactly what is that kind of love that the world needs now. If we were to be precise, what is it that Jesus Himself offered which is so unique and practical, that if all were truly to embrace it, the world would be a completely different place.
What the world needs now is the love of a humble merciful God who forgives even as he calls to repentance. It’s a merciful love which accepts, forgives, reconciles and restores sinners even as it moves them to repent.
And there are actually two different kinds of people here I suspect—those who have received this kind of love and those who now need to be expressions of this kind of love for the glory of God and the good of our friends.
If you desire to be an expression this kind of love. . .
Uphold what is right without self-righteously condemning others. Upholding what is right means upholding what is in accord with the love of God and the love of others. Yet, to do so means we love other sinners like ourselves even as Christ has loved us—in spite of our sin.
Now before we get into the passage, some of you may be finding your particular copy of the Bible does some strange things concerning this story. You might find it in brackets, or you might even find it in the margin or at the bottom of the page of the Bible you’re using. And you’ll probably find some footnote saying something along the lines of earliest and best manuscripts do not include this story here. And what that means is that those who study the oldest manuscripts of the Greek Old Testament in a discipline called Textual Criticism have noticed that none of the very oldest manuscripts include this story here in the Gospel of John. But among those who are regarded as scholars of the New Testament, very few doubt the authenticity of the story. Most regard it as having really happened, and it is consistent with the character of Christ as we find it throughout the Gospels and also it is consistent with the character of the scribes and Pharisees as we find them throughout the Gospels. And so the major question about this story is its placement—if it really happened here in relationship to the other events of the Gospel of John, not whether it really happened or should be part of the Word of God.
And it opens by telling us that Jesus was once again teaching in the temple, and He began His teaching at dawn, at first light one day, and there were people milling around the temple at even that time of day. This would likely have been pretty normal if it were during one of the great feasts of Israel, and perhaps especially so if it had occurred during the Feast of Booths, when Israel’s men spent the night sleeping outside in temporary shelters erected throughout Jerusalem. And interestingly, at first, He sits down to teach, and people begin flocking to him, so unique and so relevant is His teaching. And within a very few minutes a very unique set of events begins to unfold. A group of scribes and Pharisees come bustling upon the scene and in their grasp is a woman who is obviously not happy about the whole situation. They interrupt Jesus’ teaching and the crowd surrounding Him by coming through the crowd right up to him. Then they this woman to stand there in front of both Jesus and the crowd. Immediately, they announce what the occasion is all about. Verse 4: “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?” And then in verse 6, John adds a comment with regard to their motives: “They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him.”
So it was a trap! A trap that was fully in accord with the motives and activities of the spiritual leaders of Israel to discredit Jesus, to have grounds to arrest Him and kill Him.
Now the scribes and the Pharisees, if you don’t know, represented both the experts and the real sticklers with regard to the Old Testament Law—the Law of Moses. The scribes were the people who copied the Old Testament Law, preserved it, and even acted as lawyers or attorneys in Israel with regard to what the Old Testament said. The Old Testament, particularly the Law of Moses, was the actual law which was enforced in Israel—it was the public law of Israel—and so it had official effect insofar as the ruling Roman procurator would allow it to. So the scribes were the absolute experts in what the Law said. And the Pharisees were the Jewish sect that most inflexibly followed the Law and made up hundreds of laws which further defined their understanding of how the Law itself should be fulfilled. So they were the absolute perfectionists, the obsessive-compulsives of their generation about keeping the Old Testament Law.
And so this consortium of lawyers and obsessive-compulsive perfectionists shared a mutual animosity toward Jesus and a mutual interest in seeing the Law of Moses observed. And somehow, in the course of the night, they had managed to catch a woman in the very act of adultery—a situation that was ideal with regard to their purpose of putting Jesus in a very awkward situation—a situation in which He might transgress the Law and would justify them before the people in doing whatever they wanted with Him.
And it just so happens that the Law did prescribe the death penalty for adulterers, and its likely that stoning would be the preferred method. At any rate, Leviticus 20:10 prescribes the death penalty for anyone caught in adultery, for both the man and the woman. No explanation is given here why only the woman is brought before Jesus.
And so the question, for me, at least, is what was the trap? What were the scribes and Pharisees expecting Jesus to do that would give them an opportunity against Him?
Well, this is what I think: Jesus had especially been a hit among the outcasts of society. He had especially appealed to the known sinners and tax-gatherers—the rebels in Israelite society. And when confronted about this He had answered that it was the sinner, not the righteous, who needed to be called to repentance, that the Son of Man had comes to seek and to save that which was lost. Now He would be faced with a sinner who was not merely reputed to be a gross sinner, but one who had been caught in the very act of an offense for which the Law had prescribed the death penalty.
Now, under such circumstances, would Jesus risk alienating the very people who found hope in Him in order to fulfill the precise commands of the Law? They thought not, and when Jesus backed them off from the prescribed stoning, they would charge him with being a law-breaker and arrest him, fully justified in the eyes of all for whatever they might do with Him.
And here’s what Jesus faced: there were obviously more than two witnesses to the act—there were a group of salivating experts in the Law who had caught her in the very act. She was not protesting her innocence. And so how could He question the accusation or the prescribed act. And Jesus did not. Instead He did something very interesting at this point. Perhaps he had been standing by this time, and the rest of verse six says He stooped down and wrote in the sand for a moment. And all this time, the tense of the verbs here indicates this rabid group of scribes and Pharisees kept badgering Him about what He would say about the law-mandated stoning.
And I asked myself why Jesus stooped down and drew in the sand. And I thought—well, He’s God. Obviously, He doesn’t need time to think about what He’s going to do in this situation. He has always known what He would do, He had always known it would happen and He knows precisely what needs to be done. So why did He delay?
And you know what I think? I think He delayed so that those who were watching had time to think. So that they could fully grasp the situation, the dilemma, and wonder for themselves what should be done and what Jesus would choose to do. And He did this so that when Jesus finally answered, the impact of His incredible divine wisdom would have its full effect on them.
So what was wrong here? Was it the Law, after all? No, the Law came in where Love had been absent; where love had not protected what was precious and what was right. The Law had come in to show what love would do if it were in control instead of sin. And the Law came in to show what happens when love is violated—destruction of relationships and death. The Law, as Paul stated later in Romans 7:12, was good and righteous.
What was wrong here was the response of the Pharisees and scribes to the Law. What was wrong was the sinful nature of fallen men who twisted the Law to make it an opportunity for the flesh—who used it to show how they were better than others, who used it as an opportunity for pride. What it produced in these men was Legalism. Legalism is the belief that a right relationship with God can be earned through good works. And what Legalism produces, wherever it is found, is a pride in your own efforts often at the expense of others. It produces a critical condemning spirit. This is what was being displayed by these Pharisees and scribes—the pride that comes from Legalism---a works-based religion that results in a critical and condemning spirit from others. While Jesus upheld what was right, He would not condone the prideful, self-righteous condemnation of others.
Finally, Jesus has delayed long enough for all who were observing to be brought into the drama of the moment. He straightens up, according to verse 7, and exposes the sin of self-righteous pride in the accusers, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”
The response was especially ingenious because it employed a provision of the Law itself which would further compound any attempt by the accusers to find a loophole for themselves. For in Deuteronomy 17:6-7 we find this instruction with regard to any stoning: “On the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness. The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.”
These experts in the Law undoubtedly were familiar with this provision for such a stoning. They themselves were the accusers, and so when Jesus turned the tables on them and required them to become executioners as well as the woman’s accusers, there could be no turning the tables back on Jesus and requiring His verdict first. Their own knowledge and necessary obedience to this provision of the Law required them to render their verdict first, and by being the first to cast their stones. And then the very conviction that this law, I suspect, was designed to evoke, consciousness of their own sins and hypocrisy, came into play. Their only response now could not be debate, but escape.
And so Jesus stooped down and drew in the sand again, not so He would have time to think, but so that these very proud, very hypocritical spiritual leaders could think and could come to the only conclusion that logic and the Word of God would allow them to. It was time to escape. And this they did, one-by-one, and interestingly, beginning with the oldest first. I suspect the reason the oldest departed first because the more personal experience a person has with life, the more they become aware of their own personal failings, the less idealistic they become, the less black-and-white they can afford to be because of all the gray areas that have appeared in their own lives.
And what we see here is the kind of love, the kind of mercy, the kind of compassion we should all display in our own lives—We should all humbly acknowledge our need of the mercy & grace of God as much as anyone else.
In other words, when we see a sinner in his folly, our first response should not be “How stupid! How foolish!” But rather, “There but for the grace of God go I.” And then secondly, perhaps, “How can I be a purveyor of God’s love so this one can also find the mercy and grace I’ve found.”
And then, while the crowd watched, every single scribe, every single Pharisee, was gone. Only the woman was standing there. And Jesus, almost as if on cue straightened up again and said to the woman in verse 10, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?”
She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus granting forgiveness, said, “I do not condemn you either.? And He added to his forgiveness the one instruction necessary to show that has truly been received and properly appreciated—the command to go and sin no longer.
And with it He granted all of us who would be conduits of God’s grace and mercy this huge nugget of wisdom: When forgiveness has truly been received, repentance will always be the response. When forgiveness has truly been received, repentance will always be the necessary response.
And thus the Law achieved its final purpose. It was this woman’s tutor to lead her on to accept God’s grace—the forgiveness of sins resulting not only in faith, but also in repentance.
And with it comes our final point this morning. Want to love as Christ loves, and thereby glorify Him before others: Keep on offering forgiveness, but not without calling for repentance. Keep on offering forgiveness, but not without calling for forgiveness.
Because of someone truly believes, what he believes will from that time determine what he does. So when someone truly believes God has forgiven through the grace of Christ, He will always respond with repentance. He will always respond by turning from his sin and turning to Christ to follow Him.
Interestingly, we don’t absolutely know the rest of the story for this woman caught in adultery. No doubt she followed the Lord’s recommendation and left that scene as though Christ had saved her from almost certain condemnation and death. But we don’t absolutely know what she did afterward. Did she return to her husband and seek forgiveness? Did she begin following Jesus? Did she respond to Christ’s grace and mercy with faith and repentance?
And perhaps there is a poetic justice involved here, that we don’t know what happened to her. Because there is intended a tension left in the air, because what is most important here is not how she responded to the grace shown her, but now how we respond to the grace and mercy shown to us.
What will be the end of the story for each of us?
Is there someone here who has not yet received the grace and mercy of Christ. Who has not understood the love of God and how it has been displayed once and for all for all of us sinners through the death of Christ> Well, perhaps this is the day that you were intended to come to an understanding of just how great Christ’s love, God’s love is for you. For there will be a day like this one for the woman that each of us here will stand before Jesus Christ and the question will not be whether we have sinned. The question will be whether we have found our Savior, His mercy and recognize that it is Jesus who is asking that question Himself. And then, and only then, on that occasion, will we be free to go and live for Him forever.
And for the others among us, who have received God’s grace—are we humble examples of God’s mercy and grace to others that we know. Have we forsaken all pride in any accomplishments we might have had which would deserve God’s favor? Are we beyond seeking to be better than others and have learned rather to seek the best for others? Then, and only then is God’s grace, love and mercy ready to be displayed through you. Then and only then have you been prepared to communicate to the world what it needs most of all right now—Jesus Christ and His merciful Love.
