“Tarnished Halos, Rock Throwers, and The Amazing Grace of God
John 8:1-11
Sermon #16 in Gospel of John 2021
Greenmount and O’Leary Churches of Christ
May 23, 2021
Video Link:
https://youtu.be/mZ09me7jkfM
INTRODUCTION:
1.) Most of us in this room today are Christians, or what God’s Word calls the saints of God.
A.) Perhaps a danger of being in Christ for many years is that we can picture ourselves with bright and shinning halos.
B.) By that I mean we can look at other sinners, or those whose sin is different than our own as terrible people, and perhaps even spiritually inferior to ourselves.
C.) Today I want us to look at a woman caught in the act of adultery, but whose accusers believed they had shiny halos.
D.) The entire account was an attempt to trap Jesus.
I) THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS HAD DECEITFUL HEARTS WHEN THEY BROUGHT THE WOMAN TO JESUS.
1.) The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery.
A.) Their pretense was that they needed Jesus to give his judgment as to what should be done with this woman according to the law.
aa.)At first glance this could appear as giving honour to Jesus.
ab.) There was no reason to have even been brought this to Jesus.
ac.) Jesus was not of the Pharisees, Sadducees, Scribes, or even of the priesthood.
aca.) He was seen at as a knowledgeable leader and one who had great insight into the word of God.
acc.) These religious leaders had not come for insight in the Word of God.
acd.) The only purpose of coming to Jesus was to trap him and to bring about his condemnation.
B.) These men also had neither interest nor concern for this woman.
ba.) She was only a means by which they might arrest Jesus and put Jesus to death.
bc.) While this woman had been caught in the very act of adultery; their desires had nothing to do with what was required by the law.
bca.) Their only desire was to put Jesus to death.
bcb.) If that meant to also put this woman to death that was no big deal; she was expendable in their pursuit of our Lord.
2.) There are several things wrong in this situation:
A.) Why is the man not there?
aa.) If she had been caught in the act of adultery the man would have also been present.
ab.) While it is true that adultery was a crime in Judaism punishable by death, that punishment was not for just the woman, but also for the man who had been involved in the sin.
aaa.) Why was the man not also brought before Jesus?
aab.) Is it possible that the man had been one of these religious leaders, and that as a group they had staged the entire thing to get to Jesus?
B.) Who witnessed this?
ba.) The law required that for someone to be put to death there had to be at least two witnesses.
bb.) This woman had been caught and yet there does not seem to be any witnesses present to testify to the act of sin.
C.) How is it that these witnesses were in her private bedroom to witness these things?
ca.) You see, there are so many things in this account of Scripture that just do not add up even with the requirements of the law.
II) JESUS WAS PRESENTED WITH A DILEMMA ON THE LAW.
1.) The real issue was not the law but setting a trap for Jesus.
A.) These men were not concerned with the issues of the law.
aa.) In fact, as I have just pointed out there were things in this case that did not go with the teachings of the law.
B.) These men cared nothing for the woman and saw her only as a pawn against Jesus.
2.) They thought they had a case in which however Jesus would answer they would succeed in trapping him.
A.) On the one hand Jesus could uphold the law of God.
aa.) Certainly, the law was strong in speaking not only against adultery, but also of any form of sexual immorality.
ab.) In fact the religious leaders were correct that the law dictated that those guilty of adultery were to be stoned to death.
aba.) Deuteronomy 22:22 “If a man is found lying with the wife of another man, both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman. So, you shall purge the evil from Israel.”
ac.) If Jesus was true to the law, these religious leaders believed Jesus would have no other recourse than to have this woman stoned to death for her sinfulness.
B.) But on the other hand, Jesus could uphold the law of the Romans.
ba.) By this time Israel was under the dominion of the Roman Empire.
bb.) Even though they were Jews, they now also had to be ruled by the laws of Rome.
bba.) The Jews had to have the permission of Rome to carry out the death penalty.
bbb.) Roman law viewed adultery as a crime, but not a capital offence, and therefore the Jews were not allowed to carry out the death penalty on those who were found guilty of this sin.
bbc.) A prime example of this is the case of Joseph and Mary.
.01) At that time this law of God was not being observed because of the dictates of Rome, and so divorce became the only other option.
C.) These Jewish leaders were certain there was no way Jesus could escape the trap they had set for him.
ca.) If Jesus upheld the law of God to have the woman stoned to death, they could report him to Rome for violating Roman law, and exercising power granted only to an official of Rome.
cd.) If on the other hand Jesus upheld Roman law, He would be rejected as a lawbreaker and held in contempt by all the Jewish people.
ce.) It seemed like the perfect trap. No matter what Jesus would say they felt they had him.
cf.) Yet even here Jesus showed the knowledge, and wisdom of God as superior to than man’s schemes and wisdom.
III) THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS THEMSELVES WERE FORCED TO MAKE THE DECISION.
1.) Jesus bent down and started writing in the dirt.
A.) This is the only time in all of Scripture the Bible records Jesus writing anything.
B.) The question is what did he write?
ba.) We are not told what Jesus wrote, though many have speculated on it.
baa.) Some feel that He may have written a verse of Scripture stating you needed to have two witnesses.
bab.) Perhaps it was something else that Jesus had written.
bac.) Knofel Staton felt he may have written the names of other women these men had themselves been with outside of their marriage believing that nobody knew of their own sinfulness.
.01) Whatever Jesus had written will remain unknown to us.
.02) Yet what we do know is that his writing gave them time to initially become more demanding in their judgment.
2.) Jesus answered them in a manner that upheld both the laws of God and Rome, while putting the decision that had to be made back on the accusers.
A.) John 8:7-8
B.) By these words Jesus put everything back in their own ballpark.
ba.) In so doing, he neither violated the Law of God, nor the laws of the Roman Empire.
C.) “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.”
ca.) The law stated that those who had witnessed sin had to cast the first stones.
cb.) At this point it is entirely probable there were not even actual witnesses present.
D.) John’s Gospel shows us that Jesus had successfully defused their attack and that one by one they went away.
da.) John also gives us an interesting bit of information.
daa.) John 8:9
dab.) For many years it puzzled me as to why the older men would be the first to leave.
.01) A few years ago I came to the place that I believe I have an answer to that question.
.02) Perhaps it is because I am now in the latter part of life that I have come to understand this better.
dac) A young man can stand up with a very cocky attitude feeling self-righteous because of having a comparative small amount of sin in his life.
dad.) An older man on the other hand has had more years to sin, and more for which he feels guilt, and is accountable before God.
dae.) A sixty-year-old man has three times as long on this earth to sin and violate the Word of God than a twenty-year-old man.
.01) It was therefore the older men in this account of Scripture whose hearts were most pricked by the words that Jesus had given to them.
E.) Jesus goes back to writing in the dirt seemingly oblivious to these men, and the fact that they are walking away.
ea.) John 8:9
IV) JESUS OFFERED DELIVERANCE AND FORGIVENESS TO THE WOMAN.
1.) Jesus did not deny her sin.
A.) John 8:10
B.) He knew the charges against this woman were true and that she had been an adulteress.
C.) Yet Jesus straightened up and just casually asked her: “Where are they; Has no one condemned you?”
ca.) These men who had tried to trap Jesus were caught in their own trap.
cb.) The charges against this woman had been dropped and there was nobody there to condemn her.
2.) Jesus himself could have condemned her but chose not to.
A.) Jesus was the only one of those who were gathered there who was without sin and could have justly stoned her to death.
aa.) Yet full of the love and mercy of God He took a different route.
aaa.) John 8:11a.
aab.) While Jesus had the authority to condemn her, He said that he would not condemn her either.
3.) Jesus gave her the opportunity to leave her sin, and to start a new life.
A.) John 8:11b.
B.) Jesus brought to that woman not condemnation, judgment, and death, but the love, grace, and mercy of God.
ba.) In this way Jesus brought to this woman just as He brings to all sinners who are willing to turn from their wickedness, an opportunity to start a new.
C.) Even in bringing the good news to this woman, Jesus commanded her to go and leave her life of sin, that he was giving her a second chance.
ca.) I want you to see something from this text.
caa.) When Jesus dealt with sin, he always confronted the sinner with their sin.
.01) Jesus never ignored, lessened, or excused sin in a person’s life.
cab.) After confronting a person in his or sin, Jesus would offer to the contrite and repentant a second or even a hundredth new chance, and forgiveness if he or she would turn from sin.
CONCLUSION:
1.) There are a few things I want us to take from this passage:
A.) This woman was a sinner.
aa.) This woman was condemned by the law, and worthy of death: both physical death, and also eternal death and damnation.
B.) Shocking as it might sound, we too are sinners.
ba.) Yes, I know that we are fine church-going people, and because of that sometimes we forget that we are sinners, and on our own are under the condemnation of God.
baa.) but we are all still sinners.
bb.) Sometimes like these religious leaders of old we feel we wear a halo, and others are sinners are evil.
bc.) Scripture says: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:23) and also that “the wages of sin is death.” (Rom. 6:23
bca.) We have no problem to see that this woman had fallen short of the glory of God.
bcb.) Can we also see that the wages of our own sin is also death?
bcc.) That could have been the end of that story for this woman; It could also be the end of the story for you or me.
bcd.) The final phrase of Romans 6:23 states: “the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
C.) That day this woman received the gift of God. Your sins may be different than those of this woman, but if you have never come to Christ, you are still dead and condemned in your sin as well.
ca.) Has Christ spoken to you this morning?
cb.) Are you convicted of your need to come to Christ?
cc.) Won’t you in faith come to Christ being obedient to the gospel in baptism for the forgiveness of your sins, and the indwelling gift of the Holy Spirit of God.
