Jesus in trouble in John 8
In John 8, Jesus rescues a woman who was dragged before Him, accused of sexual sin. Even though it takes two to tango, they only brought the woman.
The frenzied mob demands that He tell them His teaching/understanding of what the Bible says they should do.
The Law of Moses clearly says to stone such a person.
The crowd was bloodthirsty to carry that out, but they were even more interested in discrediting Jesus. It is a setup.
Will Jesus join in the stoning or deny the Scriptures?
It appears that He will have to do one or the other.
Either demand that they carry out the stoning before Him and the gathered crowd or deny what Moses clearly wrote.
But in His wisdom, He does neither. In his response, Jesus affirms the instruction from the Law of Moses.
The Old and New Testaments are very clear: Sin has always had and will always have a negative impact.
Sin is serious, and ultimately, it does have a devastating end - the bible says that all of our sin leads to death.
What was true of the woman is true for all of us. She is not the only one cowering from the negative impact of sin.
Romans 6:23a
For the wages of sin is death…
Knowing how very true this is, Jesus balances both justice and grace in this dusty showdown.
With a nod affirming the consequences for the woman’s action, stuff like this leads to moments like this: Jesus reveals what all her condemners missed.
In one simple instruction, Jesus levels the condemners with the one condemned, and they, too, are now breathing in the same dust as the terrified woman.
Here is how it played out.
John 8:7
They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!”
The ‘All right’ means go ahead and mead out the punishment - go ahead and stone her.
Those two words must have hung heavily in the air…especially for the woman awaiting the first harsh blow.
But they are followed by, “but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!”
These words hung heavier than the first and evidently landed with weight upon each man as they take them in.
Each man internally and quietly re-evaluates himself…
One by one, starting with the older and more self-aware men, they dropped their stones and walked away…each realizing they were not qualified to throw that first stone.
In their frenzy, they only saw the woman as a sinner who should be punished, but in Jesus’ challenge, they saw themselves in the same situation…each guilty of sin.
As the rabble-rousers leave, things quiet down, and now you can hear the terrified sobbing of the woman lying face down in the dirt, struggling to calm her breathing and come to grips with this turn of events…is she dreaming…
What happens next is even more stunning: Jesus, the Only One qualified to throw that first stone, talks to her.
That’s right, Jesus was the only One Who met His own qualification to hand out this due punishment.
The Bible tells us this about Jesus:
Hebrews 4:15 ESV
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Instead of throwing a stone and seeing another life wasted and devastated by sin’s evil result, Jesus offers a lifeline.
He says to the woman so that she might realize it herself, “Where are your accusers? Has no one condemned you?”
With the visceral realization that all of her accusers have walked away comes that grace-filled moment of looking up into Jesus’ eyes and answering:
John 8:11a NIV
“No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,"Jesus declared.
As significant as realizing Jesus was the only One qualified to throw the first stone is this equally amazing truth that Jesus is the only One qualified to judge her rightly.
One day He will…and not just her:
2 Corinthians 5:10
For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.
On this day, with all of her accusers silenced, Jesus offers her forgiveness and not condemnation.
Even though the accusations were true and the punishment, though harsh, was right, because of Jesus, this woman got a second chance.
What is important to remember is that this was not a free pass, not a let’s just let this one slide…not at all.
This was another perfect example of the Gospel and displays what Jesus came to do - namely, to save sinners, make them right before God, and set them free from sin.
The woman was guilty of her sin. But released as innocent.
The woman was condemned to die for her sin.
Yet that condemnation was pardoned, and she lived.
How is this the Gospel?
Because Jesus, the innocent, will soon be found guilty, not for His sin but for her sin and the world’s sin.
Jesus, the One no one could find fault with, will nonetheless be falsely accused, unjustly condemned, and wrongly sentenced to death upon the cross.
A similar crowd will demand His crucifixion.
This is the Good News. This is the Gospel.
This is what the Apostle Paul so earnestly wanted to preach to the people in Rome, to the educated and uneducated, to the civilized and uncivilized, and to the Jew, the Greek, and the Barbarian.
Paul knew this Gospel message could change anyone, anywhere, and anytime.
Romans 1:16-17
For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile. This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.
Paul knew the power of this message to transform lives.
Do you think the woman in John 8 was transformed because of that experience with Jesus that day?
Do you think her near-death experience in that dusty street led that woman to resolve to do something different with her life? I do. I believe Jesus transformed her life.
With His grace and with the instruction that followed.
John 8:11 NIV
“No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
Because that sin will lead you right back to this dusty mess.
Perhaps that woman went on to become a follower of Jesus and later heard those words of Paul read aloud in a house church gathering:
Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
I can imagine her grasping those words deeper than those around her and exclaiming, “Yes, it's like that!!! That is what I experienced that day that I met Jesus.”
“That is what I experienced when my life was changed forever. The day I became like a new person. Jesus changed me for the better now and for all eternity.”
Moments like these moments shouldn’t be missed; they are wake-up calls, direction-shifting, and life-changing moments.
They are moments of resolution and change, moments of true transformation.
But I do not think that she was the only one having that experience.
I can imagine the many men who walked away from that moment wrestling with their own wonder that they couldn’t throw the stone…
“Why couldn’t I throw it? I was so ready to stone that awful sinner caught in sin…Without Jesus’ soul-searching statement, I would have easily, quickly, and without hesitation thrown the stone. I felt more than qualified, and I felt right in doing so…
But hearing His invitation to throw the first stone with the qualification of being without sin…I was cut to the quick, and the weight of that stone grew heavier and heavier the longer I waited to drop it.”
No doubt the woman was greatly impacted that day.
I am just as confident that some of those who walked away that day also made some resolutions…
Some resolved to get to the reason they walked away and couldn’t throw the stone, and some likely still resolved to find another way to destroy Jesus.
Here it is, a New Year: A time for fresh starts.
I want to encourage you to take advantage of this new beginning to make some needed changes, evaluate where you are in your walk with Jesus, and consider who you are in John 8.
Someone quick to judge others and demand they do right, all the while knowing the wrong you’re doing?
Someone who has set themselves up against God, set out to prove Him wrong, evil, bad, and untrustworthy?
Someone trapped in behavior that keeps tangling you up and tripping you up as you try to move forward?
Someone who dropped your rock years ago, only to find it back in your hand, waiting to wound others with a good and harsh thumping upside the head.
Perhaps you are someone in need of forgiveness?
Or maybe someone, the only someone, who can rightly extend forgiveness to someone who doesn’t deserve it?
Who are you in this story of Jesus?
I want to encourage you to find yourself in this story and resolve to respond to Jesus…whatever that may mean.
Defining a Resolution (Dictionary.com)
res•o-lu-tion rezalooSHan noun
ORIGIN: late Middle English: from Latin resolutio (n-), from resolvere 'loosen, release' (see resolve).
6 The conversion of something abstract into another form: the gradual resolution of an uncertain feeling into a named emotion.
5 The smallest interval measurable by a scientific (optical) instrument: Today’s Televisions come with high resolution.
4 Chemistry: the process of reducing or separating something into its components.
3 The action of solving a problem, dispute, or contentious matter: They came to a peaceful resolution of all disputes.
2 The quality of being determined or resolute: he handled the last semester of college with great resolution and focus.
1 A firm decision to do or not to do something |
He or she has made a New Year's resolution.
A New Year’s resolution is a combination of them all
You take something abstract and define it; then, you make small but measurable changes that people can clearly see. Reducing behavior, good or bad, to the root cause helps see it as achievable. Adding the good or removing the bad takes consistent effort and action over time.
In this New Year, 2024, What is your intention, resolve, decision, aim, aspiration, design, purpose, commitment, and pledge to get done?
What is your promise, your commitment made, your resolution to yourself or others?
2024 offers us another gift together, another year together to follow Jesus wherever He takes us this year.
2024 offers us more opportunities to change the world with the power of the Gospel lived, shared, and experienced.
2024 offers us more gathering together, big and small, and chances to make those experiences welcoming
2024 offers us God’s grace and second, third, and fourth chances…to be transformed by the Gospel and to live our new life of faith for others to see and experience.
Whatever your resolution is or isn’t this year.
Whether you’ve already set, broken, or reset your resolution.
Resolve to give Jesus more of you this year and lean in to understand and know Him better.
To know the Holy Spirit better
To know and honor the Father better
To know His word better and to know this Gospel better…
The Good News
While the Gospel is Good News, it isn’t new news, and it isn’t Western news, and it isn’t today’s news.
It is the mysterious and ancient and timeless news of God, grounded in the history of the world since before creation, found in the lives of real historical figures.
Arriving to us through times of feasting and famine, times of heroic effort and cowardly defeat, times of popularity among the masses, and times of near irradiation, with only a remnant.
This year, I resolve that the Gospel will be faithfully preached from this pulpit each Sunday we gather…for like Paul…I know it has the Power of God to transform anyone’s life who hears and responds.
This year, I want us to be better grounded in our understanding of our history and His story throughout history.
This year, I want us to look back at the beginning of our faith to the Fathers, heroes, prophets, teachers, and storytellers of our faith.
We will do that first by looking to the Old Testament to find out more about Abraham, the Father of Faith.
In fact, in this very chapter, John 8, following the story of the woman we just met, the rest is debate and argument over Father Abraham.
You know, the father Abraham who had many and many sons had father Abraham, I am one of them, and so are you, so let's just get along…
If we don’t know Abraham, we won’t know the value of our faith. We may look at this argument in John 8 and then head into the Old Testament next week. I’ll give you a few soundbites.
John 8:18-19
“I am one witness, and my Father who sent me is the other.” “Where is your father?” they asked.
John 8: 33
“But we are descendants of Abraham,” they said. “We have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean, ‘You will be set free’?”
John 8:39
“Our father is Abraham!” they declared.
John 8:41
They replied, “We aren’t illegitimate children! God himself is our true Father.”
John 8:48
The people retorted, “You Samaritan devil! Didn’t we say all along that you were possessed by a demon?”
John 8:52-53
The people said, “Now we know you are possessed by a demon. Even Abraham and the prophets died, but you say, ‘Anyone who obeys my teaching will never die!’ Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?”
