March 5, 2000 John 8:1-11
“To stone or not to stone?”
INTRODUCTION
I hold in my hand something that strikes fear into the hearts of most people. [hold up a 10-40 tax form] The date on which everybody makes a mad dash to the post office to mail in their tax returns at the last minute is fast approaching. For some of you, this time of year is a good thing. You get a refund. I used to be among that group. I sat down to begin the process of doing our taxes the other day. It was discouraging. Between Tammy and me, we have 5 different W-2’s. Once I had gone through the process of putting in all the preliminary figures, I discovered that unless I can find some more deductions, we are going to end up owing between 15 and 16 hundred dollars. Tax time is not a pleasant time of the year for me.
Here recently, I have seen several ads on TV that talk about programs that are now available whereby persons can get forgiveness or at least reductions for past debts owed to the federal government from unpaid taxes. If you cannot pay the debt that you owe, they are apparently willing to forgive some of the debt, let you work out a payment plan for the remainder, and get a fresh start.
On a day in Jesus’ life, there was a woman who was brought to Jesus by the ruling authorities. This woman was a debtor. The debt that she owed was so high that there was no way that she could ever repay it. But the debt that she owed was not as a result of unpaid taxes. It was a result of unforgiven sin. The authorities wanted her to pay the ultimate price. They wanted to condemn her to death by stoning. But before they carried out their plans, they brought the woman to Jesus to see what He might have to say about the whole thing. What Jesus did on that day changed her life forever. It gave her a brand new start.
This morning, as we see the forgiveness that Jesus gave that woman on that day, I want you to examine yourself. You are present somewhere in this story. You may be like the woman – condemned by everyone but needing forgiveness. You may be like the Pharisees – self-righteous judges of others but unable to see your own need. But hopefully, by the time you leave today, you will recognize your need to be like Jesus – the one who gave forgiveness when condemnation was justified. Let’s read John 8:1-11.
1. Jesus’ forgiveness of my sin is not based on my innocence. “caught in the act”
Have you ever been caught in the act? Last Thanksgiving, Tammy and I were taking the kids to visit Tammy’s mom in Virginia. We were driving separate cars. It wasn’t because we were mad at each other. She was going to stay for a week, and I was only going to be able to stay for a couple of days. Everything went real well on our trip for the first hour or so. Ben was in my car, and Toria was in Tammy’s. About the time that we got into Summersville, I guess we were getting a little bored, so one of us pulled up beside the other going down the highway. The kids started making silly faces at one another, and Tammy and I were laughing at them and at one another. Maybe that’s why we didn’t notice that the speed limit had dropped from 65 to 50 and that our speedometers were both reading 60+. We didn’t notice these things, but the policeman sure did. We saw him and his buddy just as we got to the top of the hill, and my heart started to race as he pulled out. Tammy was just ahead of me, and he pulled in behind her and started his lights. Both cars pulled over to the side of the road. I also went over to the side of the road and pulled in about 50 feet behind the two of them. The policeman got out of his car, went to Tammy’s, asked her if I was with her, and then motioned me to pull my car on up. He then informed me that he caught Tammy doing 63mph and me doing 61mph. I could have argued with him, but there was no point in doing so. I was caught in the act. $234 later, we pulled back onto the highway and headed off to grandma’s. That’s the most expensive trip to grandma’s that I have ever taken.
Whenever you are caught in the act, there is no point in arguing. The evidence is there. The witnesses can testify to the fact of your guilt. There is no use trying to blame someone else. The guilt is yours, and you must deal with the consequences.
This woman was caught in the act. She was guilty of the crime. Her accusers were right. She didn’t put up any defense. The only thing that was left to be decided was what they were going to do about her guilt. What was her penalty going to be?
Since our legal system is not perfect, innocent people are sometimes put on trial for a crime that they did not commit. If everyone does their job well, the police, investigators and lawyers find evidence to support the claim of innocence. When the jury comes back, they pronounce a sentence of “Not guilty” because there is nothing that needs forgiving.
The Bible records that when it comes to guilt or innocence, all of us are guilty of sin. (Romans 3:23) From the time of Adam and Eve until today and on as long as the human race survives, every person that is born will be born a sinner. “All” doesn’t mean me and not you. And “all” doesn’t mean you and not me. “All” means everyone. The forgiveness that Jesus offers to us is not because of our innocence. It is in spite of our guilt. In fact, according to the Bible, admitting our guilt is a requirement to receiving God’s forgiveness. (I John 1:9)
2. Jesus’ forgiveness of my sin is not limited by the severity of my sin. “adultery”
This woman, who stood before Jesus and the crowd of her accusers, had just committed the act of adultery. The sin that she committed was a serious crime. It is not considered a serious crime in our day, but it was then. It was one of many crimes that carried the death penalty. It was ranked right along with murder, kidnapping, witchcraft, & offering human sacrifice.
Can you picture the scene there? Jesus is at the temple, and He was right in the middle of teaching a group of people who were gathered around Him. All of the sudden, Jesus is interrupted by the shouts of many men and the wailing of one woman. It would be comparable to a prostitute being dragged in here by a group of police right in the middle of the message. All that she wants to do is to crawl into a corner and hide. She’s half-clothed, and the clothes that she does have on are about to fall off. Her accusers didn’t even give her time to get fully dressed when they caught her. The last place that she wants to be is near the temple. She feels so ashamed and so guilty. They won’t even allow her to ball up on the floor. She is forced to stand in front of the crowd so that everyone can stare at her. There she is standing there for all to see her and the wickedness of the crime that she had committed. She knew what she had done. And she knew that it was a sin deserving of death. But what she did not yet know was that no matter how severe her sin was, Jesus could still forgive her. (Isa 1:18 NIV) "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. No matter how severe her sin was, and no matter how severe your sin might be, God’s grace and God’s forgiveness is always greater. Some people will not come to Jesus because they think that they have gone beyond the scope of God’s forgiveness. If God can forgive that woman, and if He can forgive those who put Jesus on the cross, and if He can forgive me, then He can forgive anyone. If you are alive, you are not outside the reach of God’s forgiveness.
Most of the people that I encounter though don’t have a problem with wondering whether or not God can forgive them. Their question is whether or not what they have done needs forgiving. In their own eyes and maybe in the eyes of others, they are good people. But the reason that they see themselves as good people is because they are comparing themselves with other people. “Compared to my neighbor or my brother or the guy I saw on the news, I’m doing pretty good. I’m here in church today, aren’t I.” Do you want to know what other sins were worthy of the death penalty? – striking or cursing parents, working on the Sabbath (that would be the equivalent to working on Sunday in today’s society), using God’s name as a cuss word, rebellion, & pre-marital sex among others. Jesus took it even further when He said that if you are angry with someone, then you are guilty of the sin of murder, and if you lust after a woman, then it is the same in God’s eyes as if you had already had sex with her. We might as well just line everyone up against the wall and call in the firing squad right now because we are all guilty.
If I match myself up against you, I might come out looking pretty good. But then again, I might come out looking pretty bad. It just depends on who I want to compare myself with. (2 Cor 10:12 NIV) We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise. But in His evaluation of me, God doesn’t compare me with other people. He compares me with Himself. Do you know the last part of Romans 3:23 – “. . . and fallen short of the glory of God.” That means that in comparison to God’s perfect holiness, I am a wicked sinner.
The woman that Jesus was facing that day – she didn’t need to be convinced of her sinfulness. She already recognized that. What she needed was to understand that God’s forgiveness was stronger than her sin.
3. Jesus’ forgiveness of my sin is not because He sets aside the requirements of the law. “in the law, Moses commanded . . .”
When Tammy and I were stopped by the police, I’m sure that when he checked our licenses, he discovered that neither Tammy or I have ever had a speeding ticket. Some officers of the law, having discovered that fact, would have sent us on our way with just a warning. He could have set aside the requirements of the law. He is allowed to do that. But not this guy. He prosecuted to the full extent of the law. I don’t blame him for that. If he is going to be just and fair, then he had to do exactly what the law required. Someone had to pay the fine that my ticket required, and he certainly wasn’t going to do it.
The Pharisees thought that they had Jesus in a position where there was no way that he could get out of a sticky mess. If Jesus set aside the requirements of the law, then they could arrest Jesus for blasphemy and turn the people against Him. If He went along with their plan and stoned the woman, then they could get Him in trouble with the Romans. At that time, the Romans were the only ones who had the right to carry out the death penalty. Jesus was between a rock and a hard place. From all appearances, Jesus had no choice but to do as the accusers suggested. The woman had sinned, and someone had to pay. How could Jesus do as He did and just forgive her? Who was going to pay her penalty? Did Jesus just excuse her sin and say, “Oh, I can tell that you are sorry for what you did, so just don’t do it anymore, and you will be okay.”? When you stand at the gate of heaven, is Jesus just going to excuse your sin. Is He going to say “I know that you really didn’t mean to go over the speed limit, and take advantage of other people, and treat people badly. I know that you feel really bad about the way that you lived your life on earth. So tell you what I’m gonna do – we’ll just pretend that all those things never happened, and I’ll set aside the penalty that you are supposed to bear.” Is that what is going on here? In another situation, Jesus had this to say about His attitude toward the law: (Mat 5:17 NIV) "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. So what’s going on here? How can Jesus be just and let her off the hook? The reason that Jesus could be just is because He took the penalty that she owed, and He placed it on Himself. A year or so after this woman’s encounter with Jesus, Jesus hung on a cross. One of the sins that He paid for as He hung there was this woman’s act of adultery.
When Jesus offers forgiveness to us, the only reason that He can do so is because the penalty that we owed has already been paid. It was paid by Him. Every lie that you have said, every hateful word that has come out of your mouth, every unkind thought that you have ever held onto, every look of jealousy and envy, every lustful thought – every sin makes you guilty before God. But every one of those sins was placed on Jesus, and He paid for each and every one with His own blood. (1 Pet 2:24 NIV) He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.
Jesus didn’t set aside the penalty that that woman owed. He paid the penalty Himself.
4. Jesus’ forgiveness of my sin is the only thing that stands between me and death. “stone”
That woman had no one standing with her on that day. The law was against her because of her crime. The crowd was against her because they wanted to destroy Jesus. She was getting ready to face death by stoning. In verse 7, Jesus talks about casting the first stone. There was a particular way that stoning happened in biblical days. The persons who were the witnesses that sealed the fate of the accused would be the ones who would use the first stone against the condemned. They would take a large stone [pick up a stone from off the platform] and use it to crush some vital portion of the person’s body – the chest cavity or the head. If the victim survived, then the rest of the crowd would join in with smaller stones until the person was dead. It was a very messy way to die. There was no one to stand between this woman and death – no one except Jesus.
The Bible records in Romans 6:23 that “the wages (or our just reward) for sin is death” What we deserve because of our sin is the same thing that that woman deserved because of her sin. We deserve death. But you say, “I don’t want to die! I want to live! I know what I’ll do – I’ll bribe the Judge. I’ll give Him something so that He will forgive my crime or at least reduce my sentence. Let’s see, what do I have that the Judge needs or wants? Well, that’s going to be a hard order to fill since the Judge is God which means that He doesn’t need anything, and anything that He wants, he can make for Himself. I guess that I haven’t got anything that I can bribe God with. What other means do I have to satisfy the Judge?” “. . . but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
There was not one thing that that woman could do to get herself out of the mess that she was in. There was no one that she could turn to. Everyone was against her. There was only one person that she could look to for help, and He was the only way that she was going to find deliverance. That one person, and the only way, was Jesus. (John 14:6) He was the only thing that stood between her and death.
Do you understand that this is true for you and for me as well? Your parents don’t stand between you and death. Your spouse doesn’t stand between you and death. Your money doesn’t stand between you and death. Your church attendance doesn’t stand between you and death. Your self-righteousness doesn’t stand between you and death. The only thing that stands between you and eternal death in hell is Jesus Christ and the forgiveness that He provides through His death on the cross.
5. Jesus’ forgiveness of my sin is evidence of His concern for me as an individual. “using this question as a trap”
When I was growing up, my brother and I used to play chess. In all the times that we played, I think I only beat him once. And I think that the only reason that I beat him that time was because He felt sorry for me. My problem was that I was never really able to anticipate his moves. If you’ve ever played chess or been around anyone who has, then you know that the board is filled with different characters each having different abilities. Some of the more powerful pieces are the rooks and the knights. The rooks move in a straight line, backwards and forwards or side to side. The knights move in a diagonal line. Both can move as many spaces as they want so long as there is no obstacle in their pathway. The most valuable player on the board is the queen. She can move in any direction as many places as are vacant. Most chess players would sacrifice any other player before they would sacrifice the queen. On the other end of the scale, the first row of players on both sides of the board are called “pawns”. They are not very valued players because of the fact that they are very limited in what they can do. They can only move one space at a time, but you had to get them out of the way in order for the big guys to have space to work. Their only real value was in drawing the other guy’s players out so that you could get them in a trap. No one minded very much when one of your pawns got killed. It was no great loss.
Look at verse 6 of this passage. It says that [read verse]. These leaders were pretending to be such defenders of the law – such champions of justice. They didn’t care about the law. If they cared so much about the law, where was the man that this woman had been caught sleeping with? According to the law, both of them were supposed to die, not just the woman. They certainly didn’t care about her. In fact, some have suggested that she was set-up. They may have planned the whole situation and sent in a man to coax her to sleep with him just so that these Pharisees could have the opportunity that was now before them. Their purpose their was to destroy Jesus, and the only way they could do that was by destroying that woman.
Now contrast Jesus’ attitude toward her with the attitude of her accusers. Think of what Jesus had to lose by his attitude toward this woman. He had already been accused of being a drunkard and a friend to prostitute and tax-collectors. The more He championed people like this, the more people might start to question His own morals. If He hung around them, then surely He must participate in their sins. He risked the misunderstanding of the people. If He forgave her sin, then some might take that to mean that sin is not such a big deal. The only thing that He had to gain by forgiving that woman was her love. She was a pawn to the Pharisees, but to Jesus, she was a queen – worth defending and worth sacrificing everything in order to protect.
Do you know how valuable you are to Jesus? Do you know how much He loves you? (John 10:10-15 NIV) The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me-- just as the Father knows me and I know the Father--and I lay down my life for the sheep. He loves you – just a stupid sheep – so much that He was and still is willing to sacrifice everything for you. You are not a pawn on His chess-board or a star in His crown or a notch on His gun. You are special and treasured by Him. He made you. He died for you.
6. Jesus’ forgiveness of my sin is not because He is not qualified to condemn me for my sin. “without sin”
In response to the accusations made against this woman, Jesus did something kind of strange. Look at verse 6 [read 6b-8]. Instead of debating with them, instead of just walking away, He wrote something on the ground. The Bible doesn’t say what He wrote. At first, He may have just doodled with his finger on the ground, almost as if He was saying to them, “Make all the accusations that you want to. I’m not listening.” Some have suggested that He wrote the Ten Commandments on the ground as if to say “Yes, she has broken the 7th commandment, but how are you doing in keeping the other 9?” Maybe he wrote each of their names in the sand with a date beside those names as if to say, “Oh, you thought that the sin you committed was a secret, did you. I know about it. Do you want me to make it public before this crowd just as you are making this woman’s sin public?” In the middle of Jesus’ writing on the ground, He stood back up and made a statement. [read 7b] He said that the requirement for condemning another person for their sin is that the accuser be sinless. I can’t say with any certainty what Jesus wrote on the ground that day. But I know the effect that it had. [read vs 9] All of her accusers left because for one reason or another, each of them, from the oldest to the youngest was reminded of their own sin, and that because of their sin, they were worthy of death too. They were not qualified to condemn her.
If sinlessness is the requirement in order for someone to condemn you, then who is the only one who is qualified to condemn? Jesus. (Heb 4:15 NIV) For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. “Jesus, what gives you the right to judge me?” “without sin” But Jesus, you don’t know the temptations that I face.” tempted in every way, just as we are “Jesus, you don’t know my situation. You don’t know how rough life is for me.” we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses My friend, if you think that in your life, you have experienced any temptation that was greater than temptations Jesus faced, or if you think that you have experienced more pain than Jesus did, then you haven’t read your Bible lately. Jesus didn’t forgive this woman because He felt He was not righteous enough to condemn her. He simply made it plain that He was the only one who was righteous enough to condemn her.
When Jesus points at your life and mine, and He calls our actions, thoughts and words “sin”, we don’t have the right to rebel against His evaluation. He has that right because He is God and because He faced every obstacle that you and I have faced with the only difference being that He overcame them.
But the wonderful thing is this: even though He has every right to condemn us, that is not His desire.
7. Jesus’ forgiveness of my sin proves that His desire is to heal me not condemn me. “neither do I condemn you”
There they stood – the accused woman and Jesus. Nothing was left of the shouts and the angry words and those who had spoken them. The only evidence that they had ever been there was the rocks that were scattered on the ground all around them. Jesus had every right to pick up those stones and kill her Himself. But he did not do that. Look at what happened [read vs. 10-11a]. Jesus is holy and sinless. Here He is standing next to a woman who was drenched in sin. Why didn’t He condemn her? (John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. If God’s purpose was to condemn sinners, then why did Jesus come to earth and die? God’s purpose is not to condemn sinners. His purpose is to heal sinners. (2 Pet 3:9 NIV) The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (Isa 61:1-3a NIV) The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion-- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. Though we are sinners, deserving of eternal death in hell, that is not God’s desire for us. His desire is that we realize our sin, confess it to Him, receive Jesus as our Savior, and be healed to live a brand new life.
8. Jesus’ forgiveness of my sin does not give me permission to remain in my sin. “leave your life of sin”
Before Jesus and the woman parted ways on that day, He gave her only one piece of instruction. [read vs. 11b] He told her to stop doing what she had been doing that got her in this mess in the first place. Jesus wasn’t talking about sinless perfection. He was talking about repentance. “Stop making sin the habit of your life.” You see, in forgiving her that day, Jesus faced the danger that she and we would think that since forgiveness has already been achieved for us, then sin is no big deal, and I can always come to Jesus to get forgiveness after I’ve had my fun. “We’re forgiven! Now, let’s go party!” (Rom 6:1-2,15 NIV) What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? (15) What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Sin is a very big deal. It is such a big deal that Jesus had to give His life to pay the penalty for it. We aren’t required to be sinless before we can be forgiven. But once we have been forgiven, our goal and our all-consuming passion is to be live holy lives out of love for the one who gave so much for us.
CONCLUSION
The teachers of the law and the Pharisees were right about two things on that day. The payment for sin only comes through a death. Either you can pay for your sins with your own eternal death in hell, or you can accept the death of Jesus as payment for your sins. The second thing that they were right about is when you find a person trapped in sin, the only good thing that you can do is to take them to Jesus.
If you are here this morning, and you have already accepted Jesus as your savior and received his forgiveness, you may be having some trouble understanding how you should respond to this passage. Can I make a couple of suggestions?
First, let it be a reminder of what you have been forgiven. When we forget what we have been forgiven, we either fall back into it, or we lose our love for the one who forgave us.
Second, let it be a challenge to examine yourself. Are you living a life of sin right now? Is there something for which you need forgiveness? Is there something that you need to leave behind?
Third, let it be an example for the kind of forgiveness that we are supposed to give to one another and to those that are a part of our everyday life.
If you are not a Christian and have never received Jesus’ forgiveness for your sin, then the application to you should be clear. This is an invitation for you to receive forgiveness for your sin and cleansing from your guilt. No sin is too great to be forgiven, and no sin is to small to need forgiving.
