"tarnished Halos, Rock Throwers, And The Amazing Grace Of God" Series

“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.