June 19, 2016 AM Pastor Ken Hepner JOHN'S GOSPEL: JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD 28. "The Adulterous Woman" John 8:1-11 Introduction: Today we are looking at a story in the Gospel of John that gives us a tremendous picture of just how drastically different Jesus was from those who saw themselves as the teachers of the faith. The story is the woman taken in the act of adultery brought to Jesus at the Temple, and made to feel shame before all of the people who had gathered to worship the Lord that day. John is telling us a story that illustrates brilliantly for us the magnificent Mercy and Grace that people experienced in Jesus' life, teachings, and mission! Remember that John is writing to tell us the awe-inspiring truth that Jesus is the Son of God come from His Abba Father. Jesus is the Word of God who became flesh and dwelled in our midst. Jesus came into the world to rescue us from the clutches of Sin, Guilt, and Shame. He became one of us precisely to address once and for us all, the issue of sin, and to destroy the power of sin to enslave us to living a life of doing things that we don't really want to be doing, making us to feel guilty and hopeless to change our behaviors. Permit me to remind us all of the four basic truths that we have discovered as we have been studying the Gospel of John together: a.) Jesus is the Son of His Abba Father God, the Word of God from eternity, who became a human being. Son of God was His identity from eternity. When He speaks to His followers about being adopted sons and daughters of Abba Father, He does so from experiential knowledge as Son of God. b.) John tells us in the text why he wrote this testimony to Jesus. It is found in John 20:30, 31: "Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." c.) John refers to belief in Jesus twice in his purpose for writing the book: Believing in Jesus is crucial to John: that by believing you may have life in his name." In the Bible believing is not merely giving assent to a list of facts or truths I believe. In the Scriptures believing is totally entrusting myself to Jesus and it results in eternal life now, making me alive to the things of God! e.) John gives us the picture of Jesus relationship with His Father. He voluntarily submitted to His Father s will. It is one of John s major themes. John quotes Jesus as saying, I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of my Father who sent me. Jesus models for us what a human life that loves and pleases God looks 1
like. It chooses not to serve self-interest as a way of life. It puts the will of the Father God ahead of its own human will and desires! When we choose to follow Jesus in life, He Confronts our Self-Interest as He leads us to know Him more intimately. His will and desires confront our will and desires. The Scribes and Pharisees have had an ongoing feud with Jesus. They have been looking for something they could use to bring charges against Him because their minds were already made up about Him. They wanted Him dead. In the last chapter we saw the Sanhedrin order His arrest, to be brought before them for questioning. Their problem was that the people hung on Jesus' words. The people thought Jesus was a man of God, so popular opinion stood against their scheming. It was common practice to bring cases of immoral behavior to a spiritual teacher to have them decide what to do with the immoral person. So, they found a woman who was in the act of committing adultery and they brought her to Jesus to get Him to make a judgment in her case. They did it in the most public place they could think of: The Temple where hundreds of people were gathered to worship God and to hear Jesus teach on what it means to know and love God. They brought her in and forced her to appear on the floor of the temple in front of Jesus. Then they laid their trap, which they thought was foolproof. They were convinced they had Him in an ever-tightening vise or they would not have done this in such a public place. They confront Him with her case: This woman was found in the act of committing adultery. The Law of Moses states that she should be stoned to death, Jesus. What do you say? Here is the basis for their entrapment: 1.) If He said stone her He was putting Himself in opposition to Roman occupational law that said no one could be put to death without Roman approval. And He was ruining His reputation as a person who was merciful and compassionate toward people who were hurting. 2.) If He said don't stone her He was placing Himself in opposition to the Law of Moses, thus opening Himself to the charge of being a lawbreaker and encouraging immoral behaviors. As closely as I can tell, they were basing their charges on two laws in the Torah that addressed immoral behaviors of women. They may have been citing Leviticus 20:10, which addresses what, should be done to both the man and the woman who are found in an adulterous relationship. They are both to be put to death. Or they were citing Deuteronomy 22:21, 22 that addresses what is to be done to a girl who was betrothed to someone and was found to have been immoral with another man. She was to be stoned to death by the community. Whatever laws they are pointing to, they are absolutely convinced that they have finally cornered Jesus in a no-win situation. They are looking to Discredit Jesus in the Eyes of the People who loved Him. They put her before Him and pressed Him for His answer. What is remarkable about this event is this. In reality it says a whole lot more to us about the hearts of the Scribes and Pharisees who brought her to Jesus than it does about Jesus, or the woman taken in the act of adultery. Let's look in at the scene. 2
I. The Religious Leaders' Abuse of Spiritual Authority: John 8:2-6a "At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, 'Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?' They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him." Their concept of authority was that they saw themselves as experts in the Law. Matters concerning the Law of God being broken were taken to them for a decision. It was clear to everyone looking on that to these religious leaders their authority was characteristically critical and condemning toward people in general and those who had failed God's Law in specific. That their authority should be based in sympathy or compassion for those whom they were responsible to lead seemingly didn't cross their minds. That they should use their authority to reclaim the erring person or to find ways to mercifully draw the sinning person to God, to help people to have their wandering hearts cured wasn't even on their radar screen. They stood over people as grim-faced vigilantes of justice who spoke God's judgement into the lives of the broken and sinful. They are placing themselves in a position of moral and ethical superiority, and they think this qualifies them to judge her as worthy of death. This selfgratifying superiority caused them to major on unforgiving punishment and retribution for lawbreakers! Contrast them with the words of the great 18 th century revival preacher George Whitfield, as he watched a man go to the gallows to be hanged: "There, but for the grace of God, go I." The first duty of spiritual authority is to try to Understand the Force of the Temptation, which drove the sinner to sin. It is to attempt to understand with compassion and empathy, the frailty that dwells in the human heart tempted by the enemy and seduced by the allure of sin. No one should pass judgement on another human being until he has at least tried to understand what the erring person has gone through in life. The second duty of spiritual authority is to Seek to Reclaim the one who has Done the Wrong. Any authority, spiritual or otherwise, that drives a person further away from God and deeper into despair is wrong. The true function of godly authority is to attempt to turn the erring person into a repentant child of God. This incident shows us how cruelly these men treated people. This woman wasn't a person who had a family who loved her and raised her to do the right thing, a name that reflected who she was, feelings, or a life of pain. She was just a case of shameless adultery to be exploited for their use. They looked upon her only as a thing that they could use to try to entrap the man they considered to be their enemy. They were using her as a thing, a tool to find a way to accuse Jesus of wrongdoing. The truth is that it is unlikely that they even knew her name. 3
It is an incredible Wicked Thing to Depersonalize another human being. People must never be treated as a thing. It is always unchristian to regard someone as a case. To God we are all people with an individual footprint in life, character, experiences, and feelings that motivate us and move us. Have you ever noticed how much time and attention God's Word the Bible devotes to recording names of people? Jesus says in John 10 that He calls His sheep by name and leads us into the green pastures He has prepared for us. Our name spoken by God addresses us as persons who are valuable to Him, someone God cherishes from before the time of our birth, until the day we die. When we depersonalize another human being we deny the Lord Jesus who gave us spiritual life. We represent a God of love and mercy who has never treated people as things. The Lord our God always uses His authority to love people with a Goal of Redeeming and Reclaiming our lives and calling us to a life of godliness and goodness. II. The Essence of Religion: John 8:6b - 9 "But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, 'If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.' Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there." The Scribes and Pharisees who came with this woman and stood her before Jesus in the Temple had a basic belief that is at the heart of religion. The religious person believes that he/she can live such an exemplary life of obedience to God's laws and rules that they will earn God's favor and keep God's favor in their lives by their own goodness. The Focus of the Religious Life that confronted Jesus in the temple that day was their belief that God was blessed to have them on His team! Jesus took their no-win situation they placed Him in to put Him to the test and used it to call into question the Essence of their Belief System. He looked at them and challenged them with their own system of thought. It's as if Jesus said to them: "You guys think you are capable of earning and keeping God's favor by your own goodness do you?" Well then let's see how this thing works in real life. Jesus stooped down and began to write with His finger on the temple floor. I believe Jesus' heart was just broken and His emotions were flying around in His heart. He felt for the woman who was being publicly shamed and humiliated before a crowd of people. He felt such embarrassment and sorrow over these men who were supposed to represent the heart of God but were instead acting like self-confident and self-righteous sadists who held sinners in contempt. The word that is used in the text, for the words "Jesus wrote" is remarkable. The word for writing is the word graphein in the Greek. What John's Gospel records for us is that Jesus katagraphon. The word is a compound word meaning, "to write against." Whether or not Jesus was writing out, revealing their own sinful desires and thoughts before them on the floor of the Temple, is 4
open for debate. But the act of stooping down to write on the ground in silence, to the culture of the day, was an act of disdain and embarrassment! Evidently His testers thought His silence revealed that they had Him stumped and that He was unable to avoid the problem. They fired the questions at Him and kept on Him asking for an answer. They were missing the fact that He was answering them. "OK men, let's put your belief system to the test. The one of you who is morally clean, who has never had to deal with an unclean sexual thought or impulse in your heart and mind, you be the first one to throw a stone at this woman!" Jesus moved the focus from the Judicial to the Moral. He told her accusers to show how morally pure they were by executing the sentence the Law pronounced. The hypocrisy of the entire maneuver in bringing the woman to Jesus now stares them squarely in the face! They had eyes only for her sinfulness until they met Jesus. Jesus didn't judge these men. The Truth has Judged them. Now they were no longer looking at her sins; they were busy looking at the sinfulness that lurked in their own hearts! To their credit, the older men in the group were the first to leave the scene. They were advanced in years and they were honest enough to admit how utterly imperfect man's obedience to God's laws really is. They knew that they were not now, nor had they ever been, completely without sin and absolutely morally pure! III. The Lord Jesus' Actions Towards the Woman: John 8:10, 11 "Jesus straightened up and asked her, 'Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?' 'No one sir,' she said. 'Then neither do I condemn you,' Jesus declared, 'Go now and leave your life of sin." Two people are left standing before the crowd: A very unhappy, shamed woman and Jesus, the compassion of God in human form! St Augustine wrote this incredible line about this story: Misery stood before pity. Misery waited for pity to speak for perfect holiness and perfect mercy to do its will. Jesus was the only sinless man in the place so according to what Jesus said to her accusers; He was the only one who had the right to judge her, to place on her the condemnation her actions deserved to receive. He didn't pass any judgment on her whatsoever. Jesus didn t come into the world to condemn the world but to save. He didn t come to us to execute the crude judgments of people, but to heal and to reveal the heart of God to people like you and me, people who have fallen in life. The two of them had an incredible moment that was deeply personal and that cut straight to the heart issues that were in the woman's life. That is always the way it is when we experience Jesus dealing with us about something in our lives isn't it? He is deeply personal with us. It is always best for the Sinner and the Savior to be Alone Together! Jesus asked her where all of her accusers were. Had none of them condemned her to die by stoning her? 5
And her response was that no one stood in accusation of her; they all had left and she stood alone with Jesus. Jesus told her that He wouldn t be condemning her either. His answer to her doesn t condone what she has done, nor does He tell that her she is forgiven. He calls her to change her ways. The principle we can take away from watching Jesus in this instance is that our first emotion we should feel towards anyone who has made a grave mistake should be to feel sorrow, pity, and compassion. Most people already know that they have messed up. They generally don t need to be told again what they already know. What most people need to know, and don t yet know, is that with Jesus Failure Isn t Final. It is very important that we analyze just how Jesus did treat this woman who was so obviously guilty, yet who so desperately needs to find and experience God's mercy in her heart. Jesus didn't let her off the hook: "Oh it s OK, just forget about it and get on with life." Look at what He asked her to consider for her life: 1.) He offered her a Second Chance at living a life that isn't dominated by sin - cut out the sin, like a surgeon cuts cancer out of a human body. Don t let these sinful decision dominate your life any longer. Get something new and different in your heart so that when temptation comes calling you have inner resources to fight it off and win! 2.) He challenged her to Choose to live a Better Life than she had chosen up to that point in her life. He called her to be a woman whose heart was focused on how she could live a better life and be of help to others in their journey in life as well. Make better choices about how you will use your God-given allotment of time! 3.) He offered her Grace and Mercy when she expected to be condemned and judged. She knew that she was guilty before God and the human court of public opinion. She was filled with shame and completely embarrassed by what she was forced to do. She expected to receive more judgment from Jesus, but she was given grace and mercy to stop sinning and to start over again. 4.) He tells her that He Believes she can make Better Choices in the future. When the Lord Jesus offers to a person His grace and mercy, He is telling that person, I know you can make better choices in life than those that you have been making. None of us has to live as a prisoner to the enslavement of sin. None of us is helpless to overcome temptation s seduction to our fleshly and self-interested ways. We can all turn away from sin and turn towards Jesus, choosing to walk through life with Him. Truths to Take With You: Spiritual authority is given to people to show Compassion for people and to Reclaim those who have Fallen. The essence of religion is the belief that one can Earn and Keep God s favor through obedience. With Jesus failure isn t final. Jesus offered the woman a Second Chance to live apart from sin. 6
June 19, 2016 John s Gospel, Jesus is the Son of God: XXVIII. The Adulterous Woman" John 8:1 11 Introduction: This story illustrates the wonderful M and G people experienced when they came to Jesus. John wrote to show his readers how Jesus came into the world to rescue all of us from S, G, and S. We have been learning four basic truths from John s Gospel: Jesus is the Son of God from eternity, who came into the world! He alone enables us to experience spiritual adoption by the Father God. John tells us why he wrote: John 20:30 31. B Jesus is crucial to John. Jesus models for us a life that honors God. It puts the will of God ahead of its own will and desires. When we choose to come and follow Jesus, He C our S - I as He leads us to know Him more intimately! The religious leaders in Jerusalem were in an ongoing feud with Jesus. They wanted Him dead. In chapter 7, they sent to have Him arrested. At the time, in that culture, it was common to bring cases of immoral behavior to a spiritual teacher to have the teacher decide the punishment. They were convinced they had Jesus trapped. Here is the basis of their trap: They were looking for a way to D Jesus in the E of the P who loved Him! I. The Religious Leaders Abuse of Spiritual Authority: John 8:2 6a Their concept of A That they should use their authority to act in C for those they led didn t seem to cross their minds! They are superior, grim-faced vigilantes who spoke judgment on those already brokenhearted. Contrast their words with George Whitefield s words as he watched a man taken to the gallows: There but for the grace of God go I. 7
It is an incredibly W T to D another human being. God lists a lot of names in the Bible. Jesus says in John 10 that He calls each of us by name. That God knows and uses our name means that we are C! We represent a Lord Jesus who loves us. He uses His authority in our lives to love us, toward the goal of R and R us all. II. The Essence of Religion: John 8:6b 9 The F of R L that confronted Jesus in the temple that day! Jesus took their no-win situation used to test Him and used it to call into question the essence of their B S! The words Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground are remarkable! Jesus moved them from the J to the M Jesus didn t judge them. The T did! III. Jesus Actions Toward the Woman: John 8:10 11 St. Augustine wrote: Misery stood before pity. Misery waited for pity to speak for perfect holiness and perfect mercy to do its will! John tells us she was alone with Jesus. It is always best for the S and the S to be alone together! The principle we can take away from His interactions with this woman: Our first response to a broken life should be love, mercy, and pity, not judgment. With Jesus F isn t F! It is so important we carefully analyze what Jesus offered to this woman: 1. He offered her a S C at living a life that is not dominated by sin. 2. He challenged her to C to live a B L! 3. He offered her G and M. 4. He tells her that He believes she can make B C in the F! Sin doesn t have to dominate your life! 8
Discussion Starter Questions for Home Groups 1. In your opinion, why is believing Jesus such a big deal to John that He uses the term over 70 times in this Gospel? 2. Why do you think there was such hostility toward Jesus in those who were part of the religious establishment in Jerusalem? 3. Why do you think the religious leaders sought to trap Jesus? What were they trying to accomplish with this action against the woman? 4. What did you think when you heard the contrast between how the religious leaders viewed this woman and how George Whitefield viewed the condemned man? 5. What are your thoughts on how dehumanizing people contrasts with the way the Bible carefully protects the names of God s children? How does it feel to know that God knows your name? 6. When the religious leaders thought they had Jesus in a no-win situation, He turned the tables on them. What was He doing with His word about their sin? 7. What do you think of the principle: The first thing people living in brokenness should feel from us is compassion and mercy, not judgment? 8. Jesus offered the woman four specific things as they concluded their interaction. Which one(s) spoke most powerfully to you? Why? 9. Read together aloud Ephesians 2:1 10. Discuss insights you have regarding how we are all saved by grace as the gift of God. 10. From the message, what are some things that spoke to your heart regarding loving God, loving people, and seeking to help people to understand His grace and mercy for them? What are some things you want to think and pray about as you walk in love with some people you know who are broken by life? 9