The Complicated Background
The Complicated Background The Biblical Text
Then each went to his own home. JOHN 7:53
But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. JOHN 8:1
At dawn He appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around Him, and He sat down to teach them. JOHN 8:2
The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group JOHN 8:3
and said to Jesus, Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. JOHN 8:4
In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do You say? JOHN 8:5
They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing Him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with His finger. JOHN 8:6
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. JOHN 8:7
Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. JOHN 8:8
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. JOHN 8:9
Jesus straightened up and asked her, Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? JOHN 8:10
No one, sir, she said. Then neither do I condemn you, Jesus declared. Go now and leave your life of sin. JOHN 8:11
People divide into two types: Not the guilty and the righteous, as many people think, but rather two different types of guilty people. There are guilty people who acknowledge their wrongs, and guilty ones who do not. PHILIP YANCEY
The Complicated Background The Religious Culture
If a man commits adultery with another man s wife with the wife of his neighbor both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death. LEVITICUS 20:10
If a man is found sleeping with another man s wife, both the man who slept with her and the woman must die. You must purge the evil from Israel. DEUTERONOMY 22:22
Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap Him in His words. M AT T H E W 2 2 : 1 5
They sent their disciples to Him along with the Herodians. Teacher, they said, we know You are a man of integrity and that You teach the way of God in accordance with the truth
You aren t swayed by men, because You pay no attention to who they are. M AT T H E W 2 2 : 1 6
Tell us then, what is Your opinion? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? M AT T H E W 2 2 : 1 7
But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap Me? M AT T H E W 2 2 : 1 8
Show me the coin used for paying the tax. They brought him a denarius, M AT T H E W 2 2 : 1 9
and He asked them, Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription? M AT T H E W 2 2 : 2 0
Caesar s, they replied. Then He said to them, Give to Caesar what is Caesar s, and to God what is God s. M AT T H E W 2 2 : 2 1
When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left Him and went away. M AT T H E W 2 2 : 2 2
The Pharisees see clearly the evil that is in others, but are blind to the evil in themselves. They fail to see that their own self-righteousness is sin. R. G.V. TA S K E R
The Scandalous Verdict
The Scandalous Verdict The Integrity of Jesus
Instead of passing judgment on the woman, Jesus passed judgment on the judges! WARREN WIERSBE
The Scandalous Verdict The Uniqueness of Jesus
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. JOHN 3:17
The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. JOHN 1:14
For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. JOHN 1:17
We must be condemned by the Law before we can be cleansed by God s grace. Law and grace do not compete with each other; they complement each other. There must be conviction before there can be conversion. WARREN WIERSBE
The Model Response
Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so He went to the Pharisee s house and reclined at the table. LUKE 7:36
When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee s house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, LUKE 7:37
and as she stood behind Him at His feet weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. LUKE 7:38
When the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, If this man were a prophet, He would know who is touching Him and what kind of woman she is that she is a sinner. LUKE 7:39
Jesus answered him, Simon, I have something to tell you. Tell me, teacher, he said. LUKE 7:40
Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. LUKE 7:41
Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more? LUKE 7:42
Simon replied, I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled. You have judged correctly, Jesus said. LUKE 7:43
Then He turned toward the woman and said to Simon, Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give Me any water for my feet, but she wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. LUKE 7:44
You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing My feet. LUKE 7:45
You did not put oil on My head, but she has poured perfume on My feet. LUKE 7:46
Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little. LUKE 7:47
Then Jesus said to her, Your sins are forgiven. LUKE 7:48
The other guests began to say among themselves, Who is this who even forgives sins? LUKE 7:49
Jesus said to the woman, Your faith has saved you; go in peace. LUKE 7:50
The Model Response Recognizing What He offers
We do God more honor by believing what He has said about himself and having the courage to come boldly to the throne of grace than by hiding in self-conscious humility among the trees of the garden. A.W. TOZER
The Model Response Receiving Who He Is
The grace is not just that the stones were dropped; it s that the stones were thrown at Him. Jesus takes the stoning that we each deserved. ZAC HESS
The world can do almost anything as well as or better than the Church. You need not be a Christian to build houses, feed the hungry, or heal the sick. There is only one thing the world cannot do. It cannot offer grace. GORDON MACDONALD
To encounter Jesus is to be exposed for all you are and to reach out in embrace for all He is.