Woman in Adultery
Notes
Transcript
Jesus and Our Sin
Jesus and Our Sin
Last week we discussed how divisions can happen
seeking our will and not the Will of the Lord.
To accept that Facts are not always Truth
and Truth is the Lord Jesus, His Word, What He said and is --- Is Truth.
Interesting that after all the stated divisions,
the Lovers who accepted Jesus as the Christ
the Haters who plotted to kill Him
and the Fence sitters who were varied from accepting Jesus as a Prophet to those likely rooting for the Pharisees intent.
Jesus is still teaching with no alteration of God’s Plan and the obedience to His Will along is evident.
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So we open today with an interesting set of Scripture
in fact in most of your Bibles you will notice something interesting
Chapter 8 starts with a verse number 53, not verse 1
that is actually considered Chapter 7 verse 53
but you will also see noted that
the earliest manuscripts do not include 7:53 - 8:11
the ESV notes it, the NIV will have lines separating it from the rest of the text.
what does that mean?
Well mostly it means that I need to inform you of that fact of Scripture
i am not going to risk creating any division or useless discussion
I simply feel academically responsible to point it out.
It does appear to be added to me as the syntax of the narrative changes
If these verses are not present that it would appear that 7:52 would flow to 8:12 as the same situation.
but with these verses insert it changes the narrative to separate situations
But keep in mind John 21:25
John 21:25 (ESV)
25 Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.
so know that there is debate,
but also remember that the complete Bible
every word, mark, etc is God Breathed
2 Timothy 3:16 (ESV)
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
Lets read our verses for today
John 7:53–8:11 (ESV)
53 They went each to his own house,
1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them.
3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst
4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery.
5 Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?”
6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.
7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”
8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground.
9 But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.
10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”
Testing and Godly Response
Testing and Godly Response
There a few steps in verses that i want to make evident.
The Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees are seeking to trap Jesus
in fact it was Roman Law that no one but the Roman could order a death sentence and carry it out.
They thought they had a plan. Jesus says STONE her and he violates Roman law, and if He says NOT TO STONE then He violates Jewish Law
Jesus is not able to be tricked, so we study his actions
They wait to Jesus is in a public setting and He is teaching them
Now they drop the trap
The woman is alone. Where is the man?
Adultery cannot happen in isolation
This is not about the adultery
It is about trapping Jesus
they are seeking to create a dilemma for Jesus
to chose Roman Law or the Jewish LAW
They are likely seeking to make him a hypocrite to His own teachings
Lets look at the likely “violation”
Deuteronomy 22:23–24 (ESV)
23 “If there is a betrothed virgin, and a man meets her in the city and lies with her,
24 then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones, the young woman because she did not cry for help though she was in the city, and the man because he violated his neighbor’s wife. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
There are a few items in this command that we do not know as fact and others that are missing.
We don’t know for Truth that this woman is a betrothed virgin.
We honestly don’t even have evident that she layed with anyone, it is entirely possible that is a set up also
Where is the man?
It says SHE WAS CAUGHT in the ACT
They BRING HERE into the MIDST OF JESUS meeting.
The SHOCK value was there for SURE
Then the command says you need to bring them both, yet we only know of the woman there.
How should we respond Today?
How should we respond Today?
In the days of the LAW, as we see here, the LAW was interpreted by man.
Man has a tendency to sin, and therefore a tendency to twist God’s Commands.
We are looking at verses that show the proposed use
of man to convict, condemn, and control
Yet as Christian we must be about
GRACE, REPENTANCE, and RESTORATION
so HOW SHOULD WE RESPOND to OTHERS?
the easy answer is always
EXACTLY THE WAY THAT JESUS DID
i say it to you often.
We need to learn and study what Jesus DID, so that we can follow
the WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?
WWJD
Above all HE DID.....
Romans 5:8 (ESV)
8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
A good perceptive to keep in mind.
IF Someone sins against you, would you DIE FOR THEM?
Likely NOT!
so a tough question to ask from these verses is...
When confronted are you like Jesus or like the Teachers of the LAW?
Do you seek a pound of flesh or an ounce of GRACE?
[PAUSE]
Modeling Jesus
Modeling Jesus
lets look at the first part of the question
What did Jesus do, so that we know What would Jesus do
Look at verse 6
John 8:6 (ESV)
6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.
Jesus Paused
I would suggest that Jesus bent down and prayed
and on the Ground..... i don’t know what He wrote.
and neither does any one else for it is not in the Scripture
many experts over the years have though He may have written
Jeremiah 17:13 (ESV)
13 O Lord, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you shall be put to shame; those who turn away from you shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living water.
or maybe
Exodus 23:1 (ESV)
1 “You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with a wicked man to be a malicious witness.
Jesus is the WORD, so it is totally understandable that he used the Word for this purpose.
So then it is important to look at WHAT WE DO KNOW.
He bent down, and wrote on the ground.
Jesus Pause, Prayed, Pondered
Before he Proceeded
Jesus actions prior to speaking are important.
He then speaks ....
John 8:7 (ESV)
7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”
Let Him who is without sin....throw the first stone.
Jesus did not say WHO IS WITHOUT THIS SIN
BUT WHO IS WITH OUT SIN
GREAT PIECE OF WISDOM FOR US.
Jesus in WISDOM caused the deceivers
the deceitful to PAUSE and PONDER
In a non aggressive action Jesus leads them to think again about what they are doing.
What happens?
They start to walk away one at a time.
the Older ones --- possibly the wiser ones
walk away
and then Jesus has His moment
to Glorify God, by Growing Others
Growing through Grace
Growing through Grace
John 8:10–11 (ESV)
10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”
This is the first time that Jesus speaks to the accused.
I understand and teach that Jesus knows all at all times,
but it is important to note that he didn’t ask her if she was guilty.
Jesus didn’t seek any verification of Gossip
or try to sort out Facts from Truth
He simply asks where are you accusers, where are those who sought to condemn you
She is little confused and this is coming off a high emotional jolt of
being stoned to death.
In the height of the scene, i imagine she was broken, crying, she was broken.
Jesus comes to her
and asks her to look up
look around
There are no more false witnesses
and then Jesus gives the Words that Flow with grace and love
Go now and leave your life of sin.
We are to season our Words in our Daily Walk
we are to have our words flow with grace and love
Salvation
Salvation
Jesus is always about salvation
He came to earth to offer Salvation
He came to teach the way to Salvation
He came to open the way for our Salvation
and the model we see is not a weak wimpy man looking to be stepped on by others
Strength — True strength is shown in control.
Jesus demonstrated for us in these verses
People will attempt to trick us
and they will use others to do so
OUR response must be like Jesus
to Pause and Prayer to God the Father
to Ponder in our own way of writing in the sand
and the way we treat others must be in the way that Jesus modelled.
We call out evil with God’s wisdom
we love the sinner
we love the offended
and we do NOT CONDEMN them
we simply remind them to leave there life of SIN
May we live our lives differently
May we learn to Pause, and Pray and Ponder and then proceed
May our actions and words flow with GRACE and Love
Lets Pray