Law or Grace?
Notes
Transcript
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.”
So what does our passage say about God?
2 main truths I want to focus on, He knows our hearts and that is what He cares about. Look at verse 6
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.
So if we could enter this scene and just be bystanders. This seems like a pretty simple question. The law of Moses is clear. Look with me at Leviticus 20 with me.
10 “If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
We come to our first clue that something is off here. Did you catch it? Let’s recap, verse 3, 4, and 5
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?”
Now let’s listen to Leviticus 20 again
10 “If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
Do you see the problem? Where is the man that she was caught committing adultery with? The scribes and pharisees were not bring this woman before Jesus because they were concerned with promoting righteousness among the Jewish people, remember verse 6?
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.
Let’s pause here and look at the test. What are they religious leaders trying to accomplish here? Jesus knows that they are trying to test Him. They are trying to put Him in a catch 22 that no matter what He says they can trap Him in His words and make an accusation against Him. Can you think of another example where they tried this?
15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words.
16 And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances.
17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”
18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites?
19 Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius.
20 And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?”
21 They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
22 When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away.
So what is the trap they are trying to catch Jesus in?
31 Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.” The Jews said to him, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death.”
Or they wanted Him to let her go and then accuse Him of violating the law. So did Jesus violate the law?
6 On the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses the one who is to die shall be put to death; a person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness.
7 The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
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.
What does this passage say about man?
9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?
This truth is very evident in this passage isn’t it? The religious leaders are so deceived they can’t even recognize the God they are professing to love and serve when He is standing right in front of them. Why? Why is that?
9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?
Their hearts are deceitful and desperately sick so they can’t even see the truth. Listen to how Jesus describes following Him:
13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.
14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
So why is the way narrow and hard to find? Our hearts are deceitful. The path is narrow and there is a ditch on each side of the road and we need to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal our hearts this morning because we are all susceptible to deceitful hearts. The One ditch os self-righteousness. That is what we see in the hearts of the religious leaders in this passage isn’t it?
They were using this woman as a pawn. They weren’t seeking justice or trying to live righteously, they were trying to trap Jesus. How do we detect this same self-righteous attitude in our own hearts? Are you judgemental of others?
What hope do we have from this passage? Verse 11
11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”
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