In John chapter 8 Jesus is at the Temple teaching. While He is teaching the scribes and Pharisees bring a woman to Him that was caught committing adultery. The word is such that they are saying, “We caught her in the very act of adultery.”
Every time I read this passage I have three thoughts:
One, how do you catch someone in the “very act” of adultery?
Two, how did they watch?
Third, where is the guy?
Well, this whole thing was a setup. The scribes and Pharisees wanted to create a situation where they could discredit Jesus and accuse Him of breaking the Law.
John 8:5
Now the Law of Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?
Why were they asking Jesus? They certainly didn’t see Jesus has having any kind of authority or even any certification as a Rabbi.
John 8:6 tells us. It says, “This they said to test Him, that they might have some charge to bring against Him.”
This was not about concern for the Law.
This was not about concern for right and wrong.
This was a plan to discredit Jesus in the eyes of the people.
The word test here means to put something or someone on trial.
The scribes and Pharisees were attempting to put Jesus on trial and have the people condemn Him.
The word test here is what Jesus says in Matthew 4:7 that we are not to do in relationship to God.
The scribes and Pharisee were making the same mistake here that we as Christians many times make - Trying to make Jesus do or say what we want Him to do or say.
When I was a much younger Christian I really thought I had this all figured out. I saw things in two colors: black and white. I saw things in one of two ways: right or wrong.
The white and the right was what I thought.
The black and the wrong was what anyone who disagreed with me thought.
There is black and white.
There is wrong and right.
White and right are what Jesus defines them as; and black and wrong are what Jesus defines them as. You and I don’t define them: Jesus does.
We are to yield our lives to Him and what He says. We are not to make others yield, but to yield ourselves.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is yielding our lives to the authority of God’s Word.
Jesus does a very interesting thing at this point. John 8:6 goes on to say, “Jesus bent down and wrote with His finger on the ground.”
I don’t know what Jesus wrote. Since we don’t know what Jesus wrote, it was not important.
John 8:7 says that the scribes and Pharisees continued to ask Him as He was bent over writing. Maybe Jesus was doing what I do when something really annoys me: I ignore it and hope it goes away.
In John 8:7 Jesus stands up and says, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”
Jesus was pointing out two huge truths with this statement.
First, we are all sinners.
Romans 3:23
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Sin is missing the mark. We fall short of hitting the target of God’s standard. So we have all sinned.
The fact that we have all sinned means we are All in the same boat.
I once heard the question asked, “Are we sinners because we sin or do we sin because we are sinners?”
The Answer: We sin because we are sinners. All of us.
I am grateful that I am a recovering sinner, but I still sin.
Second, there is no difference between sins. Sin is sin.
James 2:10-11
For the person who keeps all of the law except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws. For the same God who said, “You must not commit adultery,” also said, “You must not murder.” So if you murder someone but do not commit adultery, you have still broken the law.
That is one reason Jesus tells us not to judge someone else. People who have sinned don’t have the ability to judge other people who have sinned. Only the Sinless One can judge sin.
We also have to remember that sin is not just the outward act.
Matthew 5:27-28
You have heard that it was said, “You shall not commit adultery.” But I say to you that everyone who looks on a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Jesus says that our thoughts without ever acting on them are also sin if they violate God’s commands.
Wow, Jesus makes it very hard for us to claim we have never sinned.
Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls is allowing God to deal with our sin and fix us.
Jesus then continued to write on the ground.
John 8:9
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.
The scribes and Pharisees heard Jesus. They got the message. They left.
Jesus and the woman were left alone.
John 8:10
Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?
Jesus asks the woman where her accusers are.
Jesus asks if anyone is condemning her.
Jesus knew the answer to both these question. He knew that all the men who had sought to accuse her were gone. Jesus knew that no one was left to accuse her.
Why did Jesus ask?
In John 8:11 the woman says, “No one, Lord.”
Jesus knew that the woman needed to hear the truth in her own voice. She needed to declare that they were gone. He also knew that she needed to see the truth with her own eyes.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is believing that Jesus is who He says He is, that He can do what He says He can do, and that we are who He says we are.
Then Jesus says to the woman, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”
What an awesome statement and command.
Was the woman guilty? - YES!
Did Jesus have every right to condemn her? - YES!
So why doesn’t Jesus let this woman have it for her sin?
First, she refers to Jesus as Lord in verse 11.
That indicates that she acknowledged Jesus as having authority in her life as Lord. He then just had to command her to leave the life of sin she had been leading.
Jesus saw a brokenness in this woman and that allowed Him to show her compassion.
2 Corinthians 7:10
For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.
The purpose of Jesus pointing out our sins and bringing conviction is not to beat us down but to bring us to a point where we repent, leave the sin and turn back to Him.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is responding to godly conviction by acknowledging our sin, turning from it, and turning back to Jesus so that forgiveness and restoration can occur.
The bottom line for the reason that Jesus not condemning this woman is simply - HIS GRACE!
In God’s Grace Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls
Joe
No comments:
Post a Comment