Before we sing the last hymn
together, I want you to turn with me to John chapter eight,
if you would please. John chapter eight. I want you
to look at the last verse in John chapter seven, but John chapter eight will get
you close. Verse 53 of John 7 says, and
every man went unto his own house. Jesus went unto the Mount of
Olives. And early in the morning, he
came again into the temple and all the people came unto him
and he sat down and he taught them "'And the scribes and Pharisees
brought unto him "'a woman taken in adultery. "'And when they
had set her in the midst, "'they said unto him, Master, "'this
woman was taken in adultery in the very act. "'Now Moses and
the law commanded us "'that such should be stoned. "'But what
sayest thou?' "'This,' they said, tempting him, that they might
have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down and with
his finger wrote on the ground as though he heard them not.
So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself and
he said unto them, he that is without sin among you, let him
cast a stone at her. And again, he stooped down and
wrote on the ground. And they which heard it being
convicted by their own conscience went out one by one, beginning
at the eldest, even unto the last. And Jesus was left alone
and the woman standing in the midst. And when Jesus had lifted
up himself and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, woman,
where are those thine accusers? Had no man condemned thee? And
she said, no man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, neither
do I condemn thee, go and sin no more. May the Lord be pleased
to add his blessings to the reading of his word. Good morning. I invite your attention
to John's gospel chapter eight, God willing, we will look at
verses one through 11 and consider the subject of Jesus
saves an adulteress. We will attempt to expound the
passage and then make some applications regarding you and me toward the
end of it. And I express my appreciation
for The invitation to be here with you this morning and to
be in this pulpit, we are blessed to worship with you. We go back,
I believe, to 1984. At least some of us do. And it's
been a sweet relationship. And we're just delighted to be
here with you this day. The passage was read to us just
a moment ago. And I believe that you will agree
with me that this passage beautifully shows the character of Jesus
Christ in saving and not condemning even the lowest sort of a sinner. That's good news for me. He says,
I do not condemn you, go and sin no more. And he said that
to a harlot, an adulteress. This passage has an interesting
connection to the preceding passage. If you look in chapter seven,
verse 32, the police had been sent to arrest Jesus. The authorities,
the Jewish authorities, the religious authorities, had sent officers,
soldiers, to arrest Jesus and to do it in a public place. They
wanted to discredit him. The officers returned empty-handed
and The Sanhedrin said, we sent you to arrest this man. Why you
come back empty handed? And they said, no one ever spoke
like this man before. So that scheme to discredit Jesus
had failed. And so here, they decide that
they will confront him themselves, the legal authorities. the members
of the Sanhedrin. The officers will not bring him
in. We'll find a way to bring him
in. And we will embarrass and humiliate him publicly. And so
they have come to see if they can do that in the sight of all
the people there in the area of the temple. This passage also
has an interesting connection to the following passage. Look
in chapter eight, verse 12, where Jesus says to us, I am the light of the world.
He had just dealt with a woman who was deep in adultery, in
darkness of sin. And here Jesus says, neither
do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more. I am the
light of the world. Now, I make these connections
between the preceding passage and the following passage because
if you'll read the commentaries, the commentators will tell you
this passage does not belong in the scriptures. John 8, 1
through 11 does not belong in the scriptures. ancient church
fathers conjectured that evidently somebody jerked it out of the
scriptures when they read Jesus saying to an adulteress, I do
not condemn you. And I thought, well, that's going
to give some fallen women a reason or a license to continue on in
their sin. Well, of course it does not.
Read the next line. Go and sin no more. This is no
license to adultery, but nevertheless, you will read that many of the
scholars, the commentators say that this passage does not belong
in the scriptures. Well, it most certainly does
belong in the scriptures. It is a beautiful passage and
a glorious passage describing the condescending nature of our
Lord, and I use that term in a most respectful manner. his
condescension to even the lowest sorts of sinners, not condemning
them and saving them. And that certainly belongs in
the scriptures, does it not? Well, let's consider seven aspects
of our passage here before us. Number one, Jesus was confronted
by his foes. John 8, verse three. Then the scribes and Pharisees
brought to him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had
set her in the midst, they said to him, teacher, master, the
word means teacher, this woman was caught in adultery in the
very act. Now Moses and the law commanded
us Such should be stoned, but what do you say? This they said,
testing him that they might have something of which to accuse
him. I want you to notice three things
concerning his foes. They were leaders in religion,
they were discriminatory in a bad sense of the term, and they were
wily, cunning. Consider first that they were
leaders in religion. They're the scribes and the Pharisees. That word scribe will come from
the word which has to do with writing something. A scribe wrote
things. He wrote the scriptures. They
did not have printing presses in those days. If there was to
be a copy of the scriptures, someone had to inscribe them.
That was the duty of the scribe. Since they spent their time writing
the scriptures, they were authorities on the law. If you wanted to
know what the law meant, what it said, go to the scribe or
go to the Pharisee. The Pharisee was the religious
and the political conservative of his day. Paul says, I was
of the strictest sect of the Jews. I was a Pharisee. These
two were bosom buddies, scribes and Pharisees, almost synonymous,
not exactly alike, but they are so closely related that when
Jesus spoke of them in Matthew 23, eight times, he says, scribes,
Pharisees. and then he will say hypocrite
or brood of Bibles. But they're always together,
the scribes and the Pharisees. These were the religious leaders
of the people. They were members of the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was the council
of 70 elders and mainly scribes and Pharisees, ultra-conservative
and authorities in the law. Well, they have come to Jesus
and we should here consider that Jesus's most ardent foes were
religious leaders. The common people heard him gladly.
We read in verse number two. The common people came to listen
to him. The Romans ignored him until
the Sanhedrin late in Jesus's ministry forced Pilate's hand
to prosecute Jesus Christ. The common people listened to
him, the Romans ignored him, but the scribes and Pharisees,
the religious leaders, they hated Jesus. We should here not be
surprised that legalists and pharisaical people are usually
the foremost enemies of the Lord's church today. It's not so much
wicked people out in the world, it's religious people. who were
so opposed to the church of Jesus Christ and his ministers. And
then considered that they were discriminatory, in a bad sense
of the term, they brought to him a woman caught in the act
of adultery. But folks, what do we say, it
takes two to tango? Takes two to do what this woman
was doing. How come there's only one brought?
Where's the man? They had to be a man involved.
Where is he? They let him go. Let him go. Teacher, we caught this woman
in the act of adultery in the very act. How did they know when
she was going to be involved in that act? Who was telling them about her?
Why did they let the man go? One thing you will usually observe
about man-made religion, it is usually quite discriminatory,
particularly against women or against this skin color or that
or this social class or that caste. That's one of the hallmarks
of man-made religion. It's usually discriminatory.
They may talk about how equal they are, but religion is usually
quite discriminatory. These folks were. And they were
wily. They did not deal with this woman
according to their law. Their law was very strict as
to how she should have been dealt with, but they should have taken
her right then to the court of law, but they did not do so.
You have to wonder if they staged the whole incident with her in
the very act so that they could drag her out of her bed into
the presence of Jesus when he's in a public place teaching people
and try to humiliate him publicly. Teacher, look, look! We got her
in the very act! We caught this woman in the act
of adultery, in the very act! Now, Moses, in our law, he said,
she should be stoned. But what do you say? You can
hear the cogs in their minds running. We got him on the horns
of a dilemma this time, folks. We got him this time. If he says yes or no, we got
him either way. Teacher, should she be stoned? If Jesus says no, they say, you
see, folks, he's against the law, the law of our nation. He's against it. This woman was
caught in adultery and he does not think she should be stoned.
Thank God. Or if he says yes, then they're
going to stone her. Bring the Roman soldiers in and
say, Jesus started it. Now they got him. Either way
he answers, they've got him. Oh, they're wily. Listen, brothers
and sisters, be careful of the questions religious people ask,
oftentimes trying to set you up. Be very careful. Religious
leaders are usually very wily. People in false religion very
wildly looking for the kinds of questions that they can use
to confuse you. Be on your guard like Jesus was. Second, consider that Jesus ignored
his foes. Verse six, latter part. Remember
that Jesus was sitting. He usually was in that posture
when he taught people. He was sitting. He sat down to
teach the people. He has now been confronted by
his foes and he just ignored them. Listen, but Jesus stooped
down and wrote on the ground with his finger as though he
did not hear them. Emphasis on these words, as though
he did not hear them. He did not stand from his chair. He was sitting. He is sitting. They bring the woman caught in
the doorway. They put her down in front of
him and ask him a question. And what does he do? He just
gets down and starts writing on the ground or perhaps probably
in the dust of the pavement there in the temple porch. He stooped
down. as though he did not hear them.
He did not even rise to face them. He stooped down and away
from them. He did not verbally answer their
question. He just wrote with his finger
on the ground. Now much needless conjecture
has been made as to what he wrote. Some say we think he wrote the
name of the person who was with this woman or the names of the
others. Maybe he wrote some passage of
the scripture or the law concerning the situation. Maybe he wrote
this or maybe he wrote that. Scriptures do not say. Scriptures
do not say. Scriptures only emphasize this. He wrote on the ground as though
he did not hear them. He was completely ignoring them. I will not be surprised when
we reach glory and ask the Lord, Lord, what did you write on the
ground that day? I will not be surprised if he
says, I was doodling. That's what you do when you're
ignoring somebody. You're just, whatever it was he wrote, he
was letting them know, I'm ignoring you. You're not that important,
are you? I am ignoring you as though he
did not hear them. Here's a good lesson for you
and me. When people come with stupid questions, ignore them. It's what Jesus did. That is
really what sets them off. They want you to argue. I heard
a man one time who said, I love to debate. Bring up any subject. You take the pro, I'll take the
con. You take the con, I'll take the
pro. And he was a very religious man. He just loved to argue.
He would argue any position just so he could argue. Jesus did
not. He just said, I'm ignoring you.
You're not that important. That's a good lesson for you
and me to learn. Some issues are just not worth addressing,
folks. Jesus says so in this instance. Number three, Jesus's foes persisted
in their craftiness. Verse seven, they continued asking
him whatever it was that he wrote, they were unimpressed. It made
no difference to them. They continue asking him, teacher,
we asked you a question. Should she be stoned or should
we let her go? They continued asking him the
question and he keeps writhing in the dust, whatever it is that
he was writing. Learn this lesson. Our religious foes will be persistent. Thoroughly persistent. It's usually
not just one attempt. They're going to try repeatedly.
Jesus's foes did. Number four, consider that Jesus
confounded his foes in verse number seven. Finally, Jesus
stood up and said to them, he who is without sin among you,
let him throw a stone at her first. And again, he stooped
down. and wrote on the ground. Then
those who heard it being convicted by their conscience went out
one by one, beginning with the oldest, even to the last, and
Jesus was left alone and the woman standing in the midst.
He had confounded them, and he did it with but a word. Oh, but
what a word. He finally faced his foes. He
had not faced them thus far. They came to him. He was teaching. They asked him the question.
He stooped down. He wrote whatever. And he stood up and he said,
whichever of you is faultless, let him cast the first stone
and then went back down to rotting in the dust. That's all he said. He answered his foes. He had
said enough. He exposed their hypocrisy with
that statement. He who is without fault, let
him throw the stone at her first. He did not side with them. He did not side with the woman.
He just simply said, he who is without fault, let him be the
first to throw the stone. He did not question the law that
had been broken. He did not even question if the
law had been broken. He simply said, he who is without
fault, let the perfect man cast the stone. Let the perfect man
cast the stone. He finally answered his foes,
and then, having said that one statement, went back down to
rotting in the dust. Jesus here turned the law against
his foes. They had brought that woman in
here to use her as a club against Jesus. They had come with the
law, and he turned the law right back upon them. They were convicted,
not only by the sentence spoken from his lips, but also by the
sentence pronounced by God in their own conscience. Notice,
in their conscience. Jesus spoke a sentence, and then
God gave the sentence, right there in their conscience. And
then he was deserted by his foes. The oldest leaving first. The
oldest leaving first. Why would the oldest leave first? Well, for one, he's the guiltiest.
The longer you live, the guiltier you become. He's also probably
the wisest. He has thought through the situation
quite well. Let's see. Shall I pick up a
stone? If I do, then I'm letting everybody
here think that I have never sinned. Do I really want to do
that? No. I think I'll just kind of
back out of here. The oldest one left. And then the next one said, if the old wise man's not going
to pick up a stone, neither will I. And he just kind of backs
away as well. They go off. Finally, there's
no one left but the young fellers. Yeah, those were full of energy, really wanting to throw that
stone. And they look around like, hey, where are all the old men? Where's the teachers? They're
gone. I think we better back out of
this too. And finally they're gone. Now, listen. Jesus has not been watching this.
He has been writing down here the whole time. He does not watch them leave.
We have no record he saw them leave. He is writing in the dust
or on the ground. And finally, he looks up when
they're gone. And he asked this woman, where
are your accusers? They are convicted one by one.
And they are gone, publicly embarrassed, thoroughly humiliated. Leaving
no one there but Jesus and the adulterous in the midst of the
onlookers Let us here note that this is the only instance in
the scriptures where we read that Jesus wrote anything And we do not even know what
he wrote He preached we know what he preached
He taught, we know what he taught. He healed, we know whom he healed. Only once do we read that the
Son of Man wrote and we do not even know what he wrote. As I said, may have been merely
doodling. On the other hand, many men write
voluminously not knowing of what they speak.
And well, their writing is just about doodling as well. But only
one instance where Jesus wrote. He wrote in the ground, the wind's
gonna blow it away very directly. It's not gonna be there. Whatever
he wrote, it's gone. We do not know, we will not know,
unless he is pleased to reveal to us in glory what it is he
wrote. The only time he ever wrote. Number five, the adulteress made
a good confession. Verses 10 and 11. When Jesus
had raised himself up and saw no one but the woman, he said
to her, woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one
condemned you? She said, no one, Lord. Now remember,
He had been looking down at the ground. He was not watching.
It appears that he did not even see the woman's accusers leaving. He merely gives them time to
vacate the premises. He has written. He gives them
time to leave. He looks around, stands up. Woman, where are your accusers? Is there
no one here to accuse you? He raised himself up and looked
around and saw them gone. Her reply to his question was
a good confession in two ways. First, she said, No one condemned
her. No one condemned her. Because
thanks to Jesus Christ, all her accusers were gone. Thanks to
Jesus Christ, all who would have condemned her have been dispelled. Therefore, since all her accusers
are gone, The law no longer has a claim on her. Only by the mouth of two or three
witnesses, the law said. Woman, where are the witnesses?
Sir, they're gone. In the eye of the law, she has
committed no sin. In the eye of the law, she is
not an adulteress. because there is no one there
who witnessed. She had been caught in the very
act, but the witnesses now have withdrawn their testimony. The
law no longer has a claim on her. And it's all because of
that man who has been writing in the dust, all because of him. No one, no one, she called him
Lord. When the scribes and Pharisees
came, they called him, our King James says, master. The word
means teacher. And they used that word facetiously. Teacher. Teacher. And they're using the term facetiously,
but this woman says, Lord. Master in the true sense of the
term. Lord. No one's here to condemn me anymore. I'm gonna say to you that if
Jesus ever saves you, God's law will never condemn you. God's
law has no claim on you and there is no testimony that you have
ever broken it. It's all wiped clean. There is
therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Who's gonna condemn you? The
law doesn't. The law's been satisfied. Jesus
is not gonna condemn you. God's not gonna condemn you.
Who's gonna condemn you? When Jesus saves you, there is
no one to condemn you. It's time to own Jesus as your
Lord, is it not? Number seven, Jesus assured this
woman, verse 11, neither do I condemn you. Here is a glorious example
of the fact that God did not send his son into the world to
condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.
Jesus said, the son of man did not come to destroy men's lives,
but to save them. I am so glad. I am so glad. Oh, if anyone deserves to be
condemned, it is me. It is me. And you're in the same
boat with me, are you not? But he did not come to condemn.
And then he exhorted this woman, go and sin no more. Note the
order. He said, neither do I condemn
you, go and sin no more. He did not say, go and sin no
more and I will not condemn you. No, he said, I do not condemn
you, therefore go and sin no more. That's what he said to
me. When he came down to save me,
that's what he said to me. I'm not condemning you. I have
saved you. Go and sin no more. We do not
try to stop sinning so that we can not be condemned. No. We stop sinning because we have
not been condemned. Go and sin no more. This is what
Jesus says to her. This is our Lord's exhortation
to all whom he saved from condemnation. All whom Jesus saves should forsake
all their sins and none whom Jesus saves should return to
his sins, none. Now that's the exposition. Let me make a brief application
because this account is a glorious gospel illustration. Of course,
you have caught that already, I'm certain. It's a glorious
gospel illustration Because, well, who are we this morning? A bunch of adulterous and adulterers. That's who we are by nature,
by nature. Jesus says, he who looks on a
woman to lust after her in his heart, or she who looks after
a man to lust after him in his heart, you're guilty of adultery. Guilty of it. So let's just face
it, folks. We're just all a bunch of adulterers
and adulteresses here today. By nature, that's what we are.
But when Jesus comes, He dispels the condemnation of those who
are brought to him. We've broken God's law like this
woman. We are under its condemnation.
We justly deserve the punishment of death it requires, but Jesus
dispels all our accusers, dispels them by his grace. Did not come to condemn, he came
to save. He removes all condemnation,
just like he did with this woman. When Jesus removes condemnation
from you, when Jesus satisfies the demands of God's law, not
even God condemns you. Not even God. Moses will not condemn you. The
law will not condemn you. Therefore, Jesus says, neither
do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.