The Woman Caught in Adultery..

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com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. So the gospel according to John from 753 to 811. They went each to his own house, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

Early in the morning, he came again to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and placing her in the midst They said to him, Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such woman. So what do you say?

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. 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. And once more, he bent down and wrote on the ground. 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. Jesus stood up and said to her, woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? She said, no one, Lord. And Jesus said, neither do I condemn you.

Go, from now on sin no more. Amen, the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord remains forever. So brothers and sisters, the last time we were together in the gospel, according to John, the fourth gospel, we brought chapter 7 to a conclusion. We brought that chapter, we were in that chapter for several months, but the context of what we have before us here in chapter 8 is very much the same context as in chapter 7. The Feast of Booths, a seven-day feast, has come to an end.

Actually, the last thing that Jesus says, or recorded to have said in chapter 7, was an invitation to the people to come, to those who are thirsty, to come and drink of him, for he will satisfy the deepest longings of their soul. And that was said or spoken, we're told, on the last or the great day of the feast, the seventh day of the Feast of Booths. So now what we have in chapter 8 is the very day later. In fact, most of chapter 8 is the day after the last and great day of the Feast of Booths. And that's the context still.

Jesus still in Jerusalem. Jesus still coming down to the temple to teach. The antagonism and the anger of the Jewish establishment or the religious authorities are still against our Lord. It's still taking place. However, before we start in the passage that we'll be meditating upon together this evening or this afternoon, there are some things that I need to address.

Now, some of you have in your Bibles these passages in commas. Some of you may have even in your Bibles that this whole section that we just read may actually be in the footnotes. See, over the ages, there's been much scrutiny to whether these verses that are found in John chapter 7, 53 through 8, 11, whether they actually belong to sacred writ. That's what is being asked by scholarship. The question really at the heart is, do these verses belong to the gospel according to John?

Did the apostle write these verses? Are these in the original autographs? You see, we find this account in many of the manuscripts, but some, it's not actually in this section in John. It can come a little bit later, even towards the end. And even sometimes it's found in some early ancient manuscripts.

It's found in Luke, the Gospel according to Luke, and also in many of the manuscripts. It's not found altogether. It's been omitted. Scholars throughout the last two millennia have been found to be siding on both sides. Some have said, we need to admit it.

It doesn't belong in the Bible. And others have said, no, it does belong to the Bible. Because the verses, as I said, can be found in some ancient manuscripts, but not in others. Now, a lot of study and research goes into examining manuscripts. A lot of study goes into translation.

A lot of study goes into identifying what is authentic and what is not. We don't choose. God's Word is God's Word. Mankind doesn't choose what is and what isn't. We identify what God has given his church.

For the most part, because of the sheer number of manuscripts that the Lord has preserved for His people, because He intends for His people to have His Word, because of the sheer number of manuscripts, we can be very, very, very confident that what we have before us in our Bibles is the inerrant, infallible Word of God. We can be confident of that. But on rare occasions, the authenticity of a paragraph may come into question. And it's really one, this one at least, is one of only two paragraphs in the New Testament that comes under questioning. And the other is the alternate ending of the gospel according to Mark.

So the question for the most part is, it's not the events that took place before us, did they actually happen? Because most actually agree that these events did actually happen. And this is attested to very, very early very early in many writings that this actual story actually happened. But the real question that's on the table is whether the Apostle John wrote it in the original manuscript. And beloved, although godly men are found on both sides, some, as I said earlier, would say, yes, we ought to keep it, and others would say, no, it's not.

From what I've read and the studies that I have done, I cannot, in good faith, say that there is enough evidence to omit it from the Word of God. So I believe it is sacred red. Now, I do see a legitimate place for the discipline of studying variance in the Bible. My conviction is this, though. that God in His sovereignty is in charge of preserving His word.

And so I believe what we have before us in the Bible and the Bibles that you have in your hands today, I believe they are to be considered inerrant, as I said earlier, infallible. and the actual God-breathed Word. And we should have confidence, not because men put them together, but because God was pleased to give us His Word. He revealed His heart to His people, and He could be trusted to bring His Word and preserve His Word for His people. And I believe that includes John 7, 53 through John 8, 11.

The text that we have before us. This passage is consistent, I believe, doctrinally with the rest of the New Testament. This passage is consistent with all our Lord's other teachings that we find in the New Testament. This passage is also consistent with the character of our God, and it's consistent with the thrust of the Apostle John, under inspiration by the Holy Spirit, with the rest of the gospel that bears his name. But having said that, as I said earlier, ultimately the preservation of God's Word belongs to Him.

It's found in His sovereign hands. And beloved, we can trust Him. Our faith is not in men. Our faith is in God. And we honour Him through this.

So if he was pleased, if he was pleased to preserve this passage in Scripture for us in the form that we have it today, then this section is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. My intention this afternoon is not to go into any great detail about textual variance or anything like that, but it would suffice to say that I'll be teaching by conviction John chapter 7, 53 through 8, 11, with the same authority that I have done with the rest of God's Word. And I hope that you will receive it as such with the reverence that it deserves. Because, beloved, this is a wonderful, wonderful passage by which I believe, by his grace, he will edify ourselves. Now, the events surrounding the Feast of Booth, which we have spent several months considering, have come to a close.

The people have gone to their homes. We're told that Jesus, he goes to the Mount of Olives. We're not actually told what Jesus does at the Mount of Olives. But if we take the other Gospels, Luke tells us in Luke chapter 22 that it was the custom of Jesus to go to the Mount of Olives to pray. So it's very likely that Jesus is finding himself, as he always does, at the end of the evening, sometimes through the night, at the Mount of Olives, communing with the Father.

enjoying intimate relationship and communion with the Father. This is what he desired to do. Others went to the home, but he went to commune. He went to commune with his Father. And while he was communing, very likely, with the Father, the Jewish religious leaders in Jerusalem were hatching a sinister evil plan.

But on the next day, verse two, early in the morning, he came again to the temple and the people came to him and sat down and he taught them. Now if the last day is spoken of in the previous chapter, and you might remember me speaking about this probably a month or so ago, of the feast. If the last day there is the seventh day, which is the last day that the activities of the Feast of Booths come to an end. Now there is an eighth day according to Numbers chapter 29, but the last day is the seventh day. And the eighth day is a solemn assembly.

It's a day of rest. And if that is the case, then although the people have brought down their flimsy tents, the very tents that they resided in for a week in commemoration of their ancestors who spent 40 years in the wilderness, although those tents have been brought down, the tents they've spent seven days in, they're still there. There's still a large number of people still in Jerusalem. Jerusalem is still swelling or bursting at the seams because people have not made the trek. back to their homes across the known world back then.

So Jesus would have a good number before him. He would have a crowd in the temple. And so when he gathered early in the morning, John also tells us that it is all the people, did you realize that? All the people that were coming to listen to Jesus speak. Those sitting at the feet of Christ.

He sat down because that is the posture of a rabbi, of a teacher. He sits down and he teaches. And they listen and they're probably absorbing all this in. Now remember, the religious leaders, they didn't like Jesus. They were antagonistic against him.

They hated him. They wanted him gone. But Jesus still had a following. People were still interested. People still gave him his ear.

But all this peace was broken. because a band of scribes and Pharisees were told to storm in, making their way through the crowds, and they place before Jesus a woman, a woman that they are accusing of being caught in the act of adultery. Placing her in the midst of Jesus, they now ask him a question. Now, it's a seemingly legitimate question at surface value. This woman has been caught in the act of adultery, they say.

The law of Moses commands us to stone such a woman. So what do you say, Jesus? So what do you say? They bring the lady and they pronounce the law. They say we've caught her in the act.

This is what the law says. This is what Yahweh says. This is what do you say? It seems innocent. But then we have the inspired commentary that comes back the rest.

Next, he says, they said this to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Scribes and the Pharisees have come up with an evil plan, a sinister plan to trap our Lord, to test him, to gather something to charge him against. to make him say something controversial, to push him in the corner and get at least a response from him that would make him fall, that would put him into hot water. That's their intention. It's not noble.

It's not noble at all. And what they do doesn't seem to be mischievous at first, They seem only be wanting to uphold the law. I mean, they're the religious leaders. The scribes are the experts and they're the lawyers. The Pharisees were the ones who were knowledgeable in the Torah.

These are the religious leaders of the day. And it seemed like they've come in with a pious face. And all we want to do is observe the law. All we want to do is uphold the law of God, because we're concerned with purity before the Lord. We're concerned to expel the evil from among us.

That's our only intention. Indeed, the law of Moses does demand that a woman such as this, caught in the act of adultery, would be stoned. Deuteronomy chapter 22 says, from verse 22, If a man is found lying with the wife of another man, both of them shall die. And the man who lay with the woman and the woman, he says, so you shall purge the evil from Israel. 23.

If there is a betrothed virgin and a man meets her in the city and lies with her, then you shall bring them both out of the gate of the city and you shall stone them to death with stones. That's the look. And the law is righteous, beloved. But that doesn't mean that doesn't mean anyone who who yields the law, anyone who quotes scripture has righteous motives. Because we know that someone else, we know Satan, he quoted scripture, did he not?

When he was tempting Jesus back in Matthew chapter three, at the beginning of Jesus's ministry. And we know also, without a shadow of a doubt, that his intentions and his motives weren't righteous at all. He was trying to cause Jesus to stumble. So these men, too, have motives that are unholy, evil, evil motives. Upholding the sanctity of the law is the last thing on their mind will come to see.

This is a facade. This is a show. This is something they're putting out on the outside, but on the inside, they're completely different. And Jesus is going to show them up. Their motives was to trap Christ, to test him, to trap him.

And that's all there is to it. You see, these are a frustrated group of angry, self-righteous men who want to do away with Jesus. You remember their previous plan to arrest Christ? That backfired. They got the officers in the temple, the Levites, and their instruction for them was, you go and arrest this Jesus.

You remember when they came back? They were mesmerized. No man, no mere man has ever spoken like this Jesus. They couldn't grab him. They were captivated by his words, by his grace.

So no doubt this frustration in the life and the hearts of the Jews was getting to them. We know their reputation and the respect that they had from the people was beginning to dwindle. People were starting to ask questions about their religious leaders. And so desperate times call for desperate measures. So they come up with a heartless plan, a plan to test Jesus and in order to try to bring him down.

We've seen this over and over again, this sort of activity as we've read through the Gospels. How many times on how many occasions do we see the Jews concoct a plan and ask Jesus a seemingly difficult question that maybe only has two answers? And they're thinking we've cornered Christ. And then he gives them an answer that they just did not anticipate. You see, they've always underestimated the wisdom of our Lord.

They always thought they could outsmart him. And this is what they're trying to do now. You see, in their minds, the question they drag this woman in before Christ, and the question they're asking Jesus, in their minds at least, only has two responses. And probably the answer they're anticipating, well, let me go back. Those two responses, the possible responses, they'd be happy with either.

Because both those responses in their minds would be responses that they can work with. Responses that will cause Jesus to get into trouble. You see, if Jesus says no to the stoning of women, they've come in and they've said, look, the law of Moses says that we've caught this woman in adultery. The law of Moses says that she is to be stoned. So the law of Moses is Yahweh speaking through Moses.

This is the scripture. The authority of the Word of God says this, Jesus. What do you say if Jesus says, No, don't stone them. Don't stone her. And that's probably the response that they're anticipating from Christ, because they've followed Him.

They've heard what He has to say. They know His message. They've heard the gracious words from His mouth, the words of forgiveness, the words of compassion, the words of mercy, the words of love. They know what Jesus stands for. And if this is what Jesus says, and that's probably what they're hoping for, then we've got Him.

How? How have they got Him? because he proves to undermine the law of God. Or worse again, he proves to disregard it altogether. That's what they're hoping for.

And no doubt this would discredit him before his followers. No good Jew would follow a man who disregards the law of God. That's clear. On the other hand, if he adopts or upholds the law and says yes to the stoning of this woman, then that would cast a shadow on all of his teaching. The people have been following him for a while, and they've heard that the grace dripped from his mouth.

And the very purpose, he says, for his arrival, for the incarnation, for the father sending him, the very purpose would be in disrepute. He said he's not come to condemn the world. He's come to save the world. And now if he now casts condemnation upon this woman, where does that leave him? This would make him disingenuous before his people, before his followers.

And that's not even to mention the trouble he'd be in with the Roman authorities. We know that in the first century Roman Empire that no one could just enact the death penalty. Capital punishment was something only for Roman officials. The prefect of Rome, the governor of Rome, he was a senior commanding officer. He was the one who can enact the death penalty and no one else.

Can you imagine if Jesus says, yes, they'll just take that information back to Rome and they'll say, these are the men who ordered the execution. Rome will take care of Christ. They wouldn't have to worry about him. He'd be out of their head for good. They've hooked the bait.

And however Jesus strikes, they think they've got him. It's a win-win situation for them, so they thought. But beloved, over and over again, the wisdom of our Lord confounds human understanding. The Jews think they can pull wool over his eyes, but he knows better. He knows the heart of man, remember?

He looks beyond the facade, beyond the outside. The Apostle John has already told us in chapter 2 that no one needs to tell Jesus about what's inside man. He knows what's inside man. He sees it. It's exposed.

It's all laid bare. He sees not only their thoughts, but their intentions and their motives. He sees their hearts. It is all exposed. And what does Jesus see?

Well, we'll come to see. He sees something quite disgusting. So-called religious men in Israel. The ones who are supposed, the supposed shepherds of the people. The ones who are supposed to teach God's people God's ways and to do so with tender, loving care.

These men have become hardened and their hearts calloused. They're proud and wicked. Their merciless, prideful heart become so hardened against the people that human souls didn't matter anymore. and they did what they did under the guise of religion and piety, and the souls they destroyed while doing what they do and getting what they want, well, that's just collateral damage. Just like this woman.

She's dragged in the midst of Christ. She's just another disposable tool in their evil plan to get what they want. And in this case, it's a plan to make Jesus fall. Outwardly, they come across as zealous, law-abiding Jews, ones who are concerned with Torah. They quote scripture and all.

They come to Christ and they're good. I mean, they're not misinterpreting or they're not fabricating the scripture. They're speaking truths. But in a few moments, Jesus will demonstrate that they have actually no respect for the law at all. And if you take the time to think their plan through, you'll see, in their evil desperation, they become reckless.

This is not really a watertight plan at all. Who do they think they're kidding? For starters, think about the facts. What's this lady being accused of? Adultery.

Think about the whole situation. Think about what's missing in the whole situation. Now I don't intend this sermon to be an explanation of the birds and the bees, but my understanding of what she's been accused of requires another participant. Where is he? The scribes and the Pharisees clearly said in verse 4 that she was caught in the act, in the act of adultery.

And so the so-called, that means real-time witnesses, they've seen it, there was people who actually witnessed the sin witnessed, the heinous sin. And so-called experts in law, they would know also that the law that they just quoted to Christ, only a few chapters prior, there is another law and that law says, apart from the witness, apart from two to three witnesses, you cannot admit evidence in the courts. They would have known that. And so if that's why they're claiming that there was several witnesses, more than one witnesses to this act of adultery, witnessing this lady in the act itself, then they would have no problems identifying the accomplice that she was with. So where is he?

Were he the law? They're zealous to uphold the law, they're saying. But the law requires both the man and the woman to be stoned. and yet that only bring the woman. Are these men really zealous for the law?

This woman is now in the midst. Jesus was speaking and teaching to a crowd of people, and we know there would be a good number before him. And these men now drag her in the midst, and now she's standing there, or sitting there, we don't know her posture, but she would be afraid and ashamed. Everyone is now looking down upon her. Now don't get me wrong.

What she did is evil. It's wickedness in the eyes of God. And the judgment prescribed for a heinous sin like this is a just judgment. God's law is just. Let's not forget that.

But this smells like a setup, doesn't it? It's shady. It smells fishy. The circumstances are all strange. Two or three witnesses so happen to be in the right place at the right time to witness this sin.

And even then, only the woman is apprehended and dragged to be judged. You see, brothers and sisters, these men are manipulating the law. They're interpreting the law as they please. And they're tweaking the law of the Holy God according to their own liking. You see, these men don't respect the law.

They're not concerned with holiness. They're not concerned with purity. They're not concerned with having a clean heart before the Lord. And that is what the law was stood for. No, they're not concerned.

They treated the law with contempt. Simply using it to get what they want. Now we can't be sure of the facts. We can't be sure, but the facts do strongly suggest that the woman was set up, possibly lured, possibly then seduced into the evil act and they were waiting. Waiting to witness and then to bring her to the Lord.

Now they weren't counting the cost. They didn't consider the soul of the woman. They didn't consider the soul of man is precious to God. This is human. This is human life.

No, it didn't matter. We don't care. We don't care. This Jesus is a stigma in our eyes. This Jesus needs to go.

He's taken away something that belongs to us, our reputation, the respect that the people owe us. He's just a thorn in our side. He needs to go and we don't care what the collateral damage is, even if that means human life. And when they storm in and put her before the Lord demanding a response, Jesus, you've got to love, you've got to love his body language. He's unhindered.

He remains seated, silent. With his finger, we're told, he begins to write on the ground. Imagine the scene. Imagine being in the crowd, in this large crowd, witnessing this happen. One moment you're listening to the wonderful words and the glorious teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ, and then this commotion where the Jews now push their way through this thick crowd and make their way to the front, dragging this terrified woman with them to the front and placing her before Christ.

And then they cry out that this woman needs to be stoned. Now, despite brothers and sisters, what you think, this wasn't a common occurrence in the first century people. This experience would have been a traumatic experience for them. This is not common at all. Hearing the voice of the man that you respect, the voice of the man that you consider, the religious leaders, the ones that you listen to, the ones that teach you the word.

When they do this and they say, this woman needs to be stoned, you are likely to believe them. We know the law of Moses they're saying. We know what we should do. We know what Yahweh has commanded in the scripture, and that is to stone her and then teach her, master. What do you think we should do?

You can almost hear the contempt in their voices. They use a respectful designation for the Lord because teacher is a respectful designation. They have no respect for the Lord. We know that, it's been proven. We've seen and read and studied their interactions with the Lord in Jerusalem.

These men have no respect. for Jesus Christ. They have no respect for what he's about to say. It's not as though their decision is pending according to what Jesus is going to say. That's not it at all.

They're the ones, they're the religious leaders, they're the ones who enact the punishment if a punishment is deserving. But referring to him as teacher beloved is actually intentional, I think. Because if he does what they expect him to do, And what they expect him to do is to say, no, forgive this woman. And I would say that only because they know what Jesus has taught. He's spoken about forgiveness seven times, no 70 times seven.

He's spoken about compassion, about mercy, about love. He's spoken about all these things. He's spoken about grace. He's spoken about love for neighbor. He's spoken about all these things.

So in their mind, no doubt, they're thinking Jesus is going to say, no, no, don't cast the stone. And if he does that, they've called him teacher and recognized him as a teacher. Then what does that make of Christ? He's a teacher who doesn't uphold the law. He will be seen as a teacher of not righteousness, But unrighteousness, a false teacher, and that's a charge they can work with.

Jesus, despite the heightened emotions, despite the tension that you can cut with a knife, he calmly writes with his finger on the ground. If you were there, where would your eyes be? I think you're a bit like me, a little curious. Your eyes will be directed to the finger of Jesus trying to figure out what he is writing, right? I don't believe he was simply doodling or drawing pictures because the word that is used of him writing with his finger in verse 6 as well as verse 8 does connote writing intelligible, legible, readable writing.

So most likely words. So Jesus is most likely writing words. And the question on all your minds, I believe, right now is, what did he write? Suggestions are plentiful, as you could imagine. Some have deemed the woman to be innocent.

I don't see it, by the way, and we'll get to that. But some have. And they've thought if she's an innocent woman, then no doubt Exodus 23 7 is probably what Jesus is writing. And what does that write? What does that say?

Exodus 23 7 says, keep far from false charge and do not kill the innocent and righteous for I will not acquit the wicked. Others seem to be convinced that Jesus was writing the sins of the accusers one by one. Maybe from the oldest to the youngest in his fingers. Others say, no, he was writing the seventh commandment. You shall not commit adultery.

Others yet suggest that, no, no, it's the whole law. It's the law as it was given to Moses on Sinai that Jesus is writing. Now, think about that for a second. Think about the contents of Exodus, chapter 31, verse 18. Let me read it for you.

It says there, And the Lord gave to Moses when he had finished speaking with him on the Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony. Here it is. Tablets of stone written with the finger of God. And we know that Moses comes down, sees the rebellion and the licentiousness and the idolatry of the people, and what does he do? He breaks the Ten Commandments.

Then he goes back up for 40 days, and the law needs to be written again. He, Jesus, in verse 6, writes with his finger, and then we're told again he writes with his finger in verse 8. That would preach really well. But you really do want to know what he really did write, don't you? You're going to have to wait and ask him yourself.

Because we're simply not told. The spirit of truth who inspired John to write this book did not tell us, and that's all there is to it. Beloved, that means we don't need to know what Jesus wrote in order to understand this passage, in order to be edified by this passage, by the Spirit of God. We don't need to. We must never go beyond what is written.

And that's a lesson for all of us. Never allow our curiosity to get the better of us. He's given us all that we require, His power has, for life and godliness. Do we believe it? We don't need to allow the corruptions of others, or the corruptions of our own minds, enter into our minds.

And then we start to call these things Scripture, and we start to believe it as Scripture, when it never was spoken by God. We need to be very, very, very careful. No matter how wonderful, no matter how mesmerizing the explanation may be, let's hold back and only trust in what God has given us. Believe me, I know the temptation. But if God hasn't told us, we will do best to leave it at that.

The Jews were losing patience. They were seeking an answer from Jesus. They needed to know This whole plan required a lot of effort, a lot of thinking, a lot of planning. They weren't about to leave without getting an achieved outcome, the outcome that they desired. So they continued to persist the Lord and persistent pressing the Lord for an answer.

The word translated continued, as in they continue to ask the Lord in verse 7. It's the same word that we find in Acts chapter 12. If you remember when Peter was rescued from imprisonment miraculously, and he goes to where the disciples, where the brothers and sisters were, and he begins to knock on the door. And Rhoda comes in excitement, keeps the door closed. Now he's going, I need to get in here.

I don't want to stay out here. So it continues to knock and knock and knock and knock until they let him in. That's the persistence. That's the persistence that they speak about, where the Jews were continually asking Jesus. Jesus is silent writing and they're going to tell us, Jesus.

Tell us, we told you what the law says. We told you what Moses says. Jesus, tell us. We know we should stone this woman. What do you think, Jesus?

Jesus, tell us. What do you think? We're waiting. Jesus, tell us. Tell us, Jesus, what do you think?

And then the uninspected, Jesus stands up and they're going, yes, he's going to speak. We've done the plan. We've thought all the avenues through. We know what he's going to say, one of two things. Either way, we can work with it.

But then our Lord says these remarkable words in verse 7b. Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.' And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground." What an incredible response. They thought they'd outwitted the Lord.

They thought they'd finally trapped him but they weren't expecting that. if he in this response he he affirms and indeed he actually appeals to the law by referring to Deuteronomy chapter 17 this is what he says chapter 17 verse 7 the hands of the witnesses shall be the first against him to put him to death that is the witnesses who witness the crime and afterward the hand of the people Then he goes and says, so you shall purge the evil from among your midst. The law states that this woman is to be stoned. Okay, Jesus says. Let's do it.

The witnesses who caught her red handed, you're going to have to go first. You're the ones who are going to have to carry out this punishment. But before you do, test yourselves. And make sure that you're fit to carry out this punishment. Fit to throw the first stone.

Make sure you're innocent of that sin. Because if you're gonna stain your blood with her blood, your hands, my apologies, if you're gonna stain your hands with her blood, make sure you yourself are not deserving of the same condemnation. Because if you're guilty of the same, then it's her blood on your head. What an incredible response by our Lord. What wisdom.

You see, Jesus by no means was playing down the law here. He recognized it to be holy and righteous and good. and necessarily upheld, nor does he play down the heinousness of this woman's sin. And it's an inexcusable sin, it's a wicked sin, the sin of adultery. His words affirm that her sin deserves a fitting punishment, and that fitting punishment is what is prescribed by the good and holy God.

God's laws are just. Let's never think otherwise. God's laws are just. but it's not primarily her sin that he's dealing with right now, but rather the wickedness in the hearts of her accusers. That's where the attention of the Lord is going.

They're the ones who have said that they've caught her out, but Jesus now has caught them out in their hypocrisy. Jesus has called them out to be a people who outwardly appear to be concerned with upholding the sanctity of God's law, the sanctity of the law of Moses, but inwardly have no respect for it. They were complicit in her sin. This was a setup from the beginning. She was dragged before the Lord with no regard for the purity of Torah, but because of their vengeful hearts, which had only one agenda, And that agenda was to destroy Jesus.

She was just simply a means to an ends. Perfect, the pure, the holy, the righteous law of God was dragged through the mud to accomplish their own evil agenda to trap Jesus. Hear this. He knows it. He knows it, so He addresses it with peacing words that strike straight into their hearts.

You've come to enforce the law? Great, let's do that. But first, before you point your finger at this woman and cry out guilty, let us use the same standard on you. How do you fare up against the bar of the righteous standards of God? Are you guilty also?

Is your heart free from adultery? Jesus has already openly taught that if one was to look at a woman with lust in his eyes, he has already committed adultery with her. Is your heart guilty of adultery? Furthermore, are you innocent? Are you innocent in regards to this whole scene that I see before me?

Was it a coincidence that the witnesses just so happened to be in the right place at the right time? Is it a coincidence that the man is not here to be found? And you know the law? Or was it a setup? It's like our Lord saying, if you're without sin, go ahead and cast the first stone.

But if you're guilty, should we now turn our attention on you and exact the punishment that your transgression deserves? These are powerful words by our Lord. And He's speaking these words that drive straight into the heart of these men. And I hope they drive into our hearts also. Now let's get something straight.

Jesus is certainly not advocating for a sinless perfection in order for those who need to enforce the law to enforce the law as though the judicial system needs to be without sin, imperfect, to enforce the punishments of the law. He's not saying that at all. All men are sinners, he knows that. But something else is at play. As I said earlier, Jesus is dealing with the deep, dark hypocrisy of the sinful accusers who have brought this woman before him.

He's dealing with their hearts whilst at the same time he's not at all diminishing her sin. We need to remember that. He didn't play down the law. He said the law is deserving of stoning this woman. However, before you stone her, If I apply the standards of the Lord to your heart, would you stand?

Would you be guilty? Or would you be innocent? Because if you find yourself innocent, go ahead and stone her. Take the stones and stone her if you find yourself innocent. But if you find yourself guilty, then you're a hypocrite.

Hypocrite. So Jesus is dealing with a far more serious sin right now in the lives of these Jews that are before him. A far more heinous sin. While they're trying to exact a law on this woman, they're committing a greater sin again. Greater sin than adultery?

Yes, a greater sin than adultery. They're showing themselves to be great sinners. hiding the fact that they are transgressing God's law in their hearts even as he speaks whilst looking like they're a noble God-honouring people who only want to exact the law upon this woman. Remember in the previous chapter how Jesus passed My apologies. He pressed the crowd and he said to them that they should judge not by appearances but judge with what?

Right judgment. You remember that? He was speaking to them. He gave examples of the law and he showed how the hypocrisy of the Jews was to translate and interpret the law as they pleased. But Jesus was saying, look beyond the facade.

Look beyond the outside, the face value of things and look at the intent. Look beyond how things seem. And this is what he's doing right now. Because it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter that the Jews were teaching the scripture.

They didn't live it. That's why Jesus said, do what they say, but don't do what they do. Matthew 23, 3. You remember that? They talk the talk, but they don't walk the walk.

And now they seem to be noble and righteous. So concerned for the purity of God. So concerned to rid Israel of impurity and sinful behavior and wickedness. So concerned with these things. Saying to this woman, she must die.

But harboring a greater sin in their hearts. Beloved, beloved, true zeal for the righteous law of God, true zeal for holiness begins with self. It begins with self. You see, it's always the case that there are those who are so gifted at pointing at the sins of others. at identifying the sins and the lawlessness of others, yet not seeing and noticing the stinking corruption within.

That inside there's a stink and a stench of corpses, dead corpses, yet so well gifted at being able to point at the sin of others. That's not zeal for Yahweh. That's hypocrisy. And it's the type of hypocrisy that Jesus despises. Because here they are fabricating a trap to create an opportunity to kill Jesus.

Beloved, the greater sin that they've committed in their heart. And will action is they've already committed murder in their heart. You remember that? They've been seeking to kill Jesus. They've been seeking to kill the Messiah.

This whole concoction, this whole plan was to get him in a position where they can trap him, arrest him, mock trial him and put him to death. Which they will accomplish in six months time by the will of God. Is there a greater sin? Is there a greater sin than the sin of murdering the Messiah? Remember what Jesus said to Judas, about Judas, his betrayer?

He said, it would have been better if he had not been born. Because the sin that he committed is so heinous and the punishment so great, it would have been better if that man had not been born. And these men are conspiring in their hearts to kill Jesus. There's already murder in their heart because there's hatred. Last time, a few weeks ago, we spoke about the hatred that festered over such a long period of time, undealt with.

And now the hatred will become action and they'll end up murdering Jesus. Beloved, they masquerade as law keepers, but they are lawless men. draining the gnat and yet swallowing the camel, Matthew 23, 24. That's disgusting. And that is the ugliness of sin.

And if we're not careful, be careful. We'll do the same. If we're not careful, we can do the same. We can be very good at pointing to other people's sins and neglecting to deal with the sins that we have in us. It's not that we must not judge, don't hear me incorrectly, but we must take the plank out of our own eye in order to see the speck in our brother or our sister's eye.

Because we may just find, when we do self-examine, when we do attempt to take the plank out of our own eyes, we may actually find that our hearts are more evil and more atrocious than what we're pointing, or the sin of others that we're pointing. towards, we may actually find that we are greater lawbreakers than they are themselves. So we have to be very careful, very careful that we are not hypocrites. Because upon true examination of our hearts, when the brilliant light of the law of God shines within, we may actually find that we are more worthy, which is the case with the Jews, more worthy of being stoned than the ones we actually accuse. I think that's what's going on here.

Be careful, brothers and sisters. This is a thing that we all, every single one of us has to be careful of. Be careful that we are not so concerned with a simple outside and outward righteousness, and whilst being so concerned with the outside righteousness, we mask an inside unrighteousness or sin, or any pet sins that may have a hold of us. We keep them within, we may know about them, but we haven't come to surrender them before the Lord. Let's be careful of these things.

Showing a concern on the outside but not a reality or a substance within. That's why we ought to be not too hasty to point out the errors or the sins in others. Not to be hasty to point out the sins in the world, but first, as I said earlier, to deal with our own hearts, our own sins, our own unrighteousness before the Lord. We can't deal with them on our own. We bring them before Jesus, and that's where we should start.

So, once we recognize who we are, we come to the Lord and we find forgiveness. When Jesus said these words, these men knew that they were absolutely defeated. They had no defense. They came to shame the woman before everyone, the crowd that were listening before Jesus. And in a few short moments, Jesus tears down their pretense, just like that.

He exposes their fakeness, if that's a word. And he exposes their true intentions. leaving them with no option, absolutely no option, but to make an about turn one by one and walk out of there in shame. You know, the King James Version says that they were convicted by their conscience. The high court that God has placed in the being of every one of us had convicted them to admit their guilt and they could do nothing, nothing apart from put their head down and walk away.

And beloved, if we stand before the righteous standards of God, if Christ was to say those words to us, could we stand? I hope we could say in and of ourselves, we cannot stand apart from him. You know, thinking about this, I was left thinking that this is both remarkable and actually very, very sad. Absolutely remarkable how Jesus, cornered, comes out with the seemingly impossible situation. He comes out with a response that just absolutely blows them away.

But he is God in flesh. Incredible. You've got to love Jesus every time you read him and study him. You've just got to love him more. Remarkable also how these men, they actually come to their senses.

Their conscience does actually stricken them. They're convicted in their conscience and they know and they admit their guilt. And one by one, from the oldest to the youngest, why that is, I'm not sure, but it could be because the oldest have lived longer and their sins stack higher. One by one, they walk in shame before the crowd until they're all gone. That's remarkable.

But it's also very sad. Because although they recognize themselves as lawbreakers, because if they didn't, they would have cast that stone. Although they recognize themselves as unfit, unfit to carry out the just demands of the law of God, And they turn their backs and walk away. But beloved, who are they walking away from? They're walking away from the only one who can absolve their sin.

They're walking away from the only one who can reconcile them to God. They're walking away from their only hope. They're convicted of their sins. That's great. But what use is that if you don't deal with your sins?

Knowing you're guilty, beloved, is not enough. We see that over and over when we evangelize, right? When we tell people about the Lord, when we speak, and sometimes we bring up the law, and sometimes you get the young ones that say, you know what? According to your standards, you're right. I'm guilty.

You're right, I'm guilty. And if there's a heaven and hell, I deserve hell. I deserve punishment. Yes, I am all those things that you have just said. You are right.

But they have no concern for Christ. They may even admit that they deserve hell, yet they don't fall on their face at the feet of Jesus Christ and plead forgiveness. What use is it? What use is it if you recognize yourself guilty and turn your back on the only one who can save you, the only one who can forgive your sins? What use is that?

This is so sad. Still sinners, still unrighteous before a holy God, still under his wrath, still enemies of God and awaiting the eternal punishment that will come day upon all who are not found in Jesus Christ. So sad. Religious leaders turn their back on the only Savior, on the one who said, for God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already.

Why? Because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God, John 3, 17, 18. You're guilty. You know it. Great.

But have you fall on your face before Jesus? He's the only Savior. He didn't come to condemn. He came to save. Don't turn your back and walk away.

They can see their guilt. But in walking away, they are even more condemned now than ever before. More condemned than when they walked into the presence of Jesus. Because now by turning their back, they turn their back on the Saviour. And that adds to their punishment.

So sad. Now John tells us that only Jesus and the woman remain. That's it. These accusers are gone. Now, that's not to say that the crowd are all gone.

They haven't dissipated. It's very likely what he's saying is amongst the accusers and Christ, only Jesus and the woman remain. The crowd are still in the background. They've probably got their jaws dropping. They're probably just going, wow, this is unlike any day I've seen in my whole life.

And the woman has seen everything, she's experienced everything, her accusers are gone, but beloved, she is still guilty, is she not? See, nothing in this narrative that I see suggests that she was falsely accused, not at all. And in fact, going by what Jesus says in the last verse, you would have to think that she is guilty as charged. But beloved, I want to ask this question, and I hope you do too. Why is she still there?

The only reason why she's there in the first place was because she was dragged by these men. These men have just let go. They've gone away. She's still there. Why doesn't she take this opportunity to run away?

Leave the city. Save her life. Beloved crowd have all seen this woman. She wouldn't have made a defense because she knows her heart. She knows she's guilty.

They're probably looking down on her in absolute disgust and dishonor because of what she's been caught in doing. She knows she's guilty. She's been dishonored before all and she's standing there afraid and the natural thing to do is run away. Get out of there. Run away.

And yet she remains before Jesus. Do you see the difference between her and her accusers? Both are guilty. Both are lawbreakers. Both know it.

They turn their back on Christ and she goes nowhere. She remains there. She remains there. No one's holding her down. She remains with Jesus.

I think, maybe, just maybe she's come to realize what the Apostle John has told us in this prologue, in the 17th verse of his prologue, when he says, for the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Perhaps that revelation was made real to her by the Spirit of God. Where else can she go? Verse 10, Jesus stood and said to her woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?

And she said, no one, Lord. Realize the Jews called her, called Jesus what? Teacher. What does she call him? And Jesus said, neither.

Now, by the way, Lord can be sir, or it can be Lord, kurios. It's the same word. But I do believe she's calling him Lord for a good reason. And Jesus said, neither do I condemn you. Go and from now on sin no more.

You know, brothers and sisters, you may be reading too much in this passage, but when I first read this and I was studying this book, the first words that came to my mind is the words of the Apostle Peter in chapter six. At that point, Jesus, towards the end, at that point, the Galileans who had been following Christ had turned their back. They've abandoned Christ. Even the disciples, not the twelve, but the disciples. And then Jesus looks to the disciples, the 12, and he says, will you too?

And then Peter says, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and come to know that you are the Holy One of God. Now, maybe you're reading too much in the passage. This is just going through my mind. It's not in the text.

But maybe, just maybe, the Spirit of God has revealed that to this woman, and she knows where else. Can I go? She has the opportunity to pick herself up and run out of there, but she doesn't. She remains with Christ. Against the natural instinct to run, especially when you have probably hundreds of people looking down on you in shame and disgust.

Why would you want to be there? I believe she remained because she knew that the only person in this world who can offer her pardon of her sins was standing before her in Christ. See, her accusers have not condemned her. Jesus asks and says, no, Lord, and neither has Christ. But I want you to feel the weight of Jesus's words.

You see, neither do I condemn you, he says. Now, we've already concluded the accusers were unfit to carry out the gravel of the courtroom of God's justice. Why? Because Jesus says, examine your heart. They did.

And they found themselves to be lawbreakers and unworthy. unworthy, unfit, and they knew it. But for them to leave her uncondemned is one thing, but for Jesus to say that she's uncondemned, boy, isn't that another. Because he is worthy to carry the gavel. He's not only worthy to carry the gavel, he's infinitely worthy to crash that gavel down and cry out, guilty.

He can do that because he is the sinless son of God without sin. He's never seen sin, pure, holy, faultless in conduct, faultless in heart and spirit. He's able to carry the gavel and crash that down and say, you're guilty. But he doesn't do that. He doesn't do that.

Instead, he says, neither do I condemn you. Now, beloved brothers and sisters, how can he say that? This is his law. This is his law. He knows what murderers deserve.

Surely he's concerned with upholding the law, right? This is his law. He knows that God demands perfect obedience to the law. So how can Jesus declare a sinner uncondemned? Actually, this is...

This is one of the suggestions that was made in that one of the reasons, or thought to be one of the reasons, why this whole text was omitted from very early manuscripts is because, this is a suggestion only, because of what Jesus says. He's seen, they think, to be not upholding the law. And even by not upholding the law, maybe even condoning the sin of adultery. And they go, no, we can't have that. But if that is the case, they've got it all wrong.

Because that's not what Jesus is saying at all. He came not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. Matthew 5, 17. And I believe it's precisely because He has come to fulfill the law that He's able to utter the words to this woman who is guilty, neither do I condemn you. My beloved, if we can only understand the weightiness of these words, we would not see a saviour that is unconcerned by the Lord, but we would see a beautiful picture of the Lord being uphold side by side with his mercy and his grace.

He came to seek and save the lost, Luke 19, 10. And the way he saves the lost is not simply by pardoning people's sins. Beloved, even God can't simply do that. He sits on the throne of justice and he has to be consistent when true to his character. Sin must be condemned.

Judgment must take place. Punishment must be dished out in feeding, punishment feeding the crime. And what is feeding the crime is stipulated by God, not by you or by me. It's stipulated by God. The words of forgiveness can be unfounded and cheap when you and I speak them sometimes.

Sometimes we say we forgive, but really we don't. But when Jesus offers pardon, when Jesus offers pardon for sin, it's not cheap grace. It came free to the woman. It comes free to you and I if we are found in Jesus. But the actual cost for him to say your sins are pardoned or neither do I condemn you, beloved, is immeasurable.

You and I will never, never, even in eternity, never be able to fully comprehend that grace. Never. The cost of the blood of the Son of God that was shed to pardon sins? That's mind-blowing. That's absolutely mind-blowing.

And when our Lord looks at this, this adulterous woman looks in her eyes and he says that he absolves her from her sin, even though she is guilty, he doesn't do it by setting the law aside. No, he doesn't set the law aside. He's able to say to her, neither do I condemn you because he'll take her place and be condemned for her. has incredible news. That's the cost beloved.

The cost for you and I to be forgiven of our sins. That Jesus is able to say I do not condemn you. Or as it says in Romans chapter 8 verse 1, there is no condemnation for those who in Christ Jesus. If that is true for you, it's because He carried your condemnation. It wasn't set aside.

God is just. He went on that cross and He carried the penalty of your condemnation. Like I believe He's done for this woman. Like I believe He's able to say, neither do I condemn you, because He knows in his omniscient heart in his divine heart he knows that in a matter of six months time he'll stand on the cross and he'll bleed for her like he bled for you grace is not cheap and the only one able and worthy to hold the gavel of justice. He's the one.

He's the one who's able also to forgive your sins and mine by his undeserving grace through faith in him because he's paid the price. He is concerned for the law of God. He is concerned for holiness, so concerned that He laid down His life to uphold holiness, to uphold the law of God, and to forgive sinful sinners, helpless sinners like us, and like that woman in the temple, and everyone who comes to trust in Him. Neither do I condemn you. Go.

And from now on, sin no more. Let me just take two minutes to explain this, and we'll come to an end. I want you to take note, beloved. I want you to take note. This is very, very, very important.

Take note of the order of the words of Jesus Christ. There is no empty words in the economy of what he says. Take note of the order of what he says. Because, beloved, if you get this order wrong, if you get this order wrong, you will land in serious soul-destroying heresy. He says, Neither do I condemn you and now go and sin no more.

Don't get that the other way around. Don't think for a moment it's go sin no more and then I want to condemn you. No, no. Neither do I condemn you. Now go and sin no more.

Because the corrupt wicked heart, the heart of stone, the heart that doesn't desire after God, the heart that is in enmity with God, cannot and will not produce works of righteousness. He cannot and she cannot in Adam but sin. The heart is totally depraved. One cannot go away and sin no more. One cannot do but sin.

The Bible tells us anything apart from faith his sin. But when, when the immeasurable, undeserving grace of God floods into the heart of a wicked lawbreaker like every single one of us, I hope, once were, when his grace floods in And the heart of stone is removed. The heart that doesn't respond. The heart that hates God. The heart that is only concerned with pretense.

The heart that is only concerned with how I look like on the outside but on the inside I'm rotten, I'm smelly. When he takes that heart out and he replaces it with the heart of flesh in our salvation by grace, through faith. And with that heart we have a predisposition of love toward God and towards His law. And only then, beloved, only then, when the life of Jesus Christ flows through us, only when we have been united into His resurrected life, are we able to actually take this away and go and sin no more. We're not talking about sinless perfection, but you're actually able to go and avoid sinning because you put the deeds of the flesh to death.

Because the Spirit of God is the one who gives you the ability and the power to do so. A bad tree cannot bear good fruit. A good tree produces good fruit. And beloved, the question is, the only ones who was able to produce fruit of righteousness are the ones who are found in the vine, and that is Christ. Let's pray.