A Long Look Inward

Read Scripture: John 8:1-11

Introduction:

As I read the scripture to you this morning, I hope your mind began to wonder why. Why did the Pharisees want to trap Jesus? Why were they willing to destroy a person to accomplish their goals? Why did Jesus give them the go ahead to stone the woman? Why did the Son of God not condemn her?

I hope that as we study the scriptures together this morning we will get a deeper look at the human condition and the only hope we have to get it right. I have divided the message into three parts, The Trap, The Snap, and The Wrap. I hope that you will receive from the Lord what you need this morning. Let's look at the first point together.

The Trap:

The trap was cleverly set to destroy Jesus, his reputation, his standing with the people, and his credibility. It was set to catch a man who had previously eluded every one of their snares. They wanted reason to kill this man who called himself "the Son of Man". (John 5:27)

The bait was a question of the law and the woman who had broken it. They asked politely with treachery in their hearts, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such a woman. Now what do you say?"(v.4-5) The clever Pharisees had him now. "Now what do you say?", "Now what do you say?" the words echoed through the courtyard. I can just imagine a chill ran up the woman's spine. No matter which way he chose to respond he would be trapped. They had him. Leon Morris in his commentary The Gospel According to John writes, "Most accept the view that Jesus faced a charge under either Roman law or the law of Moses. If He said, "Stone her" He would lay himself open to the charge of counseling action contrary to Roman law, which did not provide for a death penalty in such cases. If He said "Do not stone her" He could be charged with offending against the law of God. The Question was a loaded one." They were sure they had him.

The trap was set to destroy the woman. They had deliberately set a trap to catch the woman. They said, "this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery". (v.4b)4 There was a plan devised to catch this woman in her sin. They were willing to destroy her in order to achieve their goals of trapping Jesus. There is something wrong with this situation. Let me see ... oh, yes, where is the guilty man? Doesn't it take two for this crime of passion? It seems there was a vendetta against this woman. Now do not get me wrong, lest you think she was innocent, she surely was not. She had been caught, they had witnesses, and she was guilty. "The Jews" did not care about this woman or her sin, what they really wanted was to have a reason to arrest and murder Jesus. They hated him because he was upsetting the religious order they had so diligently worked to preserve. If they did not get rid of this man, their world was doomed.

I wonder if we are holding onto something this morning that we have become so comfortable with and this same Jesus is asking us to change the way we do business. We have the choice to reject Jesus, his message or his messenger, and cling on to the comfortable old way of doing things or to embrace Christ in the unknown. Jesus has a tendency to be a change agent. What is he asking of you right now?

The Snap:

Jesus takes the stick of grace, snaps their trap from a safe distance, and stands up to face his questioners. He said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." (v.7b) The Word tells us that, "Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground." (v.8) He gave them plenty of time to think about what he just said, "He who is without sin", "He who is with out sin." His words now echoed through the caverns of their empty, joyless hearts and I can just imagine the tables have now been turned and a shiver runs up their spines.

Jesus knew what was in the hearts of those who accused the woman. He knew not even one of them under his terms could throw a single stone.

They began to leave one by one, slinking off like a snake to its den. Just as Jesus knew, they knew what treachery was in their hearts. They knew their own dark side and their sin was now condemning them as they stood before the one who knew no sin. They knew they were just as guilty as the woman they were condemning. The eldest left first, then the younger. We have a tendency to look at the gross errors of others and condemn them when all the time we have the same or worse issue in our own heart. I wrote a little poem a few years back that goes like this:

That which I loath in others
To my chagrin,
I find in my own heart
Abides within.

These men had a heart full of adulteries and other sins that condemned them in the light of Jesus' words, "If any one of you is without sin." Where are you this morning? Are you condemning someone who has been caught, or are you recognizing his or her, and your only hope is Jesus?

The Word then tells us Jesus stood up and asked her, "Woman where are they? Has no one condemned you?"(V. 10b) Her response brings a chill to my spine because I have at times been with that crowd, "No one, sir."(v.11) She was left alone with the only one who could rightfully condemn her. The sinless Son of God was now the only one who could pass judgment on her and he chooses not to. The Word tells us, "God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." (John 3:17) You see it was her own actions, just like the actions of the crowd, were what stood and condemned them. It will be our actions, which take the stand to accuse us, when we stand before the Lord during the judgment. That is why we teach the Word, so we have the opportunity to with God's help stop doing things that condemn us and start doing things that will glorify God.

The Wrap:

Jesus knowing the evil intentions of the Pharisees toward him and the woman, responds to her, "Then neither do I condemn you." (v. 11b) Jesus does not place himself in the shoes of her accusers. He knows that there is a judgment coming and she will give an account at that time. While he is here, he wants her to see the possibility of reconciliation with God. God loves us and wants us to be reconciled with him, to walk with him, to talk with him, to relate to him.

Now lest we think Jesus has gone soft on sin, we need to be reminded, that he has not. Even though the woman had gone through a traumatic morning, Jesus says to her, "Go now and leave your life of sin." (v.11c) Jesus tells her that a life of sin is unacceptable. That she needs to leave the practices she knows puts her in rebellion to God, his law, and his love.

We need to hear his words echo through the halls of our indulgences, "Leave your life of sin." We must leave behind anything that is contrary to God and His ways, and turn our hearts toward Jesus. We cannot be in fellowship with Christ and live in wickedness. I know there are theologies out there that say that sin and the Christian life are compatible, but these words of Jesus tell us differently.

Conclusion:

We have the opportunity to identify with any of the characters of the story this morning. Are we going to identify with the Pharisees, who were so comfortable with the religious system they had created in their own image, that they were willing to kill the one who challenged their beliefs? They were so wroth with Jesus they went to elaborate measures to trap and eventually kill him. What are you willing to do with the truth when you hear it? Do you discredit the bearer of the truth and in your mind nullify the message? Do you say as I have heard others say, "I don't care what the Bible says I am not going to change", or do you embrace it and allow it to displace the lies you have believed?

Are we going to identify with the woman in the story? She certainly draws our compassion. She had sinned, had been exposed and was now standing, waiting for judgment. If we have sin in our lives and the Spirit has revealed our hearts to us this morning, we are exposed. Do we stand here and feel sorry for ourselves, victims of some treacherous plot, or do we respond to Jesus and take responsibility for ourselves, and "go now and leave your life of sin"? (v.11c) Leaving our life of sin is the only acceptable alternative, otherwise at the judgment out sin will speak out against us.

On the other hand, do we identify with Jesus who had every right to condemn but chose not to and offered compassion instead? We can show those who are watching our lives that we truly are the children of God by the way we conduct the business of everyday life. When confronted with the failures and sins of others, we can choose to show compassion and direct the person to Christ and his forgiveness, rather than give condemnation. When confronted with truth, we can choose to embrace truth and let it displace the former lies we have embraced. When confronted with our own sin, we can admit, and confess and embrace the forgiveness of Christ, choosing to turn away from that sin. We have to make choices everyday as we live in this world; I pray that you will choose to live like Jesus.

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