|
|
Brave Grace John 8:1-11
A
man was in an accident, and his shoulder was slightly injured, but he
decided he could "stick" the insurance company for a nice bit of money.
He hired a lawyer who would go along with the plan, and they ended up in
court. The insurance company’s lawyer asked, "Mr. Smith, please show us
how much your shoulder was injured by the accident by extending that arm
upward as far as the shoulder will allow it to go."
The man obliged by raising his arm to a horizontal position and stopped.
"That’s it."
Then the lawyer said, "Mr. Smith, will you now please show us how far
you were able to raise that arm before the accident."
Again the man obliged and quickly raised his arm to the vertical so it
was pointing directly toward the ceiling.
Ooops!
Have you ever been caught red-handed?
Have you ever been caught when you were guilty and everyone knew it.
Like your humming along on the highway, and a policeman gets behind you
and puts on his lights.
I mean, isn’t that a wonderful feeling? And you really have nothing to
say, because you know that you were going way too fast.
When we do something wrong, its effects are often far reaching. Simply
said, sin makes an impact.
In today’s passage, a specific sin comes to the forefront. It is
adultery.
Adultery is a sin because it mocks what God has designed. God intended
for marriage to be between a man and a woman for life. God did not
intend for that to be ever broken, except by death. Adultery is a
betrayal. It is the breaking of an exclusive promise of loyalty and love
for one specific person.
And its effects are devastating.
Adultery wounds the spouse, it violates marriage and destroys society.
It wrecks homes, injures innocent children and breaks up friendships.
But most importantly, it attacks what God holds dear.
Adultery is a very hurtful sin. It is very hard to forgive. So when a
woman who is caught in adultery is brought to Jesus, it is a difficult
challenge. What will He do to a person that has violated and flaunted
the design of God?
Now I know that is some of your Bibles this passage does not appear. In
others it has been moved behind Luke 21:38, for some of us it is here
but with a warning saying that it does not appear in some of the oldest
manuscripts, and then in some Bibles it is right where it is supposed to
be. Why the controversy?
Most scholars agree that it is a part of the inspired scripture, but
according to Dr. Merrill Unger it was omitted from certain manuscripts
on purpose because the grace shown to the woman was unpalatable to
legalist.
For whatever reason there is conflict over this passage your teaher
believes that it is right where it is supposed to be and that it shows
us in four sections how Jesus handles conflict…and demonstrates a brave
grace.
The first is the CRIME John 8:1-3
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…
Notice the Setting: Where is Jesus again?
He is teaching in the temple. The temple is the place of spiritual life.
It is God’s place, His residence. So, for those that are concerned with
living according to God’s ways, this is the place to be.
The text tells us that Jesus came to the temple, and it was a long day.
People kept coming, and He kept teaching. But His time of teaching was
interrupted.
A private passion has become a public spectacle. The scribes and
Pharisees have someone they want Jesus to meet. It is a woman who has
been caught.
The doors had been flung open, and there she was, caught in the act. She
was found in the arms of someone that was not her husband. So, what had
been a private act is now known by all who will listen to the tale.
Everyone stares at her as the posse pushes her through the streets. She
is one that has brought shame upon herself.
But I think that it is very important that we notice that a shameful act
was outdone by a despicable one.
It was all a scheme. According to the law, there had to be two
eyewitnesses. So it makes one wonder, how long did they peer through the
window before they barged in?
How long did they wait before they flung that door open?
Did they think to warn her ahead of time, so that she wouldn’t sin?
Or perhaps they set it all up themselves so that they would have someone
to take to Jesus…
That brings us to the “CATCH-22” John 8: 4-6
…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 women. So what do you say?” This they said to test him, that
they might have some charge to bring against him.
Yes she’s caught, but she is only bait. They don’t care about the woman.
I don’t think they even cared about the adultery. For she is merely a
pawn in their game. She’s been framed. She knows it. After all, adultery
requires two. So I wonder
Where is the man?
Why isn’t he here as well?
It was just as likely that he was part of the scheme. It was a set-up.
And I am sure that she has no idea why.
Though the Law had been given to the people of Israel to guide them in
righteous and pure living, these leaders were using it as a weapon to
condemn. Adultery was one of many crimes that required the death
penalty. It ranked right in there alongside of murder, kidnapping, and
witchcraft.
For the Jews, stoning was the manner in which the death penalty was
issued. The person who was the accuser would cast the first stone. It
was to be of sufficient size in order to wound. Then everyone else would
fire away at the person until they were dead. It was a very messy way to
die.
But let me remind you that adultery was not the real issue in all of
this. And it was not the woman that they were really after.
The scribes and Pharisees wanted to get Jesus. They wanted to present to
Jesus a situation that was impossible to get out of. You see, though
they were to supposed to be the righteous leaders of the nation, their
motives were tarnished and their attitudes were godless. They wanted to
get rid of Jesus.
So here is the Dilemma: Would Jesus obey Moses or Rome?
It is a very difficult place to be in. They felt that they had Jesus no
matter what choice He made.
It was clear that the Law given to Moses said that she should die. So if
Jesus set aside the Law, the leaders would get Him in trouble with the
people.
But, if He went along with their plan and assented to the stoning of the
woman, then they would get him in trouble with Rome, because the Romans
forbid the death penalty unless they had given permission. The Romans
would come down hard on “mob rule.”
So it was a difficult dilemma.
But Jesus brings us to a very Unlikely Conclusion John 8: 6-9
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…
The finger that wrote the Ten Commandments and the warning on
Belshazzar’s wall begins to write again.
So we are left with one of the great theological questions of all time.
What did He write?
Some people think that this woman before Jesus was a woman of ill repute
and Jesus was writing the names of the men in the crowd that had been
with her.
Others believe that He is privately writing the sins of the accusers. He
does not say them out loud. Instead, as they come closer to Him and
press Him for a response, there before them in the sand is their private
sin. What they thought no one knew, Jesus did.
What ever He writes the text does tell us. Probably because it is
inconsequential to the salvation of man. Instead we are left with their
reaction to the truth that Jesus reveals that day.
You see the qualifications of the accusers are brought into question.
Jesus says, “Anyone here that has not sinned, they can go first!” And
there is this gigantic pause. There is no debate! There is not even any
discussion. The stones they were holding in their hands, dropped to the
ground. They were convicted by their own consciences, the accusers, one
by one, leave the scene.
Now Jesus shows how to show compassion John 8: 9-11
…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, and from now on sin no more.”
What I have always gained comfort in is the very fact that the One who
was qualified to point the finger refuses to do so.
Now that the jury is gone, the woman awaits her verdict. And the One who
can condemn, does not. The One who has power to pass judgment, amazingly
acquits. The words come that one desperately wants to hear… “Neither do
I condemn you.”
The I need you to notice that Jesus’ forgiveness did not give her
permission to remain and continue in her adultery.
You see Jesus gives us the opportunity to do it right.
When Jesus says, “Go and sin no more,” He is saying, “Stop making sin
the habit of your life.” You see, we need to understand this.
Jesus never merely excuses sin.
He never makes a place for it.
He never rationalizes it.
He forgives and forbids it in the same breath.
APPLICATION:
Jesus continues to pass on a message to us, but it is not written in the
sand. It is written on the cross. It is not written with His hand, but
with his blood.
Jesus continues to leave a message for us: “Not Guilty.”
So many of us live with negative labels. Sometimes they are not our own
fault. But so many times they are of our own doing. And as a result, we
think that our story is one of failure and shame. But you know, it
doesn’t have to be. Because our story can be a story of grace. For it is
grace that fixes broken lives. It is grace that heals broken hearts and
restores estranged sinners.
Next Jesus points us to what we are intended to be.
We don’t have to live in our past. We don’t have live with the label. We
don’t have to live a life that is powerless in the face of temptation
and sin. We are chosen for something more.
None of us deserve to be on God’s team. We haven’t earned it. Nor have
we paid the price ourselves. Yet, in His grace, Jesus chooses us to be
on the best team in the universe.
Finally we need to know that we can also experience and exhibit a brave
grace.
It is a brave grace that does not count our sin against us. It seems to
me that it would be easier for God to say, “Let them get what they
deserve.” But that is not the kind of God that He is. He is a God that
exhibits grace so that we might experience forgiveness, His brave grace.
Let us never forget. Grace is free to us, but it is not cheap. And it is
a grace that we are called on to imitate. For it is a brave grace that
looks beyond what someone has done and sees what they can be. As
Christians, this is the kind of grace we not only experience, but we are
to exhibit as well, so that we may be as Christ…people of grace.
Today I pray that we will be able to
Experience grace
Know today that whatever wrong you have done, no matter what it is, or
what people think, can be forgiven; for Jesus has paid the penalty for
your sin, and He freely offers you an acquittal.
Come into contact with grace
know today that God is willing to let the past be the past if you are
willing to “go and sin no more;” He gives grace to enable you to be what
you are intended to be.
Exhibit grace
once you have experienced grace, it is now time to how it; we too are to
be people of grace and see each individual the way God does, as a person
needing unconditional love.
|
