The Woman Caught in Adultery

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Lord You might expect Jesus to say, Well, I'm still here. He doesn't do that. Jesus said to her, The sweetest words. That any human being could ever hear From his lips Neither Do I? Condemn you.

Those are sweet words, aren't they? The gospel truly is amazing. This is the Lord's Day edition of Renewing Your Mind, and I'm glad you've joined us. Over the next few Sundays, we'll be spending time in the Gospel of John with Dr. R.C.

Sproll. considering some of the encounters that Jesus had with people during his earthly ministry. And today, we meet the woman caught in adultery. Let's join Dr. Sproll now.

Our scripture this morning is from the Gospel according to St. John. I'll be reading from chapter 8, verses 1 through 12. Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

Now, early in the morning, he came again to the temple. And all the people came to him. And he sat down and taught them. And then the scribes and the Pharisees brought to him a woman. Caught in adultery.

And when they had set her in the midst, they said to him, Teacher. This woman was caught in adultery in the very act.

Now Moses in the law commanded us. That such should be stoned But what do you say? And this they said, testing him, That they might have something of which to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down. and wrote on the ground with his finger As though he did not hear.

And so when they continued asking him, he raised himself up and said to them. He is without sin among you. Let him throw a stone at her first. And again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. And 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. And when Jesus had raised himself up and saw no one but the woman. He said to her, Woman.

Were those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you? And she said, No one, Lord. And Jesus said to her, Neither do I condemn you. Go And sin no more And then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, I am the light of the world.

He who follows me shall not walk in darkness. But have the light of life.

Some of you may not find this particular passage at the beginning of the Gospel of John in the eighth chapter. In biblical scholarship, We distinguish between two types of criticism that is directed towards the Bible. The first is called higher criticism. That really criticizes the content of the Bible itself. It is a task with which I am not very enamored.

But in addition to higher criticism, there's also what's called lower criticism. or textual criticism. which is a very exact science By which efforts are made to reconstruct as best as possible. The original text of Scripture. Frankly, the best manuscripts from antiquity.

Do not include this story. in the Gospel according to Saint John. The overwhelming consensus Of textual critics is that it was not part of the original Gospel of John, at least, not in this portion of John. At the same time. The overwhelming consensus is that this account Authentic.

It's apostolic. And it should be. contained in any edition of the New Testament. Let's Look then at this text that has created so much difficulty. And early in the morning, Jesus came to the temple.

All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. And while he's in the midst of this teaching experience, We're told the scribes and the Pharisees, let me just comment on that briefly.

Sometimes we have a tendency to think that the scribes and the Pharisees were one and the same group. They weren't. The scribes were the theologians. The scribes were the jurists, and they were called lawyers because they were the experts in interpreting the Old Testament law. Pharisees were a party, they were a group.

Now, many of the scribes were members of the Pharisee party. And vice versa. Many of the Pharisees were scribes. But not all scribes were Pharisees, and not all Pharisees were scribes. And so John makes a distinction, or whoever wrote this pericope.

Here we have the scribes and the Pharisees together, the theologians and the rulers of the Jews. dragging a woman who's been caught in adultery. And they set her in the midst, right there, where Jesus is engaged in teaching his lecture. Here he's interrupted by this kangaroo court of leaders of the Pharisees and scribes dragging this woman. in her embarrassment.

And they make the announcement. Teacher. A rabbi. This woman was caught in adultery. In the very act.

And Moses in the law commands that such should be stoned. What do you say?

Now what's wrong with this picture already? If this woman was caught in the act... Where's her partner? Did he flee for his life? Did he escape?

Or was this woman a victim of unbelievable chauvinism? by the Pharisees and the scribes who singled out The feminine member In this as the guilty party. and dragged her for public exposure. Maybe the man Was someone of such importance that they didn't want to. Get him in trouble.

We don't know. But you have to ask the question. Where is he? But instead they take the one most defenseless. The woman And they bring her in her shame for public humiliation.

And they're doing this. obviously not for their zeal for the law. In one sense, this episode reflects the depths towards which. The Pharisees had deteriorated. The term Pharisee means separated one.

During the intertestamental period. In the post-exilic time of Israel, many of the people had moved away. from zealous obedience to the law of God. They were cavalier about obeying the terms of God's covenant with his people. And so, a group of people who were committed to spiritual, moral, and theological reform.

Bandit Together. In an effort to purify the Jewish community. And they committed themselves. To zealous and passionate pursuit of obedience to the law. And so they were called the separated ones, the Pharisees.

They were the Puritans of ancient Israel. They were the people of the Reformed faith of ancient Israel. They were us. In ancient Israel. But they began with a godly passion and zeal to obey the law of Moses.

But on this occasion, we are told why they bring this woman, not because they were zealous for the law. They didn't bring her because they were scandalized by her behavior and wanted Jesus to clean up Jerusalem. No. We are told why they brought her here. To put Jesus to the test.

This woman was being used. By the Scribes and the Pharisees. In order to trap Jesus. Can you imagine someone who's really zealous for the things of God? Using a person in this kind of a situation.

To destroy the Son of God. But that's what was going on.

Now what's the test? They say to him. Moses in the law commanded that such a person should be stoned. What do you say?

And this they said, testing him that they might have something of which to accuse him. Accuse him to whom? What's the deal here? What's the subject of the test?

Well, during Roman occupation, The Romans gave much self-rule to those nations that they conquered. They let them practice their religion. They let them have a strong measure of freedom. But they did not allow vassal nations. Two exercise the death penalty in capital cases.

If someone was to be put to death for a crime in a Roman province, it had to be through the Roman judicial system. That's why Jesus. was sentenced by Pilate and not by Caiaphas. But you know that the people hate Roman occupation. And they're following after Jesus.

And the sly Pharisees are setting up Jesus, putting him in this test, because if Jesus says, stone the woman Then they're going to run right to the Roman headquarters and say this preacher out here is advocating that we exercise capital punishment against somebody here and to do it without going through the Roman system. And so they get Jesus in trouble with the Romans. But if he says Don't stone her. Then they can run back to the Sanhedrin and say this Jesus really is a heretic because he denies the law of Moses. And Moses' law requires that such be executed.

By the way, they say in here that such be executed by stoning. There Another little excursion here. You have to distinguish among three sins. Fornication is unjustifiable sexual relationships between unmarried people. Adultery to the Jew was an involvement sexually between two people, at least one of whom was married.

Also Under Jewish law, if a woman was engaged Or if the man was engaged but not yet married. And either of them was unfaithful sexually with another partner. That was also considered adultery, even though they weren't yet married. And The specific mode of execution For the despoiling of an engaged woman was Stoning. Regular adultery was death by execution, but it didn't necessarily prescribe stoning.

They could do it other ways. But stoning was particularly required for a woman who was not yet married.

So, anyway, this is the test. And they have Jesus on the horns of a dilemma. If he says, Stone her, he's in trouble with the Romans. If he says, Don't stone her, he's in trouble with the Jewish headquarters.

So no matter how he answers the question. He's in serious trouble. And that's exactly what they were trying to do.

So what does Jesus do? Given a lecture on capital punishment? No, listen to what he does. It's incredible. But Jesus stooped down.

And wrote on the ground. with his finger As though he didn't hear them. Wow, if there's any verse in all of the Bible that sparked speculation, it's this one. And the question, the $64,000 question is What did he write? This is the only occasion we have in Scripture that ever says that Jesus ever wrote anything.

Now we know he was literate, but he didn't write an autobiography, at least that we know of, and he didn't write any epistles or any treatises in theology or religion. This is the only occasion we hear of Jesus writing anything. And he's writing like the quarterback in a sandlot football game when the huddle is on everybody's knees and the play is drawn in the dirt. He's kneeling over on the ground. These Pharisees and scribes are waiting for him to answer his question.

And he kneels over and starts writing in the dirt.

Now, again, we have to be careful about speculation. Calvin said, where God closes his holy mouth, let us desist from inquiry. But sometimes the temptation is just too great. To not speculate, and scholars have speculated through the ages on what was going on here with this particular action by Jesus. One of them goes back to an Old Testament text where God says, That for those who are disobedient to him, The handwriting of the law will be written in the sand.

And some say Jesus is symbolically reminding these Pharisees. That the finger of God is going to be written in the sand against them one of these days. And maybe that's what was going on. Another view is that Jesus We're simply doodling. Just to gather some time, he's being impaled on the horns of this dilemma.

They're waiting for an answer. He says, wait a minute, I have to think about this.

So he scribbles in the sand while he's thinking about his reply. It's another speculation. My favorite speculation is the one that I'm next to positive really happened. Because It is linked with when Jesus says, Let him who is without sin Pick up the first stone. And then he goes back to write some more.

Now, in Roman law, before a judge would give his verdict, He would write it down. And then announce it. But I don't think Jesus is doing that either because this isn't a Roman court. My guess is that he gets down in the dirt. He looks at one of them.

And he writes Embezzler Let's the guy see what he's writing. That guy clears his throat. and slinks away. Or the next one. He writes Murderer.

And the murderer leaves. Or Perhaps even more precise, notice he said, He who is without sin Cast the first stone. And the specific content of that phrase. Refers to the Old Testament practice that if you accuse somebody of a capital offense, You yourself must be on hand to throw the stones. You have to participate in the execution.

And so the sin that Jesus has in mind, perhaps, is the same sin for which they're ready to convict this woman. And it just could be that he's surrounded by a bunch of idolaters. And so he looks at Sam. And he writes Judy. He drops his stone and walks away.

He looks at Frank. And write Sarah. Whoops. There goes his reputation. And I kind of think that this is the way it's going to be on the Day of Judgment, folks.

That none of us It's going to be going out of our way. To go to the rock pile And when Jesus says, Let him who is without sin cast the first stone. He is not by that. completely destroying the whole Judicial system of the law of God. What he is speaking to.

are people who hypocritically Are bloodthirsty in their desire to shame and punish people who have fallen. who have no concept Of the grace of God. It is not wrong to punish criminals. For their crimes. The Bible does not teach that it's wrong to punish criminals.

But it is wrong. They have a kangaroo court. And it is wrong to drag this person and to add insult to her injury. And so Jesus deals with the manifest hypocrisy of these who are judging this woman. And one by one.

They walk away. And the woman is left. Alone. With the only person present. Who meets the qualification?

that Jesus had given for carrying out the execution. Notice Jesus doesn't hedge between the Jewish law and the Roman law. He sides with Moses. He gives his verdict. She's guilty, stone her.

Then he appointed the executioners. And found them. Lacking. But again, the only one Qualified to do it. The only one who was out sinned.

was Jesus. And so after all the rest of the accusers Lee. And he's left alone with the woman. He said, Woman. Where are your accusers?

Has no one condemned you? And the only words that recorded for us in this entire passage that come from the lips of the woman. Or is the simple reply to Jesus' question when she says, No one, Lord.

Now the word there is Lord, it's curious. It could mean that she simply sang, No one, sir. Because the lowest form of the use of that word curios was the polite form of address to a man. She maybe just simply say, No one's here, sir. Or By the grace of God.

Her eyes may have been opened to understand. that she was in the presence of her redeeming lord And there's more in that word. than might meet the eye at first, But she says, There's no one here to accuse me. Lord You might expect Jesus to say, Well, I'm still here. He doesn't do that.

Jesus said to her, The sweetest words Than any human being. Could ever hear From his lips. Neither Do I? Condemn you. As Lem Barney once said when we were speaking together in a prison.

He said, If that doesn't turn you on. You don't have any switches. If you can't relate to that. Then your heart has been hardened. Because beloved That is How each one of us stands in the presence of God.

Because we're naked. And ashamed. Before him. But Christ has stood in our midst. and has clothed us with the cloak of his righteousness, covered our nakedness.

covered our shame. and said to us Maser. Do I Condemn you. And then what?

Now that grace has abounded, let sin abound. No, no, no. But he says to her, don't do this anymore. Be done with this kind of life. Go now in peace.

Go now in newness of life, Go now in your forgiveness. And sin No. More. And may the Lord help us to live faithfully and sin no more. That was R.

C. Sproll on this Sunday edition of Renewing Your Mind, preaching from John chapter 8. Dr. Sproll preached through the entirety of John's gospel, and those sermons were brought together to form his pastoral commentary on John. If you'd like a copy, you can request a hardcover volume when you give a donation in support of Renewing Your Mind and RenewingYourMind.org.

or by using the link in the podcast show notes. Use this resource to aid in your Bible study or as part of your devotional reading. This offer does end at midnight, so give your gift now at renewingyourmind.org.

Next time, we'll learn about the Son of Man. the one who does nothing of himself, but only as his Father taught him.

So be sure to join us next Sunday here. on Renewing Your Mind.