John 8:1-12: “A Woman Caught
In The Act Of Adultery Is Brought To Jesus”
By
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In our last study we looked at verses 31-53 of chapter 7.
1.1.1. We saw that it was the last day of the Feast of
Tabernacles, six months before the Passover when Jesus would be crucified, and
Jesus stood up and cried out inviting anyone who is thirsty to come to Him and
drink, for he who believes in Him rivers of living water would from his
innermost being.
1.1.2. We saw much symbolism in that feast and how that
Jesus’ standing up and crying out on that last day of the feast occurred
because He saw Himself as the prophetic fulfillment of that feast, especially
the water rite ceremony that was held on every day but the last day because the
Messiah had not yet arrived. The water
rite symbolized the rain of harvest and the rain of harvest looked forward to
the Messianic fulfillment of blessing in the last days, and Jesus knew He was
that fulfillment.
1.1.3. We looked briefly at the candlestick ceremony that
occurred on the first day of that feast, and the symbolism fulfilled by Jesus
in that ceremony as well.
1.2.
In our
study today, we are going to look at verses 1-12 of chapter 8.
1.2.1. Our present study occurs as a parenthesis that John
includes in his telling of the events of this Feast of Tabernacles attended by
Jesus six months before His crucifixion.
We will continue with more about the Feast of Tabernacles in our next
study, but in today’s study we will concentrate just upon this story of the woman
caught in adultery brought to Jesus.
1.2.2. The last time that I taught this message my family had
just recently moved to
1.2.3. As soon as
we begin to look at this study we are struck by a complication because most
older and well respected manuscripts do not contain this section of scripture
(appearing in only one manuscript older than 500
AD), and, the oldest Christian writers do not comment at all about it
(According to Wikpedia, “…at least two Greek
authors did in fact know all about the passage, namely Nicon (10th century) and
Didymus the Teacher (Alexandria, 310-390).”). Also, there is question as to whether or not
John actually wrote the account because of some of the grammar used.
1.2.3.1.One does
have to be careful making too big of a point about the difference in grammar that
a writer might use because different subject matters sometimes will be written
using different grammar.
1.2.4. Theories for
why this story may have been removed from the gospel of John early in the
history of the church :
1.2.4.1.Many believe
that this story was taken out of the gospel account very early in church
history because the church leaders feared that it would promote
promiscuity.
1.2.4.2.Others
believe that the story survived only through folk lore but is none-the-less
accurate, although it was not originally part of any of the gospels.
1.2.5. However,
most modern translations include the section, but have it in braces since it
may not have been a part of the original writing by John.
1.2.6. There are a number of reasons that people have for
believing that this portion of the gospel of John came under the inspiration of
the Holy Spirit, including :
1.2.6.1.Arthur Pink points out that if you take out verse 53
of chapter 7 through verse 11 of chapter 8 that the events do not align or
transition smoothly, for instance :
1.2.6.1.1.In 7:45, the Pharisees are seen somewhere other than
the temple, but in 8:13 the Pharisees are suddenly in the temple without any
explanation of how they got there.
However, the verses in our text provide a smooth and logical transition
to the Pharisees being in the temple.
1.2.6.1.2.Verse 8:12 says, “Then spoke Jesus,” but when
did He say this to them? The context
with this section of scripture removed makes a very rough transition, however
with this section in place the flow is smooth because it occurred right after
the interruption by the Pharisees with the woman caught in the act of adultery.
1.2.6.1.3.The contents of this section of scripture fit
perfectly together with what John has been teaching us about Jesus thus far.
1.2.6.2.Arthur Pink mentions also in his commentary on this
book that many people have referred to the story as the pictorial illustration
of the book of Romans or the gospel according to the book of Romans. The story we will study shows all of the
aspects of the gospel as taught by Paul in Romans.
1.2.6.3.This section of scripture so reveals the truths of the
gospel and the heart of the Lord as seen in the scripture that it must have
come under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
1.2.7. Because I strongly believe that this section of
scripture came about by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and from John’s pen,
I will teach it.
1.2.8. This story is very important because it brings out how
that the holiness and justice of God can be reconciled with His love and
mercy. In this story, the Pharisees set
a trap for Jesus by bringing to Him a woman who is caught in the very act of
adultery in order to see if He will extend mercy to her (showing to the
Pharisees that He is in rebellion against the Law –a capital crime) or call for
her to be stoned (showing to the masses that He really cannot extend mercy and
grace to all and be considered a friend of sinners and tax gatherers). Once again, Jesus foils a plot formed by the
Pharisees.
2.
VS
7:53-8:2 - “Everyone went to his home. But Jesus went to the
2.1.1. This story
does seem to fit into the time frame of chapter 8 in the gospel of John. In chapter 7, Jesus had been teaching in the
temple during the Feast of Tabernacles, and it would follow that Jesus could
have come back to the temple early in the day after the feast and begin again
to teach.
2.1.2. Jesus sought
the Lord early each day and on this day even went into the temple early in the
morning. Seeking the Lord early in the
morning each day is a great blessing to God’s people and really ought to be our
habit as it helps us start and keep proper focus on the Lord throughout our
day.
2.1.3. We see from
7:53 that after the events recorded in chapter 7 of the last great day of the
Feast of Tabernacles that the Pharisees dispersed and each went to his own
home, Jesus went to the
2.1.4. Many people
might have still been hanging around the temple after the feast, therefore it
is not unusual that they would have all been attracted to hear Jesus teach
again. Jesus had stood during the feast
to cry out, but here He assumes a seated position in order to teach, as was the
habit of the teachers in that day.
3.
VS
8:3-4 - “And the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in
adultery, and having set her in the midst, they said to Him, ‘Teacher, this
woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act’.” - The scribes and Pharisees bring to Jesus a
woman who had been caught in the act of adultery and through her before Jesus
to test Him to see what He might do with her
3.1.
The
tradition of the church was that this woman was Mary Magdalene, however that
fact is not verified anywhere.
3.2.
There is no doubt of the sin which this woman
committed, for she was caught ‘in the very act,’ and the scriptures
clearly teach in the 10 commandments that adultery is a sin (“Thou shalt not commit adultery” – Ex 20:14, Deut 5:18).
3.3.
In a sense this woman symbolizes all men and women for
all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23), and the wages
of sin is death (
3.4.
The brutality of the Pharisees in bringing this woman
publicly before Jesus and accusing her publicly of this act, was very
great. She suffered the greatest shame
imaginable. And, the Pharisees weren’t
interested in real justice being carried out in the first place.
3.5.
Though the Law of Moses provided for stoning for those
caught in the act of adultery, the Jews had long since stopped carrying out
this punishment. First of all they were prevented by the Romans for
carrying out any capital punishment, thus we will see at the end of this gospel
that the Jews have to get permission from the Roman officials in order to have
Jesus crucified.
3.6.
The court of the Sanhedrin was next to where Jesus
was, so the Pharisees could have been intending to bring her to the court, and
then conceived of this plot and brought the woman to Jesus. In any case, the whole incident was a setup
for Jesus planned by the Pharisees. The
Devil is both a “roaring lion” as well as a “beguiling serpent”
and he is the one working behind the scenes in this deceptive plot to bring
down the son of God and prevent Him from fulfilling His mission of going to the
cross for the sins of mankind.
3.7.
When this woman is brought to Jesus He could have
asked the people, ‘Where is the man?’
By the law, the man and the woman were to be brought to be stoned to
death. There should only be a crime of
this sort prosecuted where both the man and the woman are tried.
4.
VS
8:5-6 - “‘Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?’ And they were saying this, testing Him, in
order that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down, and with His finger
wrote on the ground.” - The
Pharisees who brought the woman caught in adultery to Jesus remind Him that the
Law states that the woman is to be stoned for this act as they were testing Him
to see what He would do in this situation
4.1.
The Law of Moses had stated that if a man and woman
were caught committing adultery, that they should be killed. However, in Leviticus, if the woman was not
married but betrothed to a man, the crime was more heinous, and they were to be
stoned.
4.2.
However, the Jews had long since stopped killing
anyone, even those who had committed murder.
The Roman law had forbid the Jews from having the power of execution of
criminals, and the Romans themselves would not execute anyone for the crime of
adultery.
4.3.
The motive of the Pharisees is described in these
verses as being to ‘test Him.’
They were trying to set up Jesus in a situation where they would have
cause to have Him executed, and as happened to them a few times they thought
that they had conceived a foolproof plot to murder Him, or have Him discredited
as a teacher and leader of the people :
4.3.1.
If Jesus said that the woman should be killed, then He
would be breaking the Roman law which forbid capital punishment by the Jews for
any crime. The Pharisees would turn
Jesus over to Roman law for prosecution.
4.3.2.
If Jesus deferred to the Romans then He would be
discredited as a teacher and upholder of the Jewish Law.
4.3.3.
If Jesus said that she should not be stoned, then the
Pharisees would say that Jesus did not uphold and accept the Law of Moses, and
thus He would be accused of blasphemy and lawlessness and recommended for
stoning.
4.3.4.
If the crowd at Jesus’ coercion stoned the woman the
Pharisees would hold Jesus responsible for the act.
4.3.5.
If Jesus said that the woman should be stoned, then He
would lose His following of the common people, tax gatherers and sinners. They looked to Him as being one who was
friendly and kind to sinners.
4.4.
What Jesus did when the woman was brought to Him
though was to stoop down, ignoring the request by the Pharisees, and begin to
draw in the sand on the temple floor.
What He wrote, we do not know for sure.
Many theories have been concocted, however we have no idea :
4.4.1.
Perhaps Jesus stooped down and began to write in the
sand sins which He knew that His accusers had been guilty of.
4.4.2.
Perhaps He wrote in the sand the names of women that
the men present on that day had had illegal and adulterous affairs with
themselves.
4.4.3.
Perhaps Jesus wrote the names of the men and then an
arrow to the many sins which they were guilty of performing themselves.
4.4.4.
Perhaps just as the finger of God had written the 10
Commandments on the stone on the top of
4.4.4.1.Note that
just as the Lord twice wrote those commandments on the stone for Moses and the
children of Israel (the first tablets Moses had thrown on the ground and broken
when the children of Israel had rebelled against the Lord) that in our story
Jesus twice sits down to write in the sand.
4.4.4.2.Note also
that it is the word of God that convicts these men on this day of their sin
thus disabling them from being able to stone the woman to death.
4.5.
Jesus refused to be placed in the position of being a
civil magistrate. He was not appointed
to judge civil matters, and thus He ignores this request. On another occasion, Jesus refused to
arbitrate between two brothers in an ‘inheritance’ related civil
matter. Jesus’ mission was not to carry
out the judicial proceedings of the law of Moses, but rather to die for the
sins of those condemned under the law of Moses.
Jesus came to ‘seek and save the lost,’ so He stated.
5.
VS
8:7-8 - “But when they persisted in asking Him, ‘He straightened up, and said
to them, ‘He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw at
stone at her’.” - As the men
continued to pester Him about what He would do Jesus answered that the man
among them who was without sin, let him throw the first stone
5.1.
Jesus didn’t deny that in this situation the Law of
Moses had indeed been broken. In fact,
He didn’t deny that the punishment for the sin of adultery was death. Instead, Jesus spoke to the conscience of the
accusing group of people.
5.2.
This story does not just show the difference between
the Old and New Testament covenants, one being of a covenant of law and the
other being a covenant of grace. There
is not an Old Testament God and a New Testament God, but the same God is God of
both covenants.
5.3.
Some Jews have been critical of Jesus for not calling
for this woman to be stoned for they believe that since the Law called for
stoning in such situations that Jesus should have called for it. However, if we look at the scriptures we see
that there is scriptural precedence where the Lord forgave a repentant person’s
sin rather than having him stoned as he justly deserved. For instance :
5.3.1.
In the Old Testament we are all familiar with the sin
of adultery of King David. By the Law of
Moses he deserved stoning, however we read in Psalm 51:1 about his calling out
to the Lord because of His “hesed” (steadfast love), and the Lord
forgave David’s sin, “1 Be gracious to me, O God, according to
Your lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my
transgressions.”
5.3.2.
Also, Hosea was called by the Lord to marry a
prostitute, and after he married her she committed adultery and even had
children by other men. However, the Lord
told Hosea to take back his wife to himself.
5.4.
In the Old
Testament times, a repentant sinner could come to the priest in repentance and
offer a sacrifice to have his sin atoned for, and most sins could be covered
without the need for justice. The
rebellious and defiant against God deserved stoning.
5.5.
In the Law of Moses, we read in Deut. 13:9 about how
that whenever this law was carried out that one of the witnesses had to be the
first to put the person to death, “9 “But you shall surely kill
him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterwards
the hand of all the people.”
However, this entire incident had been a setup from the beginning,
therefore these men did not have clear consciences in carrying out this
stoning. Jesus turns the tables around
on these accusers by saying that the person who carries out this stoning must
not be someone who is guilty of the same offense, or worse offenses. From a moral perspective this makes perfect
sense. How could you ever judge and
condemn someone else when you are just as guilty and in the wrong as they are.
5.5.1.
This same concept is brought out by Jesus in Matt.
7:3-5, “3 “Why do you look at the speck
that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own
eye? 4 “Or how can you say to your brother,
‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own
eye? 5 “You hypocrite, first take the
log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of
your brother’s eye.”
5.6.
Ten years
ago at this time we were in our first church plant and received word that our
home church pastor had fallen into an adulterous relationship and had been
removed from pastoring the church. The
next Sunday all of the men who had gone out from that church and planted
churches in other cities came back to be with the mother church and help with
the healing that was needed. After a
long time of tearful worship, the man that gave the Sunday morning message that
day got up and one of the things that he said illustrates this story very well,
“Today, the only thing that is different about our sin and our pastor’s sin
that he has committed is that his sin is being made public, and our is not.”
5.7.
Ironically, these men who came to shame this woman and
convict Jesus end up being shamed themselves and convicted by Jesus of their
own sin.
5.8.
These men had no right to judge this woman for a sin
that they themselves had committed, or when they had committed worse sins than
the sin of this woman!
5.9.
The only one without sin and worthy to condemn this
woman instead pardons her.
5.10.
I
mentioned that this woman caught in adultery represents all of us as sinners
before God. If the truth were known
about each of us, we would all deserve stoning for we have all broken all of
God’s laws over and over, whether in thoughts of the heart or in our
actions. It is only because of God’s
grace extended to us that we can inherit eternal life and be forgiven of our
sins. It is only because of having our
sins which are too numerous to count forgiven that we now desire to please the
Lord and do good works for Him. Being
sinners of a fallen race we could never be good enough in and of ourselves to
deserve any of God’s love and grace which He extends o us.
5.11.
We Christians need to be careful not to be cruelly
judgmental of others, for when we are judgmental we must also admit that we
ourselves do the same things for which we condemn others. Jesus said that to hate is the same as to
commit murder, and I should think it would be rare to meet someone who has
never hated anyone at some time or another.
Likewise, we have all broken many or all of God’s laws in our heart and
thoughts, or by committing sins of omission (good deeds that the Lord knows we
ought to be performing with our time).
6.
VS
8:9 - “And when they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning
with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in
the midst.” - One by one
the men began leaving Jesus and the woman, beginning with the older ones
6.1.
When God speaks to the conscience of these men through
His word, their shame causes them to have to leave. As I mentioned, some have thought that Jesus
was writing the sins of these men in the sand, or perhaps their names and sins,
or perhaps just the 10 commandments, but whatever it was that He wrote, these
men were humiliated before God and began to leave.
6.2.
It is sad that as with these Pharisees, the sin of
some men drives them away from the presence of the Lord, for if they would come
to the Lord He has provided for the forgiveness and covering of their sins
through the shed blood of Christ.
6.3.
It is significant that the older men left first, for
perhaps they had more to be ashamed of, and therefore a greater sense of shame
or sensibility about them. Perhaps this
happened because time has a way of humbling a man and making him realize just
how sinful he is.
7.
VS
8:10-11 - “And straightening up, Jesus said to her,
‘Woman, where are they? Did no one
condemn you?’ And she said, ‘No one
Lord’. ‘Neither do I condemn you; go your way.
From now on sin no more’.” - Jesus asks
the woman where her accusers have gone, then tells her that He does not condemn
her either, then sends her off to sin no more
7.1.
After all of the men had left, Jesus straightened up,
and looking at the woman for the first time in the eye, asked her if anyone
condemned her. He tells her that He
Himself would not condemn her.
7.2.
This woman deserved stoning on this day for breaking
the Law. Jesus alone could have justly
stoned her to death on this day for no one else there besides Jesus was
sinless. Among all men who have ever
lived Jesus alone was without sin.
7.3.
Jesus hates sin.
However, Jesus also loves sinners.
Jesus would in time die for the sin of that woman, paying the full price
for her punishment.
7.4.
Jesus’ justice was tempered by His mercy, and though
He could justly condemn, He chose to have mercy and forgive her. He knew that her heart was repentant and that
His future death on Calvary’s cross would satisfy God’s justice against her for
her sins, and therefore He simply sends her away with a warning to sin no
more.
7.5.
We assume that this woman was saved on this day and
was a changed person from that day forth, and that she did go on to live a life
to please God. It has been said also
that Jesus’ warning to her to sin no more was not so much of a warning but
rather a declaration of what she had now become, that she would sin no more.
7.6.
It is important to note the order of the things that
Jesus says to this woman. He doesn’t say
to her, “Sin no more and I will not condemn you.” Rather, He tells her that He does not condemn
her for her sins and then He warns her to sin no longer. Jesus’ pardon and forgiveness of this woman
was undeserved, she could never do enough good to deserve pardon, and this
describes accurately the way in which all men and women come to Jesus. We are not saved by our works or as a result
of our works. Rather, we are saved and thus
we begin to produce good works as a by product of having received salvation and
the change of heart and nature which accompany salvation.
7.7.
We Christians need to realize that Jesus tells us, ‘There
is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,’ Rom.
8:1. We have all received a full pardon
from the highest court in all of the created universe. Though we could be justly convicted for a
multitude of sins too great to count, the judge Himself has left His judicial
bench to take the penalty which we deserved, so that we might be set free and
totally exonerated from all wrong.
7.8.
Jesus will be the judge on that day of judgment, both
for believers as well as unbelievers.
However, we believers have this to look forward to when we stand before
Him. He will also say to us on that day,
‘Neither do I condemn you!’
7.9.
We Christians need to also extend grace and love to
others as Jesus did. Our tendency as men
is to be like the man who was forgiven a huge debt, and then he goes and
cruelly beats the man who owes him a small debt, see Matt. 18:23-35. We should freely and fully forgive others
just as Christ has forgiven us!
7.10.
Our calling as Christians in the church is to restore
those who sin, not to judge, condemn, criticize, and ostracize them.
8.
CONCLUSIONS:
8.1.
As we
conclude this story, I must ask you today if you have had the full pardon of
your sins by Jesus? Are you still like
this woman when she was initially brought to Jesus, guilty before God of having
broken His laws over and over, and justly facing the penalty of the Law
(eternal death)? Or, have you come
repentant before Him and trusted that Jesus and His death upon Calvary’s cross
has forgiven you and given you the free gift of eternal life (Rom. 6:23) ? I encourage you to do repent of your sins,
turn the lordship of your life to Jesus, and trust in Him and His gift for you
today, if you haven’t done so already.
8.2.
In Numbers
chapter 5 there is a legal procedure that a man could go through if he
suspected his wife of being unfaithful.
He could take her to the priest, make an offering to the Lord, and then
priest would make the woman drink water mixed with dust. If the woman had been unfaithful to her
husband this concoction would cause her abdomen to swell and her thigh to waste
away, revealing her guilt before the Lord.
At the temple on this day, the very men who sought to shame this woman
and bring down Jesus with their evil plot, end up revealing their
unfaithfulness to the Lord. The Jewish
nation would now begin to suffer illness and swelling of the abdomen, and their
thighs would waste away, rendering them unable to continue as God’s people and
nation in their unique calling among the nations. Soon, in just 40 years the nation would be
conquered by