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John 7:53-8:11 Key Verse: 8:12 NEITHER DO I CONDEMN YOU “‘No one, sir,’ she said. ‘Then neither do I condemn you,’ Jesus declared. ‘Go now and leave your life of sin.’” (11) In today’s passage Jesus confronts religious leaders. They want to catch Jesus in a trap. The bait is a sinful woman. With divine wisdom, Jesus avoids the trap. More than that, Jesus saves the woman from their hands and gives her a new life. We can learn that Jesus did not come to condemn, but to save sinners. We also can learn how Jesus can forgive sinner. Part 1. Jesus teaches the word of God (7:53-8:2). Look at verse 53. “Then each went to his own home.” The Feast of Tabernacles had lasted eight days. After enjoying the feast for 8 days, people went to his own home dragging the tired body and feeling a sense of emptiness. However, Jesus went to the mountainside. Why did Jesus go to the mountainside? Actually, Jesus did not have a home. Instead Jesus went to a mountainside to pray to God. The Mount of Olives was Jesus’ home of prayer. After teaching the word of God at the noisy and crowded feast, Jesus was also tired. Jesus needed some rest. What did Jesus do at the mountainside? Jesus went to God in prayer. Jesus renewed his strength through prayer. Jesus made a new decision to serve God through prayer. Jesus recharged his holy passion to please God through prayer. The source of strength and the spirit of Jesus were always renewed from praying to God in a solitary place. Jesus well knew about how to rest in God. Sometimes we also feel tired in doing the work of God. We can learn from Jesus that we should also renew our strength for spiritual battle through prayer in a solitary place. Look at verse 2. “At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them.” It is interesting that many people were in the temple courts. They were spiritually thirsty. When they found Jesus they were so happy. They gathered around Jesus and picked up their ears and listen. What did Jesus do at that time? Jesus always taught the word of God because only God’s word can give people a living water and light in their life. The word of God is everlasting so that it can fill us with eternal happiness and eternal life. Ecclesiates 3:11 says "God has also set eternity in the hearts of men". We human being was created as eternal being, that is why we can never be satisfied with transient things in this world. The eternity in our mind can only be satisfied with the eternal word of God. Now, we are in the season of 2010 World Cup. Many people went crazy about the soccer in the stadium, streets, alcohol bar or beach, wherever big TV screens are elected. We also enjoyed watching TV last Thursday, the big match of Korean team against Argentina. It started with high expectation inspired by mass media possibly to beat the Argentina, but ended with high disappointment. The people all around the world became hyper with the feast of World Cup watching TV day and night. However, their frenzy will fade away soon at least in a month. After that they are likely to be distressed with World cup syndrome. Nothing in this world can satisfy our life deep inside. However, the word of God is a living water welling up to eternal life because it gives us the true meaning of life before our creator and it gives us the direction of our life and most of all, it lead us to salvation from sin and death through Jesus on the cross. John 5:24,25 says that "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. I tell you the truth a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. Part 2. If anyone of you is without sin (3-8). Jesus’ Bible study was suddenly interrupted. Look at verses 3-6. “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?’ They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.” They brought in a woman caught in adultery and tried to use her to trap Jesus. Their trap against the woman was airtight. She had been caught in the act of adultery. So the factual evidence was clear. In our times, she might have been caught on videotape. The legal ground for punishment was also clear. According to Leviticus 20:10, if a man commits adultery with another man’s wife-with the wife of his neighbor- both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death. It seemed that Jesus had no choice but to agree with them. However, if he did so, he could be arrested for aiding a murder by Roman soldiers because the Roman government banned colonial people from executing the death sentence. Worse than this, if Jesus did not agree to the stoning, he could object to observing the law of Moses, the word of God. Right before, he was teaching the word of God to the people. In Matthew 5:7, Jesus said to the people that he did not come to break the law, rather but uphold the law. More than that, Jesus extended the meaning of adultery further to our lustful mind. “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery, but I tell you that everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Matthew 5:27,28) The religious leaders thought they would trap Jesus. In fact, their charges against the woman could not be ignored. Adultery is a great sin against God. It is included in the Ten Commandments: “You shall not commit adultery” (Ex 20:14). Simply, adultery is to break a marriage vow through the acts of unfaithfulness. Nowadays, it includes extramarital affairs, voluntary sexual intercourse with unmarried man and woman, homosexuality, and pornographic experiences. Indulging in mental fantasies or stealing the mind of a married person is also adultery. This can be done without face to face, even through internet chatting. In the Old Testament, the death penalty had been sentenced to a man of idolatry, murderer, exorcist, son or daughter who beat his parents, sexually immoral person and so on. Among them, the sexual immorality is popular nowadays and familiar to our daily life. In this society, it is not regarded as a terrible sin resulting in death sentence. Rather it is considered as fun and enjoyable lifestyle in the name of love. In TV, Drama and movie, the man and woman makes a love story with lustful desire. They inspire us to live such an exciting love-oriented life. However, they don’t know the devastating influence on their life. Adultery devastates people’s lives, family and society. Many murders have been committed as the fruit of adultery. Recently we were shocked by the serial sex crimes in Korea. Cho Du-sun beat and raped a young girl inside a public toilet in 2008. Kim Kil-Tae is on trial for the rape and murder of a 13-year-old girl in Busan in February 2010. A temporary construction worker named Kim Su-cheol allegedly abducted an 8-year old student from a playground at an Elementary School and brought her to his home and raped her. What is the cause of the sex crimes? Had they been bone to a sexually immoral psychopath by nature? That is the influence of the adulterous society encouraged by adulterous people. Our society is full of pornography, homosexual, sexual immorality and adultery. It is like yeast in bread. It spreads quickly and makes our life corrupted without knowing. When people are regularly exposed to the sexual immorality by TV, drama, movie or internet pornography for a long time, their thought will be realized in action in a drunken state or under any desperate situation. So, it makes sense that some parents said “never let people like him see the light of day ever again. He must be given a death sentence or at least life sentence.” They demand that such a sex criminal should be death-sentenced and be isolated from the society with their ankles chained. That might be the same position as the Jews had toward the woman who was caught in adultery. They might have shouted with a stone in hand. “This woman should be stoned to death. We should purge the evil among our society.” God never overlooks adultery. God punishes adultery both in this life and in the world to come. God will send adulterous people to the fiery lake of burning sulfur forever (Rev 21:8). We must not underestimate the seriousness of this sin. That is why God commanded in the law that the adultery should be sentenced to death. As time goes by, the nature of human being has not been changed and the result of sin has not been changed either because the sin should be dealt with first before God. The woman was a terrible sinner. There was no one to defend her, no one to understand her. She must have faced the wages of her sin through death sentence. When Jesus surveyed this situation, he made an immediate decision to save the woman at any cost because Jesus hates sin but loves sinner. How did he do this? Look at verse 6b. “But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.” We don’t know what Jesus wrote down. Jesus seemed not to hear them being indifferent to their serious accusation. Instead of reacting to them, Jesus did something that made them stop and think. Jesus’ curious action opened their hearts to his words. Jesus changed the atmosphere from emotional to rational. Jesus is a genius in communicating with irrationally upset and hot-tempered people. The following was quoted from Chicago UBF. Once, a shepherd who was very upset toward a coworker came to Dr. Samuel Lee. He wanted Dr. Lee to take immediate disciplinary action against the coworker. However, Dr. Lee said nothing. Instead, noticing a hole in the carpet, he got down on his knees and trimmed the hole carefully. He brought glue from his office, then made a patch and repaired the carpet very skillfully. It took more than thirty minutes. Gradually the shepherd calmed down and received counseling to love his brother. Let’s look at Jesus. Instead of getting emotional, we should sit down and draw a picture. Then what did Jesus say? Look at verses 7-8. “When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, ‘If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.’ Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.” Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 17:7 for the way of legal proceeding for the death penalty. It is quoted that “the hands of the witnesses must be the first in putting him to death, and then the hands of all the people”. Jesus clearly admitted that the law was right and the sin of adultery should be punished by being stoned to death. Yet Jesus conditioned that the hands of the men without sin must be the first to stone at her. Through this, Jesus implied that God alone has the right to judge. Jesus urges the people to look at themselves first. They were also sinner before God. The difference is only that the sin of the woman was exposed but their sin was not. Nevertheless, in this context Jesus does not mean that we should silently excuse the adulterous behavior because we are also sinners. Not at all! Certainly Jesus does not look over the immoral behavior nor can he do so because he himself had established the law in the beginning. It is not possible for God himself to break the law. How can Jesus solve this dilemma? Part 3. Neither do I condemn you (9-12) Look at verse 9. “At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.” Jesus’ words had pierced their consciences. To stone the woman, one of them had to take responsibility, make a decision and throw the first stone. No one could do so because there was no one righteous. The older ones were the first to recognize this. After a few minutes, all the woman’s accusers were gone. Only Jesus was left, which means that only Jesus can judge the woman and be the first to stone at her. It is because only Jesus is without sin. Now the woman is standing before the judge, God, the creator of the law. She had no excuse before God. It seemed that the woman stand at the last judgment day before God. Apostle John said in Revelation 20:12,13, “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what he had done as recorded in the book. Each person will be judged according to what he had done.” God’s judgment is righteous without any mistake and God’s judgment is dreadful as sinners without exception should be fallen into the lake of burning sulfur. This woman is now stoned to death and at the last day, she will be the first to be thrown into the burning fire. Look at verses 10-11. “Jesus straightened up and asked her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ ‘No one, sir,’ she said. ‘Then neither do I condemn you,’ Jesus declared. ‘Go now and leave your life of sin.’” What did Jesus say? Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you.” Jesus did not condemn her. Jesus knew all about her sins. But, Jesus as the Son of God declared, “Neither do I condemn you.” Jesus came to save sinners. John 3:17 says, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” God wants to save us, not condemn us. However, it was costly. Somebody should pay the price of her sin. The Romans 6:23 says that the wages of sin is death. For that reason, sometime after Jesus’ declaration of forgiveness of sin, Jesus had to suffer and die on the cross to bear the condemnation she deserved. This is why Jesus can say, “Neither do I condemn you.” Romans 8:1 said that “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”. How come that is possible? Galatians 3:13 said that “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree"” Sinner should be cursed by the law because of their sins. However, Jesus was cursed on the cross and received the condemnation from the law instead of that woman and sinners like us. So, when we come to Jesus, Jesus can save us from our sin and condemnation. We must accept Jesus’ words, “Neither do I condemn you.” Have you been in condemnation before or even now? Condemnation always makes us fall into despair and saps our energy. “I am ugly sinner. I am not deserved for the forgiveness of Jesus. I am not deserved to be called a shepherd. How come did I such things. Everyone will laugh at me. Jesus shall not love me anymore” These thoughts are self-condemnation from our mind. Satan always uses the condemnation as their lethal weapon to kill us. We must get out of condemnation by Jesus forgiving word, “Neither do I condemn you”. At the same time we must remember that Jesus hate the sin but he loves sinners even to the extent that he was hung and cursed on the cross to save sinners. So, we as a forgiven sinner must fight against the sin. In this respect, Jesus word to the woman gives a clear direction in our life. “I am the life of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Always let’s walk along with Jesus, the light of the world. When the devil whispers condemning words in our ears, let’s go to Jesus right away and hear his word, “Neither do I condemn you.” Praise Jesus who saved us from the condemnation |
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