Sermon: The woman caught in adultery - John 8:2-11

Intro

Before we look at today’s story, I challenged you guys to get familiar with the theme verse for the weekend, to memorize it, right?  Is there anyone who can come up here and recite Matthew 16:24 tonight?

“Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.’”  Very good!  Let’s give him/her a hand.  You can have a seat.  The them for the weekend is what? (Follow Me)  Right, so this morning we asked and hopefully answered the question, “Is it worth being a disciple?  Is God a God who is worth following?  “Tonight we are going to look at the question, “who can be a disciple.”  But before we get started, I have something to show you.   

Object Lesson

Can you all see what I have my hand?  What is it (A rock).  That’s right.  I have two boys, 7 and 5, and for my boys, rocks can be hours of entertainment.  They collect them, they through them in the water, they hit things with them, you get the idea. 

In biblical times rocks had different uses, didn’t they?  Think about the story of David and Goliath, what did David use stones for?  (As a weapon)  Right,  in the story we are about to look at stones were used for something else, judgment…a little something like this…(Movie clip from Saved: 39:15 - 41:05)

This is a pretty crazy scenario – but Christians are sometimes known as being judgmental aren’t they?  Today’s story shows that things weren’t that different 2,000 years ago.  Let’s take a look at tonight’s story

The Text: John 8: 2-11

Read (or have student read)

John 8:2-11New Living Translation (NLT)

² but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. ³ As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd.

⁴ “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. ⁵ The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?”

⁶ They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. ⁷ They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” ⁸ Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.

⁹ When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. ¹⁰ Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”

¹¹ “No, Lord,” she said.

And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”

Caught in the act!  That is what has just happened here, isn’t it?  This woman’s darkest secret sin has just become a public spectacle.  Can you imagine?  We don’t know how this whole thing went down, but we can speculate can’t we?  Did this whole mob of religious dudes break down the door, grab this woman, and drag her into the streets.  Probably.  She was probably called names, maybe she was hit.  I am sure she wasn’t led nicely.  I bet her experience might have even been a little like Jesus’ before he was crucified… 

But what is motivating the scribes and the Pharisees? Is it really a love of scripture or the righteous law of God, or the preservation of marriage? No, it is to trap Jesus because he threatens them. What is he threatening? He is threatening their power, their authority, and their position in the culture. The truth is, these religious leaders don’t really care about this woman or her sin.  They are using her like an object, like a pawn.  What is interesting about that is most sexual sin at the deepest level, has to do with treating other’s or ourselves as something less than God intended us to be.

So these Pharisees have set a trap for Jesus.  They think they have him.  It’s a lose, lose situation.  If he say’s “don’t stone her” he is breaking Jewish law.  If he says “go ahead” he is tainting the image of who he is, and perhaps worse, be is breaking Roman law.  A death sentence could not occur without the approval of the Roman government.     So Jesus is in trouble, and the Pharisees are excited to see him fall on his face.  And they don’t mind taking this poor woman’s life in the process. 

So the woman is placed in front of a mob of people with her sins, and maybe her body on full display.  Maybe she was pushed on the ground; she was definitely treated like trash.  And these Pharisees can hardly wait for Jesus to self-destruct.  They are standing there, they already have stones in their hands.  They want to see Jesus sweat; they want to see him fail.  But instead, cool as a cucumber, Jesus stoops down and starts writing in the sand with his finger (act this out).

Fun fact, this is the only time in scripture that Jesus writes.   We don’t know what he is writing, maybe he is listing the sins of the Pharisees, maybe he’s listing their girlfriend’s names, or maybe he is buying time so the situation can calm down a little.  He might be trying to take some of the attention off this poor woman and place it on himself and the Pharisees.  Maybe he is writing, “Where-is-the-dude?” do you all wonder about that too?  I mean, technically, the law says that the guy involved should be stoned too.  It’s just another example of the double standard about guys and girls on the issue of sexual sin isn’t it?  Can I get an amen ladies?!

Whatever he was writing, the Pharisees were ignoring it.  They were getting frantic; they were excited to see Jesus crash and burn!  They persisted, they were forcing Jesus to make an answer, and no matter what answer he gives, it will be the wrong one. 

Instead Jesus stands up and spoils their fun, stating “let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” And the wind is knocked out of their sails.  What just happened? Jesus has managed to turn the tables, and the Pharisees are forced to recognize their own imperfections.  One by one the Pharisees admit defeat and leave. 

So now, this woman is left with Jesus, and maybe the crowd who may have stayed to watch the juicy scene.  So Jesus who is without sin, who has every right to pick up one of those stones (hold in hand again) and beam this woman right in the head, has a choice to make. Jesus doesn’t see the scriptures as a tool to judge others and make himself look good.  So Jesus lets her off the hook, he is not going to judge her.

It’s not that the truth doesn’t matter to Jesus – he acknowledge the woman’s sin and tells her not to repeat it – but Jesus deals with people individually, never as an example of some broader point or an “object lesson.”  Issues and causes are not more important to Jesus than people.

Now, we need to understand that “Go and sin no more” is not a punishment, or a requirement to earn the grace Jesus has given her. It is not a warning either.  Jesus was not saying, “This is a one time, and one time only get out of jail free card, so don’t do it again!”

Instead Jesus’ instruction is a release. This is what Jesus does here for the woman: he releases her from her deadly disease, from her sin.

So what about us? The day and time will come; it may already have come for some of you, when you will be left alone with Jesus.

“Go and sin no more.” These words of Jesus are for each of us; they are words that free us from the soul-destroying powers of the judgment of the Pharisees and the equally soul-destroying actions of the adulterous woman. Many of us have had our darkest secrets exposed.  Maybe that hasn’t happened to you but the guilt and shame and fear is still there.   Maybe, like this woman, we feel hopeless.  We are broken, and we feel that we can’t be fixed.  Perhaps you came here this weekend feeling like there was no hope.

But there is good news; the gospel literally means good news.  Jesus came to earth to live, die, and be raised from the dead to bring the grace given to this woman to everyone!  Jesus does not condemn us. He frees us from condemnation. He frees us just as much from our sin. The one without sin, who alone could condemn, alone took our sin and condemnation from us on the cross. His death frees us and his resurrection gives us a life that can be lived without the death and trap of sin. In John chapter 3 verses 16 and 17 Jesus says, ¹⁶ “For this is how God loved the world: He gave^[a] his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.”

I hope you know that tonight.  Jesus offers a gift.  If I offer a gift to you, what has to happen before it is really yours?  (You have to take/receive /accept it).  That’s right!  Tonight Jesus is offering us the gift of forgiveness of sins, the power to live a different life through him, and an eternal life with him. 

So who can be a follower of Jesus, who makes the cut?  Anyone who reaches out and takes Jesus’ gift of salvation.  So tonight I am wondering if you are willing to make that decision, to take the gift that Jesus has for you.  No matter what we’ve done, no matter who much shame we feel, Jesus message is the same, I don’t judge you, I forgive you, live forever with me, and go, and sin no more. 

Right now I am going to say a prayer, and then we are going to sing a few songs, and during that time we are inviting anyone who wants to make that decision, who wants to take that step to come forward and kneel at the alter to play.  There’s nothing magical about coming up front, but Paul tells us in Romans 10:9 “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”  Praying at the alter instead of in private is just a good way to declare openly that Jesus is Lord and that we our accepting his gift.  After we our finished singing and everyone has come to the alter I am going to lead us in a salvation prayer.