THE WOMAN THAT JESUS FORGAVE
Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on November 7, 2021 under 2021 |
Bethany Bible Church Sunday Message; November 7, 2021 from John 8:2-11
Theme: The story of the woman caught in adultery teaches us the life-changing power of Jesus’ forgiveness.
(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
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This is Communion Sunday—a great day for us to consider the wonderful things that are accomplished for us by the cross of our Savior Jesus Christ.
Among the many blessings we receive from Jesus’ sacrifice, one of the greatest is forgiveness—full and eternal—for all our sins. I’d like to highlight that forgiveness this morning—and particularly, the life-changing power of that forgiveness. A story that teaches us about the life-changing power of Jesus’ forgiveness is the one we find in John 8:2-11. It’s what we’ve come to know as the story of ‘the woman caught in adultery’:
Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and 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?” 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. So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then 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. When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more” (John 8:2-11).
What great words those closing words of our Lord are! “Neither do I condemn you …” Can there be anything greater than to know that the Son of God Himself—who knows our sins completely—nevertheless loves us and says that He doesn’t condemn us? He is able to forgive us, because He Himself paid for our sins on the cross. As the apostle Paul wrote in Romans 8:33-34;
Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us (Romans 8:33-34).
If God the Father, who sent His Son to die for us, no longer condemns us—and if Jesus Himself, who has completely atoned for our sins, no longer condemns us—then it doesn’t matter who else may bring an accusation against our soul. Not even the devil himself can bring a charge against those whom God no longer condemns.
And do you notice what a life-changing reality that is? After declaring that she was forgiven, Jesus then went on to tell the woman, “go and sin no more.” He didn’t say, “Now, go and prove yourself worthy by ceasing from your sins, and then I will forgive you.” She was already forgiven by His grace. And the natural response to that forgiveness—the natural response to that new condition of being ‘no longer condemned’ in the sight of God—was that she would then go on to live a completely different life. She would go on to live a holy life in conformity to what Jesus has declared her to be. That’s the life-changing power of the forgiveness of Jesus Christ.
So; my hope this morning is that, as we consider this story, we will simply remember the forgiveness that Jesus has purchased on the cross for us, wholeheartedly embrace it, and celebrate it by living the life of ‘the forgiven’.
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Now; this is a passage of Scripture that has come to be very precious to those of us who are in Christ. It has given hope and encouragement to many people throughout the centuries. But there’s something about it that you need to know—and I would not have integrity as a preacher of God’s word if I didn’t at least make sure you knew about it. And it’s this: There are many competent scholars who do not believe that this passage is an authentic part of the Gospel of John.
If you are using almost any of the modern translations of the Bible, you’ll find that they treat this passage in an unusual way. One modern translation, the English Standard Version, sets these verses off by putting them in double-brackets. Another, the New International Version, completely sets this passage apart from the regular text altogether as a separate section. One translation—the Revised Standard Version—even leaves it out of the text completely, and only includes it in a small footnote at the bottom of the page. And this is because this passage is missing in some of the oldest and most reliable copies of the ancient text of the Gospel of John. It shows up in many later ancient copies; but sometimes it’s placed at various places in the Gospel of John. Some ancient copyists included it, but put indications along the margin that distinguished it from the regular text. For this reason, many very reliable scholars and editors who have put critical editions of the Greek New Testament together have treated this passage with caution—questioning whether the apostle John wrote it at all.
So then; with all the concerns that are associated with this passage, why am I preaching from it? It’s because I’m convinced that, while it certainly may be that John didn’t write it, it does nevertheless belong in our Bibles. Most of the conservative scholars who have written on the matter have said it would be unwise to leave it out of the text of Scripture; and I agree. There are good reasons for considering this to be an authentic story from the life of our Lord. These words are present in over 900 ancient manuscripts of John’s Gospel. An ancient church father named Papias—who was a student of the apostle John—was said to have made reference to it. It agrees wonderfully with what we already know about our Lord; and it fits in perfectly with the flow of the story of the Gospel of John as if it had always belonged there. And all things being equal, this passage has the definite ring of truth to it. No less of an authority than the late Dr. Bruce Metzger—unquestionably the greatest New Testament textual scholar of modern times—wrote that “the account has all the earmarks of historical veracity”1. In other words, it appears to be a true story from the life of our Lord that has been providentially preserved for us by the Holy Spirit as a part of our Bible within the Gospel of John. And as such, it has impacted the hearts of the people of God throughout the centuries as authentic—that is, as a true word from God that teaches us an important truth about our Lord Jesus Christ.
I’m confident, then, that it should be received by us—and preached from by pastors and teachers—as a part of God’s word. It has been preserved for us by the Holy Spirit to encourage our souls with the glorious, life-changing power of our Lord’s forgiveness for sin.
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So then; with that in mind, let’s now look carefully at it. The first thing we should notice is …
1. THE SETTING OF THE STORY.
This is a story that comes to us in the context of opposition to our Lord and His ministry. Jesus had just given testimony of Himself during the Feast of Tabernacles. That was when He stood in the temple and declared, in John 7:37-38;
“If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (7:37-38).
Many of the people in the temple heard Him and were being drawn to Him. They were wondering if He was the promised Messiah. But the Pharisees and chief priests, who were jealous of His ministry, had sent officers to arrest Him. But the funny thing was that, when they came to arrest Him, they started to listen to Him … and then couldn’t bring themselves to arrest Him. When asked why they had failed, those officers simply said, “No man ever spoke like this Man!” (v. 46). When it was all over, we’re told that everyone went to his own house; and that the Lord Jesus and His disciples went to spend the evening just a short distance away from the temple—on the Mount of Olives.
And that brings us to verse 2. We’re told,
Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them (8:2).
Now; that all helps us to understand an important point about the story we’re looking at this morning. It records something that happened in the context of opposition to our Lord. Religious leaders who hated Him were trying to trap Him and discredit Him in front of the people. But I love the fact that our Lord wasn’t afraid to continue ministering to the people who sincerely sought Him—even though there were those who sought to stop Him.
And besides all of that, He also had an appointment to keep with a woman in need—through whom He teaches us a lesson about His blessed forgiveness. This leads us next to …
2. THE CHALLENGE TO OUR LORD.
The fact that the Lord was teaching in the temple gave the religious leaders the opportunity they thought they needed. And so, verse 3 tells us;
Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery (v. 3a).
Now; without getting inappropriately deep into the specifics of the matter, you can’t help but notice that someone is missing from this story. If she was caught in the act of adultery—”in the very act”, as those religious leaders themselves described it in verse 4—then it’s plain that she couldn’t have been committing adultery by herself. Where then was the man with whom she was committing this sin? Why didn’t they also apprehend and bring him before the Lord?
Well, the reason is obvious; isn’t it? It’s because this was all a set-up. This poor woman was somehow lured into a situation of sin, and was then intentionally caught in the act, and then was brought in order to trap our Lord and entangle Him in a controversy. The man in the situation had served his purpose and was long gone. Evil people often trick frail and fallen people into compromising situations to use them in bringing about evil outcomes. This poor woman was basically a hapless victim in an evil scheme—drawn into sin and used by evil people without regard to what would happen to her.
Wicked opposition to our Lord truly knows no limits to its cruelty. And so, we’re told;
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?” (vv. 3b-5).
Now; these scribes and Pharisees were correct in what they said about the law—as far, at least, as they took the matter. That was a commandment that God gave the people of Israel through Moses way back in Leviticus 20:10. It says;
‘The man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress, shall surely be put to death” (Leviticus 20:10);
or as Deuteronomy 22:22 says;
“If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then both of them shall die—the man that lay with the woman, and the woman; so you shall put away the evil from Israel” (Deuteronomy 22:22).
And so, if this woman who was brought to Jesus truly had been caught in the act of adultery, then yes—the law of God through Moses commanded that she be put to death. The prescribed method was stoning. But you’ll notice that the law didn’t speak of the woman as the only one being punished for this sin. If these religious leaders had actually caught the woman in the act, they would have also caught the man. But he was absent. This all makes clear to us what we read in verse 6;
This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him (v. 6a).
They called Jesus “Teacher”; but they clearly didn’t have any respect for His teaching at all. They were seeking to discredit His teaching—and Him—in front of the people. If they couldn’t arrest Him before the people, they thought that they at least could try to turn the people away from Him. They were hoping that, if He had responded to them by saying, “Yes—the law has spoken; stone her”; He would have appeared merciless to sinners. And just think of what would have happened then! The many needy sinners who were drawn to Him would back away from Him. They would have been afraid that they wouldn’t receive any mercy from Him. Even today, needy sinners would be afraid to trust Jesus. But if He had said, “No—don’t stone her”, then He would then have put Himself in contradiction to the law of God. They could have accused Him before the Jewish people as being a rebel against the law of God. Either way, they thought, they would have something with which to accuse Him before the people.
Now; I love reading in the Bible the stories of how the religious leaders tried to trap our Lord. They always failed in their effort. They tried to challenge Him once by asking where His authority came from; and He answered wisely—and turned the tables on them. They thought that they could trap Him by asking if it was right to pay taxes to Caesar or not; and He answered wisely—and exposed their trap. They even thought they could trap Him with perplexing questions about the resurrection or about marriage and divorce; and He answered wisely—upholding the truth of God’s word. He always answered wisely—and in the process, He always taught even His accusers a new truth about Himself.
And the same thing was happening here. They confronted Him with a challenging moral situation—hoping to discredit Him before the people, and cause them to doubt that He was the promised Messiah. And yet, He answered wisely—and ended up teaching us all an important truth about what a wonderful Savior He is. This leads us now to consider …
3. THE RESPONSE.
And what a remarkable response it was! They asked Him what He had to say about the demand of God’s law. And we’re told in verses 6-8;
But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground (vv. 6b-8).
What a careful answer that was! He didn’t say that the law should be ignored. Of course, He—as the Son of God—would never set the commandments of His Father aside. But He didn’t order the poor woman to be stoned either. He simply challenged those who were challenging Him to be the first ones to cast a stone at her—if they themselves were innocent enough to be able to do so. Clearly, His answer was two-fold. One part of the answer came from His affirmation of the law—that it was truly from God, But the other part of His came from whatever it was that He was writing on the ground.
Now; wouldn’t you like to know what it was that He was writing? Haven’t you wondered? I would like to know too. Apparently, it wasn’t the will of the Holy Spirit to tell us. But we can’t help but speculate about it. But it must have been something quite remarkable—and very directly and personally related to those religious leaders; because we’re told,
Then 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 (v. 9).
Not one of those condemning accusers could take up Jesus’ challenge, and obey the commandment of Moses toward the woman. Instead, all they seemed to slip away. And do you notice that they didn’t all go away at once, but slipped away “one by one”?—that is to say, individually? And do you notice even further that they went out in a very strange and particular order?—that is, beginning with the oldest men, and then followed by the younger men? Whatever Jesus was writing made them leave in this remarkable way.
Some have suggested that He was writing down the very words of the law on the ground—perhaps from Leviticus 20:10 or Deuteronomy 22:22–which would have underscored the fact that they had not brought the man who was also guilty of adultery. Others have suggested that He was writing down His own accusation against these religious leaders—as if He were writing the word “HYPOCRITES” in boldly convicting letters. But I don’t believe either of those are the case. The very specific order in which they left leads me to believe that Jesus was writing down the names of their girlfriends; and perhaps even the dates and locations of meetings that they would have preferred not to have made public. As they saw what was happening, they quickly found some other place to be. It may have taken a little longer for the younger ones to catch on to what was happening; but they slipped away too.
They all went away condemned in their consciences—one by one—until Jesus was left alone with the woman. And it shouldn’t surprise us that the Lord could have done that. The Bible tells us that He didn’t “need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man” (John 2:25). Perhaps the Pharisees were finding out for themselves just how much this was true—and how much they themselves had deserved the treatment that they were demanding for the woman!
And that leaves us with this poor woman. Can you imagine what an ordeal this all must have been for her? Can you imagine the emotions that must have overtaken her? How ashamed she must have been? How humiliated and degraded she felt? How fearful for her life? And—to be honest—how guilty she knew herself to be? She, of course, would have known the commandments of God too. She would have had to admit that—however it may have come about—she was indeed condemned under God’s law for a terrible sin. She truly was condemned under the law, and was deserving of the judicial sentence of death.
And let’s not pass by that too quickly. Her story is meant by God to remind us of our own. This is a story about the forgiveness that Jesus has purchased for us on the cross. You and I can never appreciate that forgiveness—and can never really receive it as we should—until we truly admit that we are guilty sinners before a holy God. We are all guilty of breaking God’s holy commandments—and stand worthy of death. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). No one turns to the Savior unless they’re convinced that they are doomed sinners who need to be saved. Have you become convinced of that yourself?
That, then, leads us to the good news we find in verses 10-11.
4. THE PARDON OF THE SINNER.
Isn’t it wonderful that Jesus didn’t write her sins down in the dust? He didn’t have to. She already knew them—and they had already been made plain to everyone. Instead, we read in verses 10-11,
When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord” (vv. 10-11a).
And I say this with all reverence; isn’t it also wonderful that Jesus didn’t then take up stones to stone her? He alone could have done so; because He alone was without sin. Instead, we read;
And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more” (v. 11a).
He told her that He forgave her for the horrible sin of adultery; and only He could have he right to do so, because He was about to take her guilt upon Himself and atone for it on the cross. But He didn’t stop there. He went on to tell her, “go and sin no more.” And whatever her previous lifestyle may have been, is there any doubt that she truly did go out and live a transformed life?
That’s the power of Jesus’ forgiveness to transform whoever receives it.
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As another great sinner—the apostle Paul—once wrote in Titus 2:11-14;
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works (Titus 2:11-14).
The blessed forgiveness of Jesus Christ has power to change our lives in a way that the law never can. As we come this morning to the table of the Lord, may we remember that fact—and celebrate it with a truly transformed life.
Bruce M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary on The Greek New Testament, 2nd. Edition (Stuttgart: United Bible Society, 1994), p. 188.
