A Time of Grace

James Heffington

Gospel of John • Sermon • Submitted 6 years ago

John 8:1–11

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Woman Caught in Adultery: Grace, Grace, God's Grace!

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Introduction

Many of your Bibles will have a parenthesis before this section. “The earliest and most reliable manuscripts and other ancient witnesses do not have .” This does not mean this section should be omitted from our Bible. It simply means that some early copies of the Gospel of John did not have it.

The church understood and accepted this section as part of the Bible from very early times. But one thing we can say is that it is a section out of place.

Remember Jesus did many things and not all of them are written down. This is one such event that actually was written down...but was not likely to have been in the original text of the Gospel of John itself. The church inserted it in the Gospel because it was considered important.

John 21:25 NASB95

And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written.

God has preserved for us a perfect and infallible Bible through the work of the Holy Spirit and His church. The fact the Spirit led men to insert something into this Gospel that the Apostle may not have written should not cause us a moment’s doubt to it’s authenticity or authority.

John 21:25 NASB95

And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written.

God’s word is powerful…it is perfect…for the purpose of leading us to the truth of who God is and how we can know Him

One of the most dramatic examples of the Bible's divine ability to transform men and women involved the famous mutiny on the "Bounty." Following their rebellion against the notorious Captain Bligh, nine mutineers, along with the Tahatian men and women who accompanied them, found their way to Pitcairn Island, a tiny dot in the South Pacific only two miles long and a mile wide. Ten years later, drink and fighting had left only one man alive--John Adams. Eleven women and 23 children made up the rest of the Island's population. So far this is the familiar story made famous in the book and motion picture. But the rest of the story is even more remarkable. About this time, Adams came across the "Bounty's" Bible in the bottom of an old chest. He began to read it, and the divine power of God's Word reached into the heart of that hardened murderer on a tiny volcanic speck in the vast Pacific Ocean--and changed his life forever. The peace and love that Adams found in the Bible entirely replaced the old life of quarreling, brawling, and liquor. He began to teach the children from the Bible until every person on the island had experienced the same amazing change that he had found. Today, with a population of slightly less than 100, nearly every person on Pitcairn Island is a Christian.

Scripture is powerful…infallible…perfect and effectual. What we have has been preserved by God for a reason…that we might be saved from sin unto a right relationship with God…Let us never dismiss or discard what God has preserved for us in His word!

The passage is scripture and the event did happen in the life of Jesus...But it is a story out of place here. picks up after 7:52. through 8:11 are another incident in the life of Jesus that was not a part of the Feast of Tabernacles narrative of these other verses.

This passage records something of the habit of Jesus as teacher...

Jesus had made a habit, at some point in His ministry of teaching in the courts of the temple during the day. He would dismiss the crowds at the end of the day, they would go home and He would go to the Mount of Olives for the night. Then the people and Jesus would return to the courts the next day. Verse 53 is indicative of this

Verse 53 in a conclusion to a story or series of stories that we do not have recorded in our Bible…Jesus had just finished teaching and the people went home while Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn of the next day therefore has nothing to do with the events of chapter 7 but is just the next story of the ministry of Jesus

“At dawn” — The people and Jesus reassemble in the temple courts for a day of teaching

The Test

The Scribes and Pharisees brought a woman caught in the act of adultery. This means that at least some of the men were actual witnesses to the act in progress. This begs the question, “Where is the man?”

Scripture is clear that both participants were to be held accountable…perhaps he was more fleet footed and left his partner to face the music alone…or…and this is more likely…this was a trap…a set up. The pharisees had set the woman up so as to have an occasion to accuse her before Jesus and thereby test Him...the man was allowed to escape.

In the Law stoning was only prescribed for a breach of betrothal or engagement…in such cases both the man and the engaged woman were to be stoned to death. But in the time of Jesus only the Roman ruler could sentence someone to death.

So the set up involved placing Jesus in the position of rejecting the law of Moses and its prescribed punishment or at odds with Roman authority to met out capital punishment.

Jesus’ Response — He kneeled on the ground and began to write with his finger in the dirt. We don’t know exactly what was written there on the ground. One long held theory in church history is that He wrote out

Jeremiah 17:13 HCSB

Lord, the hope of Israel, all who abandon You will be put to shame. All who turn away from Me will be written in the dirt, for they have abandoned the Lord, the fountain of living water.

Others believe Jesus wrote down the specific sins committed by the men standing around Him.

The men continue to press Jesus for an answer…He could have just ignored them and refused to answer…but had He done so the woman would almost assuredly have been stoned to death on the spot...so he stands up and says, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone as her.”

Jesus was not saying it is wrong to call sin what it is…He was not denying the existence of sin or advocating the turning of a blind eye to it. However, It is easy, even tempting to point fingers at the sins of others while ignoring our own. These men were self-righteous at best and a party to criminal wrongdoing at the worst. Jesus exposed them for what they were with His statement.

It is easy, even tempting to point fingers at the sins of others while ignoring our own. These men were self-righteous at best and a party to criminal wrongdoing at the worst. Jesus exposed them for what they were with His statement.

All of us are sinners, some of us have been saved from our sin by grace through faith in Jesus...and we who have been saved should never consider ourselves somehow more worthy of that grace than any other.

Every single one of us need the same thing that woman needed that morning 2000 years ago…mercy and grace. Jesus exposed these self righteous and arrogant men for the fraud they were…exposing the lies they were telling both the world around them and themselves.

Romans 3:23 NASB95

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

They pounded their chest declaring how perfect and righteous they were…

One by one the men went away starting with the oldest first...

6 weeks--all systems go 6 years--all systems "No!" 16 years--all systems know 26 years--all systems glow 36 years--all systems owe 56 years--all systems status quo 76 years--all systems slow

6 weeks--all systems go.6 years--all systems "No!" 16 years--all systems know 26 years--all systems glow 36 years--all systems owe 56 years--all systems status quo 76 years--all systems slow

Maybe slow in body but we have learned a thing or two which often makes up for what we may be lacking in a foot race…We know enough to get a head start!

The older ones had lived some life...they knew they were sinners and the pronouncement of Jesus stung them the quickest…as a result they were first to walk away. One by one they left until there was no one left except Jesus and the woman herself...

Go Now — Conclusion

“Woman” — Was a term of respect…Jesus used the same title of His mother as He hung on the cross. “Where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

Condemned — To pass sentence upon…Here it means to carry out the sentence

(ASIDE) — All of humanity lives as a saved or condemned person…a person living with the hope of eternal life or curse of eternal death...but in this passage Jesus is speaking to the carrying out of that sentence of death…There is no contradiction with here.

The person who does not believe is living with the sentence of death but it has not been carried out or executed yet…and it need not ever be if they would but believe!

John 3:18 HCSB

Anyone who believes in Him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the One and Only Son of God.

The person who does not believe is living with the sentence of death but it has not been carried out or executed yet…and it need not ever be if they would but believe!

Where are the men who had sentenced you to death? Is no one left? Is there no one here to carry out this sentence against you?

The woman answers “No one Lord (sir).” — And then the sweetest words any person has ever heard before or since are uttered by Jesus, “Then neither do I condemn you.” The woman had sinned and deserved death but Jesus chose not to sentence her…instead turning her over to the opportunity for grace, repentance and salvation.

There is no mention here of forgiveness…she has not indicated any remorse or contrition…she has shown no sing of repentance or faith. What Jesus has offered her is the grace of time and an opportunity to repent.

Jesus tells her, “Go now and leave your life of sin.” — Repent and live a transformed life…turn the complete opposite direction of how you have been living and become a new person. We know the rest of the story…repentance is the first step to Jesus and a life in Him.

The Lost — How does Jesus look at you this morning? Have you ever wondered that? How does Jesus feel about you? He loves you…He loves them...Jesus loves you. He looks at you the way He did the woman of our story…He longs for your repentance…He longs for you to enjoy life in Him.

If you have never placed faith in Christ for your salvation you are living under a sentence but have not yet been sentenced. Your destiny at this moment is one of death but you are still living in a time where you might repent and enter life.

This is the message of the Gospel and it is what we preach, teach and share with the world as long as we live…Jesus loves you and longs for you to repent, be forgiven and enter eternal life with Him…that is the opportunity you have right now but it is an opportunity that will someday pass you by.

You are not condemned…a lost person stands under a sentence of condemnation but it hasn’t been carried out yet…it can still be changed…your future can be in Christ! Confess…repent...and have faith in Jesus for a new life…a life of salvation…eternal life with Him.

This is the sweet word Jesus gives to each of us and it is the sweetness of the message He has put in our hearts to share with everyone…You are not condemned…you are not sentenced...Confess…repent...and have faith in Jesus for a new life…a life of salvation…eternal life with Him.

Jesus did not say she would never receive the consequence for her sin…but now…she had an opportunity to change…be changed…to repent and become someone new.

Is that something you need this morning? A change? An opportunity to be someone new? Is it time to follow Jesus? Time to rededicate your life?

Jesus paid it all…all to Him I owe…sin had left a crimson stain…He washed it white as snow.

Jesus did this for you…will you come and avail yourself of His love, mercy and grace…will you turn from sin and give your life to Him? His arms are open to you right now…Will you accept His invitation and become His this morning?

I never dreamed that taking a child to Disney World could be so difficult — or that such a trip could teach me so much about God’s outrageous grace. Our middle daughter had been previously adopted by another family. I [Timothy] am sure this couple had the best of intentions, but they never quite integrated the adopted child into their family of biological children. After a couple of rough years, they dissolved the adoption, and we ended up welcoming an eight-year-old girl into our home. For one reason or another, whenever our daughter’s previous family vacationed at Disney World, they took their biological children with them, but they left their adopted daughter with a family friend. Usually — at least in the child’s mind — this happened because she did something wrong that precluded her presence on the trip. And so, by the time we adopted our daughter, she had seen many pictures of Disney World and she had heard about the rides and the characters and the parades. But when it came to passing through the gates of the Magic Kingdom, she had always been the one left on the outside. Once I found out about this history, I made plans to take her to Disney World the next time a speaking engagement took our family to the southeastern United States. I thought I had mastered the Disney World drill. I knew from previous experiences that the prospect of seeing cast members in freakishly oversized mouse and duck costumes somehow turns children into squirming bundles of emotional instability.

Our middle daughter had been previously adopted by another family. I [Timothy] am sure this couple had the best of intentions, but they never quite integrated the adopted child into their family of biological children. After a couple of rough years, they dissolved the adoption, and we ended up welcoming an eight-year-old girl into our home.

For one reason or another, whenever our daughter’s previous family vacationed at Disney World, they took their biological children with them, but they left their adopted daughter with a family friend. Usually — at least in the child’s mind — this happened because she did something wrong that precluded her presence on the trip.

What I didn’t expect was that the prospect of visiting this dreamworld would produce a stream of downright devilish behavior in our newest daughter. In the month leading up to our trip to the Magic Kingdom, she stole food when a simple request would have gained her a snack. She lied when it would have been easier to tell the truth. She whispered insults that were carefully crafted to hurt her older sister as deeply as possible — and, as the days on the calendar moved closer to the trip, her mutinies multipliedA couple of days before our family headed to Florida, I pulled our daughter into my lap to talk through her latest escapade. “I know what you’re going to do,” she stated flatly. “You’re not going to take me to Disney World, are you?” The thought hadn’t actually crossed my mind, but her downward spiral suddenly started to make some sense. She knew she couldn’t earn her way into the Magic Kingdom — she had tried and failed that test several times before — so she was living in a way that placed her as far as possible from the most magical place on earth. In retrospect, I’m embarrassed to admit that, in that moment, I was tempted to turn her fear to my own advantage. The easiest response would have been, “If you don’t start behaving better, you’re right, we won’t take you” — but, by God’s grace, I didn’t. Instead, I asked her, “Is this trip something we’re doing as a family?” She nodded, brown eyes wide and tear-rimmed. “Are you part of this family?” She nodded again. Then you’re going with us.

And so, by the time we adopted our daughter, she had seen many pictures of Disney World and she had heard about the rides and the characters and the parades. But when it came to passing through the gates of the Magic Kingdom, she had always been the one left on the outside. Once I found out about this history, I made plans to take her to Disney World the next time a speaking engagement took our family to the southeastern United States.

Sure, there may be some consequences to help you remember what’s right and what’s wrong — but you’re part of our family, and we’re not leaving you behind.” I’d like to say that her behaviors grew better after that moment. They didn’t. Her choices pretty much spiraled out of control at every hotel and rest stop all the way to Lake Buena Vista. Still, we headed to Disney World on the day we had promised, and it was a typical Disney day. Overpriced tickets, overpriced meals, and lots of lines, mingled with just enough manufactured magic to consider maybe going again someday. In our hotel room that evening, a very different child emerged. She was exhausted, pensive, and a little weepy at times, but her month-long facade of rebellion had faded. When bedtime rolled around, I prayed with her, held her, and asked, “So how was your first day at Disney World?” She closed her eyes and snuggled down into her stuffed unicorn. After a few moments, she opened her eyes ever so slightly. “Daddy,” she said, “I finally got to go to Disney World. But it wasn’t because I was good; it’s because I’m yours.” It wasn’t because I was good; it’s because I’m yours.

I thought I had mastered the Disney World drill. I knew from previous experiences that the prospect of seeing cast members in freakishly oversized mouse and duck costumes somehow turns children into squirming bundles of emotional instability. What I didn’t expect was that the prospect of visiting this dreamworld would produce a stream of downright devilish behavior in our newest daughter. In the month leading up to our trip to the Magic Kingdom, she stole food when a simple request would have gained her a snack. She lied when it would have been easier to tell the truth. She whispered insults that were carefully crafted to hurt her older sister as deeply as possible — and, as the days on the calendar moved closer to the trip, her mutinies multiplied.

Are you His? He loves you and wants you to be... You don’t get to know God or go to heaven because you are good…you enjoy these because you are His!

A couple of days before our family headed to Florida, I pulled our daughter into my lap to talk through her latest escapade. “I know what you’re going to do,” she stated flatly. “You’re not going to take me to Disney World, are you?” The thought hadn’t actually crossed my mind, but her downward spiral suddenly started to make some sense. She knew she couldn’t earn her way into the Magic Kingdom — she had tried and failed that test several times before — so she was living in a way that placed her as far as possible from the most magical place on earth.

Jesus died on the Cross to pay for our sins…we may have eternal life because of His sacrifice…His death, burial and resurrection. He was the substitution for us…He took what we had coming to us. He was condemned so we do not have to be.

“Then you’re going with us. Sure, there may be some consequences to help you remember what’s right and what’s wrong — but you’re part of our family, and we’re not leaving you behind.” I’d like to say that her behaviors grew better after that moment. They didn’t. Her choices pretty much spiraled out of control at every hotel and rest stop all the way to Lake Buena Vista. Still, we headed to Disney World on the day we had promised, and it was a typical Disney day. Overpriced tickets, overpriced meals, and lots of lines, mingled with just enough manufactured magic to consider maybe going again someday. In our hotel room that evening, a very different child emerged. She was exhausted, pensive, and a little weepy at times, but her month-long facade of rebellion had faded. When bedtime rolled around, I prayed with her, held her, and asked, “So how was your first day at Disney World?” She closed her eyes and snuggled down into her stuffed unicorn. After a few moments, she opened her eyes ever so slightly. “Daddy,” she said, “I finally got to go to Disney World. But it wasn’t because I was good; it’s because I’m yours.” It wasn’t because I was good; it’s because I’m yours.

He will make you His and because you belong to Him you will be with Him forever…something far greater than Disney awaits! Something far greater than anything you have ever experienced is yours to be had right now.

And are you telling others of this incredible Gospel which leads to eternal life?

In retrospect, I’m embarrassed to admit that, in that moment, I was tempted to turn her fear to my own advantage. The easiest response would have been, “If you don’t start behaving better, you’re right, we won’t take you” — but, by God’s grace, I didn’t. Instead, I asked her, “Is this trip something we’re doing as a family?”

Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord? And if so, are you telling others of the incredible gift of salvation from sin and eternal life in Jesus?

She nodded, brown eyes wide and tear-rimmed.

“Are you part of this family?”

She nodded again.

“Then you’re going with us. Sure, there may be some consequences to help you remember what’s right and what’s wrong — but you’re part of our family, and we’re not leaving you behind.”

I’d like to say that her behaviors grew better after that moment. They didn’t. Her choices pretty much spiraled out of control at every hotel and rest stop all the way to Lake Buena Vista. Still, we headed to Disney World on the day we had promised, and it was a typical Disney day. Overpriced tickets, overpriced meals, and lots of lines, mingled with just enough manufactured magic to consider maybe going again someday.

In our hotel room that evening, a very different child emerged. She was exhausted, pensive, and a little weepy at times, but her month-long facade of rebellion had faded. When bedtime rolled around, I prayed with her, held her, and asked, “So how was your first day at Disney World?”

She closed her eyes and snuggled down into her stuffed unicorn. After a few moments, she opened her eyes ever so slightly. “Daddy,” she said, “I finally got to go to Disney World. But it wasn’t because I was good; it’s because I’m yours.”