SS03-04-07.
STUDY THEME: WHAT DOES JESUS DO FOR US?
“JESUS FORGIVES OUR SINS.” JOHN 8: 2-11, 30-36.”
JOHN 8:2-4, 5-6a, 6b-9, 10-11, 30-32, 33-36.
PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO JOHN 8.
PLEASE READ JOHN 8: 2-4.
We should recognize at the very beginning that in the minds of many people, many Bible critics, and many Christian scholars, this entire passage in John 1-11 is considered questionable because in some of the older manuscripts you will not find these eleven verses.
On the other hand, we have very good authority for regarding it as genuine, for it is found in many old Greek manuscripts, and it seems very evident that it is a part of this Gospel.
The reason it is omitted in many instances, I take it, is because some of the early Christians apparently felt that a story such as this, which seemed to suggest a lenient attitude toward immoral behavior, might be misunderstood, and particularly by a people just emerging from heathenism, with all its vile and impure practices which were often connected even with the worship of their gods.
It might have looked to some of these as though this passage implies that, after all, the sin spoken of here is nothing very heinous in the sight of God. But one only needs to read the rest of the Gospel to see how false such an assumption would be.
As we read on in this chapter we find many definite references to this very incident. There are passages that could not be clearly and properly understood if this story were missing.
Personally, I think the translators did exactly right in including it as part of the sacred text without any marks of any kind to differentiate it from the rest of the Gospel.
In the Revised Version, it is set off by parentheses, and many do not consider it genuine. However, anyone who knows the grace of God as revealed in Christ, it seems to me, must recognize it as genuine, for it is so like Jesus to do what He is represented as doing here.
And, after all, the sin of this poor woman is no worse that the sins of every one of us---“All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way.” The first clause there speaks of the sin of the race---the entire human race has gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way.
The first clause there speaks of the sin of the race---entire human race has gone astray. It has gone away from God. But then the second clause indicates our individual iniquities---“We have turned every one to his own way.”
Now notice the passage carefully. John 7: 53 says “And every man went to his own house,” but Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives. The afternoon had passed away. The evening shadows were falling and the company broke up and every man went unto his own house, but Jesus---the Creator of all things, had no house to which to go. He went to the Mount of Olives.
Possibly he went, as He frequently did, to the Garden of Gethsemane, and after spending the night there on the mountainside, beneath the shelter of the olive trees, arising in the morning He returned to the temple.
And all the people came unto Him, and he sat down, and taught them. What a great way to begin a new day. Jesus was unfolding the truth concerning the kingdom of God, when suddenly there was a disturbance and the Pharisees came dragging a poor woman into the midst of the assembled group.
She is struggling and trying to hide her face. Indifferent to her shame and to the ignominy they are heaping upon her, they are bent upon putting the Lord Jesus Christ into a position where He will have to take His stand against the Law of Moses, or else He will have definitely to condemn a poor sinner who needs His help.
So they drag this woman before Him---a woman taken in adultery. Where was the man? Had he, as such paramours generally do, fled away, leaving her to face the shame alone? It happens thousands of times in this world. The double standard that existed then, exists today. But sinful immorality is wrong for both man and woman.
The scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus, “Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.”
Do you suppose the crowd listened attentively to these men? Do you think they were hoping to hear some spicy details? Isn’t that often the response when people hear of someone having an affair? They talk about how terrible it is and then delight to tell the titillating news to others.
You see, we are to some extent a two-faced society when dealing with sexual sins. We readily denounce such immorality. Then a host of us turn around and make authors, publishers, screen writers, actors, producers, and Web site sponsors rich by buying products centered around adultery and pornographic themes.
Can you spell hypocrites? Who is going to catch us? Who will hear about what we have done, whether in a fancy or in the flesh? What will they think? More importantly, what does Jesus think? That’s what the scribes and Pharisees wanted to know.
PLEASE READ JOHN 8: 5-6a.
What did Moses in the law command? Did he command that in the case of two falling into sin like this the woman alone be stoned? No, nothing like that. He commanded that both should be stoned. He commanded that the guilty man as well as the woman should be punished. The Bible teaches a single standard for men and women. But they came bringing her, the weaker of the two. Now what will Jesus do?
Suppose He turns to them and says, “Why, yes; Moses commanded that such should be stoned, and the law is God’s holy Word, the only thing to do is to take this woman out and stone her; then, if you can ever find the man, arrest him and stone him too.”
Had Jesus said that, never again would a poor wretch, overpowered by temptation and sorrow, ever dare to go to Him for help. They would say, No: He only condemns such as I am. He will give me up to judgment.”
But on the other hand, suppose He says, “Well, Moses said that, and of course it was God’s Word, but I say unto you. “Let the woman go free.”
“I am releasing you from obedience to the law.” Why, they would have said at once, “He professes to be sent from God, a prophet of Jehovah, and He is teaching things contrary to the law of Moses, and therefore His teaching cannot be depended upon.”
The scribes and Pharisees were not sincere, for John 8: 6 shows they simply were trying to set Jesus up. Their aim was to discredit Him and perhaps bring Him into conflict with the Roman authorities.
Take a closer look. These religious leaders were convinced Jesus was a blaspheming lunatic who might incite the people to rebel against Rome and bring disaster on their nation. They determined that getting rid of Jesus, or at least discrediting Him in the eyes of the people, was best for everyone..
In bringing the guilty woman before Jesus, the religious leaders were not acting from a love for God, for purity, or for justice. They certainly had no love for the woman, for they clearly viewed her as worthless trash. To them she was simply a weapon to use against Jesus.
On the surface, the case of the adulterous woman was open and shut. After all, the Law of Moses clearly identifies adultery as sin and declares its consequences. So, what’s the problem? Everyone grab a rock.
Now because they knew their Bibles, they must have known of the passage in Jeremiah 17:13 which says, “O Lord, the Hope of Israel, all that forsake Thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from Me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters.” It might be translated, “written on the ground.”
PLEASE READ JOHN 8: 6b-9.
See them there gathered about Him, and He stoops down and writes on the ground. They turn one to the other, saying, “What is He doing?, writing on the ground? Writing on the ground!---Isn’t there something in the Bible like that? Yes, there is in Jeremiah 17: 13, “They will come down to the dust of death eventually because of their sins.”
The Lord was acing out a message from God that should have gone home to every one of their hearts, but instead of that, they continue pressing Him, asking, “What are we going to do with her. No use of your stooping down there writing on the ground. We want to know what we are to do.”
So hypocritical are they in their pretence of being so zealous, when, after all, they are only trying to put Jesus in a place where they can discredit Him!
This is the only place in the Bible that mentions Jesus writing anything. He could read and write, but He left the recording of events and teachings to the apostles. There has been considerable interest in trying to determine what Jesus wrote that day. The Bible doesn’t tell us, so all the suggestions are only theories. But the theories are of interest.
One of the favored theories is that He wrote the name and sin of each man. Another view is that He wrote the words He was about to say in vs. 7. He may have written some pertinent Bible verse. One example: “All who turn away from Me will be written in the dirt, for they have abandoned the fountain of living waters, the Lord.”
It is possible that Jesus didn’t write anything and He was stooped over doodling on the ground to give the accusers time to see how shamefully they were acting.
We don’t know what he wrote, but nothing is as clear as what He said to them when he stood up and spoke. He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. Jesus probably had in mind the words of Deut. 17: 7. In execution by stoning, the witnesses who testified of a person’s guilt were required to throw the first stone.
Since the entire group testified against this woman, Jesus challenged each of them to be the first to throw a stone at this woman. But He added the requirement that the stone thrower be without sin. Then for the second time Jesus stooped down, and wrote on the ground. He was giving them time to decide what they would do.
Amazingly, no one threw any stones that day. This is amazing because some Pharisees considered themselves perfect. However on this day the words of Jesus struck home with conviction. “They left one by one, starting with the older men.”
Why the older men first? Perhaps the reason is they had longer lives and had more sins. They also were more mature. They realized that Jesus had successfully eluded their trap, and in turn had sprung a trap for them.
These self-righteous keepers of the public morality had a moment of truth. They realized that based on Jesus’ challenge, none of them could claim sinless perfection. Jesus’ words without sin need not mean that each of them had committed adultery. Some ancient manuscripts add what is implied, namely, they left because they were “convicted by their own conscience.”
PLEASE READ JOHN 8: 10-11.
Finally, only Jesus was left, with the woman in the center, meaning the center of the original crowd of listeners. The woman’s accusers were gone. There she stood, disgraced, ashamed, hopeless and filled with regret and sorrow.
When Jesus looked up, all the accusers were gone. The woman might have fled when the accusers were gone, but she remained standing before Jesus. She no doubt was grateful for her deliverance from execution, but she remained to see what her defender would say and do. We don’t know how much she knew about Jesus, but she probably had heard about Him.
The word woman, Jesus used, was a polite term. Jesus had called His mother the same term. Jesus asked the woman two questions. He asked where those were who had accused her, and He asked her if no one now condemned her. She said that no one was left to continue accusing her of sin. She never denied to Jesus her guilt. She realized He probably knew of her sin. So she stood before Jesus as a guilty sinner and worthy of condemnation.
Then Jesus said two intensely significant things to her. These two things are closely connected and both are vitally important.
These words of Jesus in vs. 11 are the heart of the passage for this lesson on forgiveness. He made two important statements. The first was “Neither do I condemn thee.” All of us are sinners who stand under divine condemnation for our sins. If you are forgiven of your sins, you are no longer under condemnation. So Jesus’ words were like saying, “Your sins are forgiven.”
In John 8: 17 “God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world: but that the world through Him might be saved.”
Some of the people in the early church feared that the telling of this incident might encourage sin. There is a big difference between forgiving sin and condoning sin. Condoning sin would be like saying “Just forget it; it doesn’t help to cry over spilt milk.”
Anyone who has ever forgiven someone who deeply wounded him or her knows that forgiveness is costly. In order to forgive, we must absorb the hurt ourselves. That is what Jesus did at the cross. He could forgive this woman because He would die for her sin.
Now listen to the next words. “Neither do I condemn you.” Whoa! Moses said adultery was worthy of death, and Jesus let her off? Not really. God has pronounced a spiritual death penalty on all sins, and that penalty has not been revoked. Jesus was showing that God is more interested in converting sinners than in condemning them. Listen to the next words.
“Go, and from now on do not sin any more.” This implies that her sins were real, but so was her forgiveness. When one is truly forgiven by God, the person is called to live a new life. Think what a challenge lay before her. She went back to try and live a new life in a situation resulting from sin.
This command heads off any misunderstanding about Jesus’ attitude toward sin in general and the sin of adultery in particular. He neither excises the woman’s behavior nor gives her license to continue her sinful ways. Rather, He gave her an opportunity to make a new start. He invited her to repentance and faith in Christ.
All of us have sinned, and all of us deserve eternal condemnation. We do not deserve forgiveness, and we certainly cannot earn it. God in Christ graciously made provision for our forgiveness through Christ’s sacrifice of Himself on the cross. Only those who repent of their sins, and turn in faith, to take Jesus as Lord, experience forgiveness and cleansing. Repentance and faith bring not only God’s forgiveness and cleansing. Repentance and faith bring not only God’s forgiveness, but also His presence into one’s life, ( in the Person of the Holy Spirit.)
PLEASE READ JOHN 8: 30-32.
Vs. 30 is a transition verse from verses 12-29 and 30-36. Jesus claimed to be the light of the world and promised that His true followers would walk in light, not darkness. The Pharisees said that His testimony to Himself was not valid. Jesus said that God also bore witness to His unique status. They asked where His Father was.
Jesus said that if they knew Him they would know His Father too. Jesus predicted that He was going away to a place where they could not find Him. Then Jesus accused them of living in sin and warned that they would die in their sins.
As He was saying these things, many believed in Him. The conversation that followed leads us to look more closely at them. Were these genuine believers or not? In light of vs. 32-38, many Bible students think they were superficial believers like those in 2:23 and 12:42.
They believed with their minds that His miracles showed who He was. As we study vs. 31-32 we need to test this conclusion. These verses 31-32 constitute one of the most important statements about discipleship. Being a disciple is the living out of a genuine faith in Jesus.
Saving faith can take place in a moment, but this is only the entry to the Christian life. If the faith is real, a life of discipleship follows. This applied to the woman of vs. 2-11. The test whether she was forgiven would be for her to live like vs. 31-32 describe.
Continuing in Christ’s word is a mark of discipleship. John 15: 1-7 emphasizes abiding in Christ. To abide in Him involves abiding in His word. Those who profess faith but do not abide in Christ and continue in His Word are unknown to Christ.
To know Christ is the same as abiding in Him. It is not knowing about Him but knowing Him personally. He is the truth that sets people free.
The world thinks of Jesus as the great kill-joy who take the fun out of life. The opposite is true: He is the great joy-giver. His way of living seems oppressive to worldly people, but He liberates us from the bondage of sin and frees us for joyful living.
The words the truth shall make you free are often misunderstood. “Parts of it are embossed on the seals of colleges and universities.” The significance in such cases is normally understood to mean that academic learning is the key to liberty. But that is hardly the meaning of John 8: 32. The meaning here involves knowing Jesus as a truth, who brings a transforming sense of freedom to human life.
PLEASE READ JOHN 8; 33-36.
Jesus words about being set free offended His hearers, the believers of vs. 30. They emphasized that they never had been slave to anyone. They were not speaking of political freedom, for they lived under foreign control during much of their history.
They had been in bondage in Egypt, in Babylon, in Syria and now they wee under Roman bondage. Now as a matter of fact, they never had been subdued: none of their captors had broken the spirits of the Jews.
So far they were quite right; and our Lord in replying to them did not deny what they said, from the standpoint of their own view.
Jesus told them that everyone who practices sin is a slave of sin. Sin has an addictive quality to it. It gains a strong hold on sinners---one that they cannot overcome in their own strength.
Jesus reminded them of the difference between a slave and a son. Only those who know Him are set free from sin’s slavery and made children of God. Christ makes us free indeed. This probably refers to real freedom for genuine disciples.
When vs. 33-36 are put alongside vs. 2-11, they show that Jesus is able to forgive our sins---no mater how serious, and He is able to free us from the stranglehold of sin. What can Jesus do for you? He can forgive your sins and set you free from sin’s power, thus enabling you to become a true believer and a true disciple.
NEXT WEEK’S LIFE QUESTION IS “WHAT’S THE KEY TO KNOWING FOR SURE THAT ONE’S FAITH IS VALID? JOHN 9: 1-41. A.V. DAUGHERTY <altav@swbell.net>