The Woman Caught in Adultery

The Woman Caught in Adultery

(John 8.1-11)

Much of this sermon has been taken from an address given by Christina Baxter in 1988

See 'Biblical Theology' Notes - 3/3/94.

The setting of our gospel reading was the temple courts in Jerusalem. Now it was quite common for the teachers of the Jewish Law, (or 'scribes' as they were sometimes called), to go to the temple courts, and to teach their students who would gather around them.

Now Jesus wasn't one of the regular scribes, but from time to time he too would teach people in this way. ...And on this particular day, early in the morning, Jesus went to the temple. He sat down to teach the people, and a large crowd gathered round him.

Now if you're the sort of person who has got a good imagination, perhaps you can imagine the scene, ...and perhaps you would like to imagine that you're one of the crowd who is listening to Jesus.

We're not told exactly when this story happened, but some people think that it could have happened just a few days before Jesus was killed. ...We know that the Jewish authorities, were out to get Jesus. They'd rejected Jesus' teaching, and had openly criticised him for many months. And Luke tells us that they "...were looking for some way to get rid of Jesus". (Lk. 22.2)

While Jesus was teaching, there was a big commotion, ...and everyone turned round to see some of the scribes, pushing their way to the front. They had with them a woman, who they made stand in front of the whole group. And then in front of everyone, they 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?"

Now this question was a trap, ...and it was a very clever trap indeed. These scribes must have thought long and hard to have come up with a question as cunning as that.

It's the sort of question that the opposition carefully constructs for Prime Minister's Question Time. ...it's the sort of question that's designed to get you into trouble, no matter what you say.

But how exactly were they hoping to trap Jesus?

Well the teachers were quite right in saying that the Jewish Law demanded that a person caught in adultery should be stoned to death, ...however, under Roman occupation, the Jews were no longer allowed to carry out this sort of punishment.

So if Jesus said, "Stone her", he would be seen to be inciting the Jews to break the Roman law, for which he could have been arrested by the Romans. ...But there again, if Jesus said, "Don't stone her", he could be accused of inciting people to break the Jewish Law, for which he would have been in trouble with the Jewish authorities.

So either way, Jesus would come out loosing. ...And there was a further nasty dimension to this clever trap.

You see Jesus had indeed gained a reputation as being someone who was the friend of sinners. He was well-known for his compassion for the broken and the disreputable, ...for his quickness to forgive and to restore people. So if he said "Stone her", his reputation would be left in tatters, and he would be accused of not practicing what he preached. ...But on the other hand, if Jesus said, "Don't stone her", the crowd would think that he was siding with the Romans, and he would then loose all credibility as a Jewish teacher.

So either way, Jesus would come out loosing. Either way he would be in trouble with the authorities, ...and either way he would loose his credibility with his followers.

I imagine that these teachers must have been very pleased with themselves for setting up such a clever trap.

So what did Jesus say?

Well, he said nothing. ...He just bent down and started to write something on the ground. What he wrote no-one knows, but the teachers of the law weren't going to give up that easily. They kept on asking him, "Come on Teacher, answer us! Should we stone her, or not? What do you say?"

Then Jesus stood up and said, "If anyone of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."

Now the scribes question was very clever, ...but Jesus' answer was brilliant!

It relied on the fact that the scribes who had come to Jesus were far from innocent in this matter.

You see, the Jewish Law made it quite clear that a couple could only be stoned to death for adultery if they were caught in the very act by two independent witnesses. Suspicion, or circumstantial evidence was not good enough. ...Now with a law like that, you can be certain that people didn't commit adultery anywhere where they were likely to be discovered!

So it's reasonable to assume that the whole thing had been planned, ...the woman had been set up. And so these scribes were guilty of conspiracy ...they were far from being without sin! The irony is that they had come to Jesus pretending to be interested in justice, but they themselves had acted illegally in setting the whole thing up!

Now, according to Jewish Law, it was the witnesses of the crime who must throw the first stone, (Dt. 13.9, 17.7). Jesus reminded them of this with his reply. ..."If anyone of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."

They'd come with the request that Jesus should judge the woman. ...But with their clever plan, they'd really come to judge Jesus. ...And then, with a single sentence, Jesus turned the tables on them, and they ended up having to judge themselves.

Now, can you imagine how the woman was feeling as she stood there?

She already knew that she was guilty, ...but as she stood there, she also began to feel cheated.

She had been brought by powerful religious men to a place where she expected to find public disgrace. ...But as she stood there she realised that they weren't really interested in her. ...The scribes were simply using her as a pawn, in a religious or political game which they were playing with Jesus.

Then after a long pause, which must have seemed like an eternity, Jesus announced his verdict. ..."If anyone of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."

She stood there, ...(pause) ...waiting for the first stone to fly ...(pause).

But then ...her accusers all began to walk away! The eldest first, (because the eldest would normally have been the first to have given testimony).

One by one they silently acknowledged that they themselves had dirty hands in this matter, ...that they'd acted illegally in setting the whole thing up. One by one they walk away without saying another word.

And so the woman was left all alone with Jesus, ...and I guess she felt even more uncomfortable than at the beginning, for now she was faced with the man about whom it was said, "Never man spoke like this man".

She'd just seen how his words had penetrated the hardened hearts of the scribes. Now, what cutting words would he say to her? ...(pause)

Jesus was writing on the ground again, and then he stood up and asked her, ..."Woman, where are they? Has no-one condemned you?"

"Is this a trick question?" I guess she asked herself, ...but she answered plainly, "No-one sir".

Then cames the settlement of the matter. ..."Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."

The 'Good News' is that Jesus didn't come to judge the world, but to save it (Jn 12.47). Jesus has God's authority to forgive sins, if we are willing to trust him, and allow him to deal with our lives.

From time to time this is something that we need to be reminded of as individuals, ...we're all sinners, and at times we need to hear again Jesus' words of forgiveness:

"Neither do I condemn you; go now and leave your life of sin."

But it's also something that we collectively need to be reminded of as a church.

In Old Testament times, God referred to his people as his bride. It reflected the intimacy that God desired with his people. But all to often, the people of Israel turned away from God, ...and turned instead to idolatry.

Jeremiah, Hosea, and Ezekiel, all likened the people of God to that of an adulterous woman. (Jer. 3.2, Hosea-all, Ezek. 15.25-16)

The New Testament refers to the church as the bride of Christ. (Rev. 19.7-9) Again this reflects the intimacy which God desires with his church.

But as history has shown, at times the church too has acted like an adulterous woman. She has forsaken Christ in preference for other pleasures. She has forgotten the purpose for which she was called.

In fact, my suspicion is that most Christians would find it very difficult to describe what the purpose of the church is.

I was recently reminded of a church which was described by a Christian speaker, (I think it was Robert Warren). This church began to organise jumble sales as a means of raising funds.

Someone with great administrative skills got behind this, and soon a well thought-out strategy was developed.

- A leaflet requesting jumble was delivered to every house in the parish.

- A team of people collected vast quantities of jumble.

- Another team sorted it, priced it and stored it.

- The date of the jumble sale was well publicised, and 100's of people turned up.

- The sale was well organised, basically selling jumble back to the same group of people who had given it.

- They raised quite a lot of money, ...and as soon as one sale was over, they started to leaflet the parish in preparation for the next jumble sale in about 3 months time.

There was only one drawback: The church was so absorbed with organising these jumble sales, they had no time for anything else.

Robert Warren therefore concluded, that the main purpose of this church was simply to organise jumble sales.

(Pause)

Now I can assure you, God did not form the Christian Church for the sole purpose of organising jumble sales!

But what's the hidden agenda of our church here in Binley?

If Robert Warren were to look at our church, what might he assume to be our main purpose?

(pause)

And what does God want to be the main purpose of our church?

These are some of the important questions that we'll be looking at during our Lent Series. ...And I for one am really looking forward to it, because I don't know all the answers!

More than people have already said they're coming to the first evening, (a week on Tuesday), and we hope for many more. So, if you haven't already done so, can I urge you to come along, ...and it would be very helpful if you could sign the list at the back of church.

I'm sure that you'll have a very interesting and enjoyable evening.

(pause)

None of us are perfect, and there's no such thing as a perfect church. As a church we have collectively sinned against God.

But as we approach Lent, let us remember that Jesus loves his church, and is willing to call us his bride. ...We keep letting him down, but he is always willing to forgive.

So please pray for our church during the next few weeks.

May we experience God's forgiveness for the times in the past where we've been unfaithful.

May we experience God's great love for us, here and now.

And may we know his guidance, as we seek his calling for the future.

Amen.

An alternative ending to S017

...After all, there was concrete evidence that this woman had broken the Jewish Law. ...And on another occasion Jesus himself had said that he hadn't come to abolish the Law, (Mt. 5.17-18) ...so how could he say to the woman, "Neither do I condemn you?".

(Perhaps take a break in the sermon here - Sing MP 181 God forgave my sin in Jesus name - imagine the woman singing this song)

So how could Jesus say to the woman, "Neither do I forgive you?"

The answer to this question doesn't lie in this story alone. Instead we need to look at it in the context of the whole of Jesus' ministry, ...from his birth to his resurrection. And there we see that this wasn't a one-off incident, but that Jesus encountered many situations in which he came face to face with the sin of others. For under the terms of the Law no-one stood guiltless, all had sinned and fallen short of God's standards.

...But the 'Good News' is that Jesus didn't come to judge the world, ...but to save it (Jn. 12.47). Jesus had God's authority to forgive people, ...but were they willing to accept forgiveness? Were they willing to trust Jesus, and to allow him to deal with their lives?

And this story serves as a wonderful illustration of two types of people. You see, at the end of the story we have two types of people who are standing before Jesus: ...the woman, and the scribes.

Jesus knew that both of them were guilty: ...the woman was guilty of adultery, the scribes were guilty of conspiracy. Furthermore, both of them knew themselves that they were guilty.

Now Jesus didn't condemn either of them, ...instead he waited to see what they would decide to do.

The scribes decided to walk away from him, ...and by so doing they condemned themselves.

But amazingly the woman decided to stay with Jesus! ...No one forced her to stay, (after all, her accusers had all gone). Nevertheless she took the risk of staying with Jesus, and allowing him to deal with her.

And Jesus did two things. First, he set her free from condemnation, ...and then he set her free to live a new life. ..."Neither do I condemn you", Jesus declared, "Go now and leave your life of sin."

I want to finish by briefly thinking about why this story is important to us today.

How do we react when we've done something that we're ashamed of?

Now, as then, all of us have fallen short of God's standards ...and as Christians, we still do things, sometimes, that we're ashamed of. And from my own experience, I'm particularly ashamed of areas in my life where I feel that I've let God down time and time again. ...So how do we react in the face of our own sinfulness?

Do we follow the example of the scribes? ...Do we try to avoid Jesus, and slink away in shame? ...If we do, we then condemn ourselves.

Or do we follow the example of the woman? ...Do we take the risk of staying with Jesus? (even though we may feel very uncomfortable), ...and wait for his words of forgiveness.

(pause)

It was Alexander Pope who coined the phrase:

"To err is human; to forgive, divine."

And if we want to know true forgiveness, then the only way is to come to Jesus, (warts and all), ...to acknowledge our unworthiness, and to ask him to forgive us.

But there is one word of warning...

On other occasions Jesus stressed the fact that we can't expect God to forgive us, unless we are willing to forgive others. The standards that we apply to others, God will apply to us. It's a principle that he even embodied in the Lord's prayer:

"Forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us."

All of us have been hurt by others, ...and some of us have been very badly hurt indeed.

Forgiveness is not pretending that the person who hurt us didn't do any wrong.

Forgiveness is not pretending that we can always forget what has been done to us. [And on this Remembrance Day we especially remember some of the evil things that have been done during war.]

But forgiveness is saying:

"What you did to me was very wrong...

and I might never be able to forget it...

but I forgive you any way...

because Jesus has forgiven me."

(pause)

..."Neither do I condemn you", Jesus declared to the woman, "Go now and leave your life of sin."