A Story of Grace - John 7:53-8:11

 

“A Story of Grace” (Or, “Mercy Me!”)

John 7:53-8:11

Introduction: This familiar passage may be one of the best known and most loved scenes in the Gospel of John. It is also one of the most controversial passages in the NT. As it stands, it reminds us of God’s love shown in sending his Son to be our Savior: “God demonstrates His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). If you have an NIV Bible, you’ll see a note that this passage does not occur in the earliest manuscripts of John. The ESV also puts it in brackets, noting also that it is not present in the earliest manuscripts. Other modern translations say something similar. This is in fact one of the most contested paragraphs in the New Testament. The problem? None of the manuscripts of John before the 5^th century AD include it, and it’s not cited or commented on by the earliest church fathers. They simply jump from 7:52 to 8:12. In a few later manuscripts this story actually appears in a couple of different places in this Gospel, and also in a couple of manuscripts of Luke’s gospel. Most scholars have concluded, and I agree, that it probably wasn’t originally a part of John’s Gospel. Almost everyone agrees however that it does seem to be an actual event in the life of Jesus that was remembered and preserved by the early church and that simply didn’t make it into the Gospels originally (remember John 21:25, “And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.”).  I am not going to take time to look at the question of the authenticity of this passage or talk about the science of textual criticism. This isn’t a seminary class. We can touch on that on Thursday night if there are questions. Today we’re going to look at this ancient story for what it is: a beautiful and touching illustration of the important doctrines well attested throughout the Bible of the mercy and grace of God. This may be a favorite story of many of us since we know the truth about ourselves, and we know that God knows the truth as well. There is none righteous, no not one. We are all sinners, deserving judgment, and can only be saved through the mercy and grace of God. We’ll find total agreement elsewhere that…

The Big Idea: As sinners saved by grace, we should respond with a deep sense of gratitude toward God, and by being merciful and gracious to others. We’ll look at three points, 1) The Law reveals sin and requires justice; 2) The depravity of the human heart exposed; and finally, 3) Only by the grace and mercy of God can we be saved.

I. The Law reveals sin and requires justice (7:53-8:5). This is the predicament which defines fallen humanity: we are lost sinners, in rebellion against God, deserving judgment. Paul said in Eph 2:1-3,

“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,  ² in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,  ³ among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.”

The language is clear and it is humbling: we were dead in sin, in bondage to the devil, without hope. That is the human condition without Jesus, and God knows not only our actions but also our hearts and still sent His Son. The next verse in Ephesians 2 says,

⁴ But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,  ⁵ even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved…”

       Guilty… but God! Here, the text begins by saying “They each went to his own home, but Jesus went to The Mount of Olives” (7:53-8:1). If we are sensitive to what is stated, and to the geography, this may remind us that this world really isn’t our home, that one day Jesus will return in power and judgment. Think about it. Why is this detail mentioned? First of all, everyone else went home, Jesus was not at home in this world: he said elsewhere that “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head” (Matt 8:20). He went to the Mount of Olives, a place which is mentioned occasionally in the Gospels, always it seems in a key context…

·      According to Luke, Jesus passed near the Mount of Olives as he entered the city in the Triumphal Entry (Luke 19:37). As he was being hailed as “King of Israel” by the people, he passed in the shadow of this hill.

·      After the Last Supper, he went out to the Mount of Olives with his disciples (Mark 14:26; Matt 26:30). The Lord’s table was just instituted, in a matter of hours as he would be betrayed, denied, and delivered up to be crucified.

·      It was also on the Mount of Olives, that Jesus sat and taught his disciples about the signs of the times and the promise of his return (Mk 13; Mt 24). It is there that the prophet Zechariah had said the returning Messiah would stand, and the mountain would split in two under his feet (Zech 14:4). Is it a coincidental detail that in our story in John the people went to their own homes (7:53)?

Jesus, who came from Heaven, who has no “home” in this world, goes to a place associated with his kingship and glory, his passion, and the promise of his return. He is Lord, and yes, the day will come when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that truth, yet the leaders dare to come to test Him!

       John 8:2 tells us that early in the morning, the NIV says, “at dawn,” Jesus was back in the temple courts teaching any who would hear him. Jesus knew the hour the Father had determined; He was diligently carrying out His mission, giving the people an opportunity to believe Him. We saw in John 6 and 7 that Jesus was well aware of the intentions of the leaders, He knew that they were already plotting to kill him, even so, he doesn’t back down: nothing is going to keep him from calling people to repentance, revealing God’s grace, and, at the right time, providing redemption, as he lays down his own life for our sins.

       “Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst…” (John 8:3) This public “presentation” of the woman before the people to Jesus seems odd—the motives of the leaders will become clear in the next verse, but already we have to wonder, why ask Jesus, apparently a Galilean, certainly not one of the Sanhedrin, His opinion on what should be done? And why this embarrassing situation of standing her before the assembled crowd? Even without v.6, it seems suspicious to say the least.

       Continuing in 8:4,5,  ⁴ they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act.  ⁵ "Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such women should be stoned...” They point out the sin and the judgment that was called for, and they were only half-right… In Exodus 20:14, we read, “You shall not commit adultery.” Leviticus 20:10  spells out the penalty: ' "If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.”

       This brings us to an obvious question: Adultery by definition requires two people. Where was the man? This is another indication that something else is going on here. Every indication is that the woman was guilty. There are no denials on her part. But why, early in the morning, do they bring her to Jesus? And why only her? Their motives are hypocritical, they are not interested in justly carrying out the Law of Moses, they are trying to trap Jesus and have a basis for condemning him. If he said “show mercy” he would be speaking contrary to the Law and could be denounced as someone speaking against Moses. If he said “stone her” perhaps he would be viewed as harsh and unsympathetic and would lose the support of the people. Jesus knew the truth; he knew the woman’s heart, and also the hearts of her accusers. The truth is we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God.  We are all sinners, deserving judgment, there is none righteous, not even one.  * As sinners saved by grace, we should respond with a deep sense of gratitude toward God, and by being merciful and gracious to others.

II. The Depravity of the Human Heart Exposed (8:6-9). We’ve seen several times in this Gospel evidence that Jesus knows the heart of humans.

⁶ This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.  ⁷ And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her."  ⁸ And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground.  ⁹ But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.

      Jn 8:6a makes it clear that the rulers were not interested in justice, they were seeking to trap Jesus and have a cause to accuse Him (8:6a). Their duplicity reveals their hard hearts. Their motive isn’t justice, or honoring the holiness of God, it was one more attempt to make a case against Jesus, to catch Him saying something that would justify them in condemning Him.

       As happened frequently in the Gospels, the leaders sought to trap Jesus by giving him a “no win” situation to judge. Once again it is clear that they had no clue as to who they were dealing with!   They set the scene up, “…in order to have a basis for accusing Him…” Their minds were made up, and now, if necessary, they would manufacture a basis for judging Jesus. All their actions revealed was they too were sinners, deserving judgment.

       Jesus knew their hearts (and by the way, He knows our hearts) (8:6b-8). One theme that we have seen in John’s Gospel is well reflected in this story: the omniscience of Jesus, and his sovereignty over the situation. He knows the truth, He knows the crime the woman committed, but He also knows everything about her accusers, their motivation, their plan, and their own sinful hearts. “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it?” (Jer 17:9).  It goes on… 17:10  “I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings.”

     Is it coincidental that in that same context in Jeremiah, we read in 17:13, “Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the Lord, the spring of living water”(NIV).  Jesus was just teaching in John 7 about the water of life welling up to overflowing in those who believe in Him. These leaders don’t believe, and their actions reveal their attitudes. They were guilty, needing mercy, as much as the woman was. The truth is, we are all sinners, deserving judgment, and are only saved because of the mercy and grace of God.  We should respond with a deep sense of gratitude toward him, and by being merciful and gracious toward others.

       When we are honest about it, we all know we are sinners (8:9). The question comes up, and it is hard not to speculate: what did Jesus write on the ground? Some suggestions have been made:

       Did he begin to list the 10 commandments? Or a list of sins that Scripture names and condemns? The Law exposes sin, and the truth is all fall short, so we could easily imagine a scene with Jesus writing one by one the ten commandments, and one by one the accusers wincing as they are reminded of their own sin, “convicted by their own conscience,” dropping their stone, and slipping away in silence.

       Did he write their names in the dust, evoking Jeremiah 17:13, reminding them of their hypocrisy? Look again at some of that context in Jeremiah and see how it reflects the issues of this context in John:

            ⁹ The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? ¹⁰ "I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve..."   ¹³ …Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the LORD, the spring of living water.  ¹⁴ Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise…" (Jer 17:9-10; 13-14).

The Lord is the spring of living water, the font of healing and salvation, and the guilty, their names written in the dust, are guilty for having forsaken Him… It is at least possible that Jesus was evoking this passage from Jeremiah, perhaps inviting them to remember the Scripture and to consider their own heart of unbelief.

       It is only speculation, but we see what happens: one by one, the accusers are themselves apparently “convicted,” seemingly they become aware of their hypocrisy and see their own sinfulness, and drop their stones, and walk away.  From the oldest, to the last. Could it be that the older ones were around long enough to be all too aware of their own sin? Even the Law is gracious, because it reveals the depth of our need, and so can be a schoolmaster to lead us to Christ (See Galatians 3-4).

       The Big Idea is that we should *thank God for his Grace since we are all sinners, deserving judgment, and are only saved because of the mercy and grace of God.  We should respond with a deep sense of gratitude toward him, and by being merciful and gracious toward others.

III. Only by the Grace and Mercy of God can we be saved (8:10-11).

¹⁰ Jesus stood up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"  ¹¹ She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more."

       Notice that Jesus doesn’t ask the woman if she is guilty. He knows her heart (and He knows your heart and mine). As to the woman at the well in John 4, Jesus extends grace. After all, He came to save sinners. It was Him who would soon bear her sins (and our sins) in His body on the Cross. This does not mean we should be indifferent toward sin. It does mean that we should realize people don’t need to turn over a new leaf and live like us. They need a new heart and a New Life. That comes only through faith in Jesus.

       The NIV says, “Go now, and leave your life of sin…” Like the healed man in the temple, Jesus calls for repentance, a change of mind and a turning from a life controlled by sin to a life given to God. The just shall live by faith. "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”

What is God saying to me in this passage? As sinners saved by grace, we should respond with a deep sense of gratitude toward God, and by being merciful and gracious to others.

What would God have me to do in response to this passage?

1) Have you thought that the sins of your past, or your present, were too much to hope for forgiveness? Have you thought, “God might forgive others, but how could he possibly forgive me, you don’t know what I’m like, you don’t know the things I have done.”  You are no different than any of us, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We all need grace. None of us deserves heaven. Jesus didn’t come to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He came to save sinners. By believing in Jesus, trusting that he died for your sins, and that he was raised again the third day, and confessing him as the savior and Lord of your life (Rom 10:9,10) you can be saved!

2) What then should be our attitude toward others? Early in my Christian life I was self righteous and quick to judge… for about a minute… until I took a good look in the mirror and realized how prone to wander I still was. Yes, God hates sin, and so should we. But let’s not fall into the sin of the Pharisees. Rather than pointing fingers, maybe we should remember that this is why Jesus came, to save sinners! He extended amazing grace and mercy. So, we should show mercy, be gracious, and forgiving! Because we have received such grace, we should be gracious. Because we have needed such mercy, we should be merciful. Judge not that you be not judged. We are simply one sinner, showing other sinners, where to find forgiveness and life, one beggar telling another, where to find bread. Thank God for His amazing grace!  AMEN.