11 November 3, 2013, john 8:1-11 Woman Caught In Adultery

WOMAN CAUGHT IN ADULTERY

John 8:1-11

NOVEMBER 3, 2013

First Baptist Church

Jackson, Mississippi

USA

November Bible Memory Verse:

Philippians 4:6-7 6 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and

petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God,

which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ

Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7

JOHN 8: 1-11

John 8:1-11 NKJV 1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

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2 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. 3 Then the scribes and

Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set

her in the midst, 4 they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the

very act.

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5 Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned.

But what do You say?” 6 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.

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7 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.” 8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.

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9 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.

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10 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?”

11 She said, “No one, Lord.”

And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

John 8:1-11 NKJV

The same Jesus Who said, “Go and sin no more” is the same Jesus Who

“remembers your sin no more”…

IF

1 John 1:9 NKJV 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse

us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9 NKJV

Isaiah 1:18b NKJV 18b “Though your sins are like scarlet,

They shall be as white as snow; (bleach)

Though they are red like crimson,

They shall be as wool.

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Hebrews 8:12 NKJV 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless

deeds I will remember no more.”

Hebrews 8:12 NKJV

Jeremiah 31:34 NKJV

For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.

Jeremiah 31:34 NKJV

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Psalm 103:12 NKJV 12 As far as the east is from the west, (not north from south)

So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

Psalm 103:12 NKJV

Micah 7:19b NKJV 19b You will cast all our sins

Into the depths of the sea. (No fishing!)

Micah 7:19b NKJV

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For those who are forgiven, He remembers their sins no more but not so for those

who have not asked for His forgiveness.

Jeremiah 17:1 NKJV 1 “The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron;

With the point of a diamond it is engraved

On the tablet of their heart,

Jeremiah 17:1 NKJV

Jesus chooses to forget the sins of those who choose Him and, in addition,

He chooses to remember those precious souls whom the Father has given Him.

Psalm 139:17-18a NKJV 17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!

How great is the sum of them! 18a If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand;

Psalm 139:17-18a NKJV

Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV 11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of

peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV

Psalm 40:5b NKJV 5b Your thoughts toward us

Cannot be recounted to You in order;

If I would declare and speak of them,

They are more than can be numbered.

Psalm 40:5b NKJV

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Isaiah 49:15b-16a NKJV 15b Yet I will not forget you. 16a See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;

Isaiah 49:15b-16a NKJV

This was My pen…

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Psalm 56:3

3 Whenever I am afraid,

I will trust in You.

Psalm 56:3

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The same Jesus Who said, “Go and sin no more” is the same Jesus Who

“remembers your sin no more”…

HALELUJAH!

What a Savior!

The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Copyright © Moody Press

and John MacArthur, Jr., 1983-2007.

J. Vernon McGee's Thru The Bible

Barclay's Daily Study Bible (NT)

The New American Commentary [Nashville: Broadman & Holman].

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible,

PC Study Bible Formatted Electronic Database Copyright © 2006 by

Biblesoft, Inc.

Wiersbe's Expository Outlines on the New Testament. Copyright © 1992 by

Chariot Victor Publishing, an imprint of Cook Communication Ministries.

John 7:50-53 NKJV

The night before this John 8:1 passage, there had been a meeting of the

Sanhedrin because people were divided in their opinion as to whether or not

Jesus was the Messiah.

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John 7:50-53 NKJV

50 Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them) said to

them,

John 3:1-17

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John 7:50-53

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John 19:39-42

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51 “Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?”

52 They answered and said to him, “Are you also from Galilee? Search and look,

for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee.”

53 And everyone went to his own house.

John 7:50-53 NKJV

Everyone had gone home but not one had invited Jesus to his house.

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John 8:1 NKJV 1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

John 8:1 NKJV

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Jesus possibly went to some booth pitched there on the Mount of Olives since it

was during the feast of tabernacles.

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That Jesus, the Creator of all things, had no place of His own to stay strikingly

illustrates the humiliation and condescension of the Incarnation—when He

“emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness

of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming

obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:7-8).

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At His birth His mother “wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger,

because there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7, Revelation 3:20).

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During His ministry He said to a would-be follower, “The foxes have holes and the

birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head”

(Matthew 8:20).

Jesus Christ, the King of kings, was not given the reception even the most minor

human dignitary would have received (John 1:11).

John 1:11 NKJV 11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.

John 1:11 NKJV

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John 8:2 NKJV 2 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.

John 8:2 NKJV

Our text notes that, simply and without fanfare, early the next morning He came

again into the temple to teach.

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No angelic herald announced Jesus' arrival, nor did He perform any sensational

miracles to draw a crowd.

But such was the power of His teaching that all the people were coming to Him.

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In His humility, the Lord used no gimmicks to market or promote Himself, but

offered His teaching freely to all who would listen.

In typical rabbinical style, He simply sat down somewhere in the temple complex

and began to teach the people.

Throughout Jesus' ministry He exhibited this kind of humility.

This is in stark contrast to His second coming, which will be marked by His

exaltation and glory.

When He returns, He will come “with power and great glory” “on the clouds of

heaven” and “every eye will see Him”.

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“He will sit on His glorious throne” and He will rule the nations with majesty and

power!

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John 8:3-4 NKJV 3 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery.

And when they had set her in the midst, 4 they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman

was caught in adultery, in the very act.

John 8:3-4 NKJV

Suddenly, the Lord's teaching was interrupted by scribes and the

Pharisees.

The scribes (lawyers) were the experts in interpreting the Law.

After God allowed Babylon to destroy Solomon’s Temple in 586 B.C., the central

focus for the Jew shifted from the Temple (sacrifice) to obedience to God’s Law

(Torah), since the Temple no longer existed and sacrifices were impossible.

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The Hebrews reasoned that since their failure to observe the Law of God was

what got them into national disaster, therefore, its remedy would be careful

observance of the Law.

And with this shift, the people’s focus and attention changed from being upon

the priest (previously performing sacrifices), to the scribe (the one who best

knows God’s commands).

So, with this swing in spotlight came the rise of new “experts in the Mosaic Law”.

Scribes:

These were the lawyers whose primary job was to copy the Scriptures.

Their focus became the details or the letter of the law.

Since the scribes were the copyists, they also became the interpreters of the

sacred writings because their occupation gave them unusual familiarity with the

OT.

They transitioned from mere copyists to teachers of the Scriptures and

somewhat took the place of the priest as teacher of the Law.

Their services, both educational and judicial, were rendered freely and without

compensation.

The scribes were usually, but not always, Pharisees, who along with the

Sadducees, Zealots, and Essenes were one of the four major religious sects in

first-century Judaism.

Pharisees:

The Pharisees were noted chiefly for their strict adherence to the Mosaic Law

and their oral traditions.

They were especially known for insisting that the law of God be observed as the

scribes interpreted it.

Though few in number (about 6,000 at the time of Herod the Great according to

the first-century Jewish historian Josephus), the Pharisees were the dominant

religious influence among the Jewish people.

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With the exception of Nicodemus, the Pharisees are always hostile to Jesus in

John's gospel.

The name, Pharisee, implies “the separated ones.”

They lived in separate communities, not fellowshipping with sinners.

Whenever the rabbis taught something that sounded good, or profound, they

kept it and added it to what they called “the tradition of the elders.”

Many Pharisees believed that these traditions were even as authoritative as the

Law.

One popular Pharisee myth is that at the same time God gave the Law to

Moses, He gave him another law, an oral law, that wasn’t to be written down,

but passed along from parent to child—and that oral law is what the Pharisees

taught.

Obviously that’s foolish, but that’s how highly Pharisees respected their tradition.

So the scribes’ emphasis was on the written law whereas the Pharisees’ focus

was on the oral law (tradition).

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Bringing with them a woman caught in adultery, the scribes and Pharisees

barged into the crowd of people listening to Jesus and set her in the center of

the court.

Addressing Him with mock politeness as “Teacher” (or “Rabbi”) they exclaimed,

“This woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act.”

Why did they only bring the woman if they were caught in the act?

So there was an injustice at the very onset, in their own judgments.

John 8:5 NKJV 5 Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned.

But what do You say?”

John 8:5 NKJV

The last clause is emphatic in the Greek, and could be translated:

“What's your opinion on this?”

Jesus Himself upheld the Old Testament condemnation of adultery (Matthew

5:27; 19:18).

In fact, He made the prohibition stronger, condemning not only the physical

act, but also the lustful attitude that conceives it (Matthew 5:28).

Matthew 5:27-28

27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; 28 but I say to

you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed

adultery with her in his heart.

Matthew 5:27-28

If justice was all they sought, why bring the woman to Jesus at all?

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Why not try her in their own courts, where such cases would normally be

heard?

Jesus was not a judge (Luke 12:13-14) nor a member of the Sanhedrin.

Luke 12:13-14 13 Someone in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide

the family inheritance with me.”

14 But He said to him, “Man, who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you?”

Luke 12:13-14

In Luke 12 he was referring to His first coming, however in Matthew 25 He is

talking about His second coming when He will be the Judge!

Matthew 25:31-46 NKJV 31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him,

then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before

Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from

the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.

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41 “Then He will say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into

the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry and

you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 43 I was a stranger

and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison

and you did not visit Me.’

44 “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or

thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ 45 Then

He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not

do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 And these will go

away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Matthew 25:31-46 NKJV

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There was no legal difficulty that would necessitate consulting a rabbi in this

adultery case; it was an open-and-shut case.

They are right about the Law of Moses; there is no way of toning it down. She

should be stoned. They are putting Him on the horns of a dilemma. Will He

contradict Moses?

The scribes and Pharisees did this to trap Him.

They didn't really want to stone the woman.

o They wanted to stone Him!

If He objected to stoning her, He would be guilty of opposing the Mosaic Law,

and thus discredit His claim to be the Messiah.

On the other hand, if He agreed with her accusers that she should be stoned, His

reputation for compassion toward sinners would be destroyed.

Further, the Jewish leaders could then report Him to the Romans as having

instigated an execution in defiance of Roman authority

(John 18:31).

The challenge brought by the scribes and Pharisees also raised a deeper issue—

namely, how divine justice and mercy are to be harmonized.

God is holy and His “Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous

and good”.

But the Law knows nothing of forgiveness.

It declares, “The soul who sins will die” because “all who have sinned under the

Law will be judged by the Law” “for the Law brings about wrath”.

How then does God forgive sinners without violating His holy law?

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The answer is, through the Lord Jesus Christ!

His sacrificial death fully satisfied the demands of God's justice; as Paul

wrote to the Romans: “For what the Law could not do, weak as it was

through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful

flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh” (Romans

8:3).

Those who put their faith in Him are “justified as a gift by His grace through the

redemption which is in Christ Jesus; Whom God displayed publicly as a

propitiation in His blood through faith”, because “He Himself bore our sins in His

body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His

wounds you were healed”. 1 Peter 2:24

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Because His sacrificial death paid the penalty for the sins of all who believe in

Him, God can “be just and the Justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Rom

3:26); in Him “mercy and truth have met together (at the cross); righteousness (justice)

and peace have kissed each other” (Psalm 85:10).

God poured out His wrath against sin on Jesus so He can pour out His grace and

mercy on those who believe.

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Jesus was the lamb “slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev 13:8), not only

in the prophetic sense, but also in the sense of application.

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All through redemptive history, all who were forgiven and given eternal life had

the sacrifice of the Son of God applied to their sins.

John 8:6 NKJV 6 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.

John 8:6 NKJV

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The dramatic scene in the temple courtyard had reached its climax.

The woman, her sin publicly exposed, was humiliated, terrified, and about

to be stoned.

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The scribes and Pharisees were jubilant, thinking they had caught Jesus in

an impossible dilemma.

The crowd was hushed, watching intently to see how Jesus would react.

But He, for the moment, surprisingly did nothing.

Seemingly oblivious to what was going on, Jesus stoops down and writes

as though He doesn't even hear them.

This is the only record that we have of His writing anything.

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He is the One about Whom more books have been written than about any

other person who has ever lived; yet He never wrote anything except this in the

sands of the temple floor, which the wind or the feet of the crowd erased.

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John 8:7 NKJV 7 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.”

John 8:7 NKJV

When they pressed Him for an answer, Jesus turned the conviction of the

prisoner upon the prosecutors.

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Perhaps they thought He did not know how to reply, so, thinking they finally had

impaled Him on the horns of a dilemma, the scribes and Pharisees persisted.

Always the master of the moment, Jesus remained silent, allowing them to

reveal unmistakably their hatred and hypocrisy as they insistently pressed their

attack.

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At last, He no doubt gave His opponents a piercing glance, straightened up and

said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at

her.”

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The Lord's reply was simple, yet profound.

It upheld the Law, since He did not deny the woman's guilt, and broadened the

Law's power by exposing the sins of the accusers.

It also avoided the charge of instigating an execution in violation of Roman

authority, since the Lord put the responsibility back on the accusers.

And it mercifully spared the woman from being stoned for her sin.

Jesus knew that according to the Law, the witnesses to a capital offense were

to be the first to throw stones at the guilty person (Deuteronomy 13:9; 17:7).

Deuteronomy 13:9 9 But you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to

death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.

Deuteronomy 13:9

Deuteronomy 17:7 7 The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and

afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.

Deuteronomy 17:7

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The woman's accusers were themselves guilty of adultery (if not the physical act,

certainly the lust of the heart [Matthew 5:28]).

Jesus' masterful answer neither minimized the woman's guilt, nor denied the

Law's sanctity.

But it cut the ground out from under the scribes and Pharisees by revealing that

they were unfit to be her judges and executioners.

John 8:8 NKJV 8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.

John 8:8 NKJV

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After making that startling and unexpected statement, He calmly stooped down

once more and wrote on the ground, and said nothing.

Arthur Pink suggests that Christ wrote on the ground with His finger twice to

remind them of the two tablets of the Law, written with the finger of God.

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Because the text does not say what He wrote, some speculate that the Lord was

acting out Jeremiah 17:13: “Those who depart from Me shall be written in the

earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters” (NKJV).

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Now, who had forsaken the Lord?

This woman?

Yes, she had.

The religious rulers?

Yes, they had too.

Their names shall be written in the earth.

Jesus may have been writing in the dust the sins of the very men who were

accusing the woman.

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The normal Greek word for to write is graphein; but here the word used is

katagraphein, which can mean to write down a record against someone.

One of the meanings of kata is against.

So in Job 13:26 Job says: "Thou writest (katagraphein) bitter things against me."

Jesus may have been linking their names with sins of their past.

Perhaps He wrote the name of a woman living in Rome.

One old pious Pharisee had had an affair in Rome when he was a young fellow.

His wife didn't know about it; no one in Jerusalem knew about it; but our Lord

knew that old rascal.

As He just wrote the name of the woman, the old Pharisee came over and

saw it -- and suddenly remembered that he had another appointment.

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Perhaps one of the scribes made regular trips to Ephesus, a great sinning place,

to a certain address over there which Jesus wrote in the sand.

The scribe looked at it and said, "Oh, my gracious!" He left hurriedly.

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Another scribe may have left a girl in Galilee who was pregnant.

He didn't marry her, and he didn't think anyone knew.

Our Lord wrote the name of the girl and the scribe's name with it.

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Psalm 90:8

Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy

countenance. Psalm 90:8

Secret sin on earth is open scandal in Heaven.

Better our sin should shame us than damn us, and be set in order before us for

our conviction than for our condemnation.

What Jesus wrote is obviously not essential to the story, however, since it was not

recorded; all of these suggestions are only speculation – we simply do not know.

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Perhaps His writing on the ground frightened them, as the hand-writing on the

wall frightened Belshazzar.

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They concluded He was writing bitter things against them, writing their

doom.

Happy they who have no reason to be afraid of Christ's writing!

John 8:9 NKJV

9 Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one

by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. John 8:9 NKJV

Conscience is God's deputy in the soul, and one word from Him will set it to work

as in Hebrews 4:12:

Hebrews 4:12 KJV 12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged

sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints

and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12 KJV

It is folly for those that are under convictions to contrive how to shift off their

convictions, and to get rid of them.

The scribes and Pharisees had the wound opened, and now they should have

been desirous to have it searched, and then it might have been healed, but this

was the thing they dreaded and declined.

It is folly for those that are under convictions to get away from Jesus Christ, as

these here did, for He is the only One that can heal the wounds of conscience,

and speak peace to us.

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Those that are convicted by their consciences will be condemned by their

Judge, if they be not justified by their Redeemer; and will they then go from

Him?

To whom will they go?

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Jesus gives the requirements for being a judge, which is something for all of us to

hear.

We have the right to be the judge of others provided we meet the requirement.

That requirement is sinlessness.

That takes me out of the stone-throwing business.

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John 8:9 NKJV

And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

John 8:9 NKJV

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So there was not a person left there who could throw a stone at her except

One.

Only Jesus could have thrown the stone at her.

All the others had slinked away.

What hypocrites they were!

John 8:10-11 NKJV 10 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?”

11 She said, “No one, Lord.”

And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

John 8:10-11 NKJV

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For the first time, Someone addressed the woman.

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She did not seek to make her escape, though she had opportunity for it; but her

prosecutors had appealed unto Jesus, and to Him she would go, on Him she

would wait for her doom.

Note; Those whose cause is brought before our Lord Jesus will never have

occasion to remove it into any other court, for He is the refuge of penitents.

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The woman, it is likely, stood trembling at the bar, as one doubtful of the issue.

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Christ was without sin, and might cast the first stone;

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but though none more severe than He against sin, for He is infinitely just and

holy, none more compassionate than He to sinners, for He is infinitely gracious

and merciful, and this poor sinner finds Him so, now that she stands upon her

deliverance.

First;

The prosecutors are called:

Where are those thine accusers?

Hath no man condemned thee?

Not but that Christ knew where they were; but He asked, that He might shame

them, who declined His judgment, and encourage her who resolved to abide

by it.

The Apostle Paul's challenge is like this;

Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect?

Where are those their accusers?

The accuser of the brethren shall be cast out, and all indictments legally and

regularly quashed.

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Secondly;

They do not appear when the question is asked: Hath no man condemned

thee?

She said, No man, Lord.

She speaks respectfully to Christ, calls Him Lord, but is silent concerning her

prosecutors, says nothing in answer to that question which concerned them,

Where are those thine accusers?

She does not triumph in their retreat nor insult over them as witnesses against

themselves, not against her.

If we hope to be forgiven by our Judge, we must forgive our accusers; and if

their accusations, how invidious so ever, were the happy occasion of

awakening our consciences, we may easily forgive them this wrong.

But she answered the question which concerned herself, Has no man

condemned thee?

True penitents find it enough to give an account of themselves to God, and will

not undertake to give an account of other people.

So here's a woman caught in the act of a capital sin according to the Mosaic

Law, but Jesus is saying to her, "I don't condemn you."

Because He didn't come to condemn, He came to save.

And there He demonstrated His glorious ministry: seeking and saving that which

was lost.

She didn't need to be condemned, she needed to be saved.

We don't need to be condemned, we need to be saved!

And Jesus did not condemn the sinner.

To this woman He said, "Neither do I condemn you. Just go and sin no more."

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This woman was guilty of sin, and according to the Law of Moses an adulteress

was to be put to death.

Is Jesus reversing the Mosaic system?

No.

He is placing His Cross between that woman and her sin.

This One Who is the Son of the virgin, Who Himself was under a cloud all of His

life, is going to the Cross to pay the penalty for even the sin of this woman.

He did not come into the world to condemn the world.

He did not come to judge this woman.

He came into the world the first time to be a Savior!

This account paints a marvelous picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, Whose gracious

humility, infinite wisdom, convicting speech, and tender forgiveness are its

central themes.

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