Pastor Scott
Jonas
John 8
I am the Light of the World
1/27/18
Early in the morning Jesus came again
to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. 3
The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery,
placing her in the midst 4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been
caught in the act of adultery. 5 Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone
such women. So what do you say?” 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. 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.”]]
12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the
world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of
life.”
Picture the
scene. It is early in the morning,
predawn. It’s still mostly dark. The sun has not risen completely. It’s coming out of the night. Jesus goes through the first courtyard of the
temple. It is called the court of gentiles
because anyone is permitted there, including the money changers though it was
probably too soon for them to show up.
Jesus continues into the next court, the temple court of women. It wasn’t just for women but it was the
furthest that Jewish women could go.
It’s important to note that Jesus chose this part of the Temple to
teach. He could have gone in one more level
and taught only Jewish men but he chooses the court of women presumably because
he wants men and women to learn from him. Other rabbis forbid the public
teaching of women. Not Jesus.
Jesus stops
and begins to teach in the dusk. He sits
down and begins to converse with all of those who wanted to listen. We don’t know what his subject was but there
is soon a disruption. A distraught
Jewish woman is dragged into the courtyard and over to Jesus’ circle. The scribes and Pharisees enter the circle and
throw her right in front of the rabbi.
They say loudly for the whole courtyard to hear,
“Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery.
5 Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you
say?” Jesus pauses.
Can you imagine what was going on in
the minds of those sitting at Jesus’ feet during this pause? What is Jesus going to say? Adultery was a serious charge. In fact, the rabbis said that “Every Jew, man
or woman, must die before he will commit idolatry, murder or adultery.” In other words, adultery is such a
destructive violation of God and other that it would be noble to kill yourself
rather than commit it.
When the
nation of Israel was formed under Moses, God gave not just the ten commandments
but other rules for living together in the desert. Families lived in tents. There weren’t the natural societal boundaries
that came from living in civilization.
God gave his people specific sexual boundaries so that the nation would
survive. If a man left his tent and met
up in a secret rendezvous with another man’s willing wife that had grave
consequences. If they were caught in the
act by two witnesses then there would be a trial. If they were found guilty then it was
punishable by death. Both for the
adulterus man and the adulterous woman.
The Mishnah
(Wisdom of the Rabbis) called for
execution of adulterous man by strangulation.
He was buried in dung to above the waist, hands tied, towel wrapped
around his neck. Then two men
pulled. Women were to be stoned.
But here’s the thing. This punishment was almost never carried out
in the history of Israel. In Deuteronomy
24 it says that if a man finds out that his wife has been indecent (adultery)
the husband could divorce her with no other punishment mentioned.
So if you
are a faithful Jew witnessing this scene these are the things going through
your mind. The punishment of death for
adultery for sanctioned by God through Moses but it was more of a deterrent
than anything. There was allowance in
the law and a practice of alternate sentencing.
The
bystander might have also been thinking, where is the adulterous man? They both are guilty under the Jewish law,
yet he is mysteriously absent. Was he
given the alternate sentencing and the woman was not? That is definitely not according to the
book. These Pharisees are definitely up
to something. This is very rare
behavior. This must be more about Jesus
than about the woman. It’s a trap. And this controversy is the bait.
In that
pause, Jesus bends down while still sitting and begins to write. That is weird. Right?
Imagine you witness someone bring an woman accused of murder to a police
officer. And instead of putting cuffs on
her, instead of thank you for your wonderful public service, instead of
scolding the defendant, the policeman just starts using his finger to write on
the ground. Weird!
The text
does not say why he did this or what he wrote but there are lots of
theories. Maybe you have heard them.
Theory 1
Gain time. This was just a way to change
to tempo. Cool everyone down. Throw off the Pharisees. This theory really doesn’t explain what he
wrote so I don’t like it.
Theory
2 He paused and wrote to force them to
repeat their charges. Have you ever
asked someone to repeat something because what they have said is so outrageous
and dumb that you wanted them to hear what was coming out of their mouths. That may have been part of it. But that still doesn’t explain what he wrote.
Theory
3 Jesus was so ashamed he could not look
at the crowd. JEsus was full man. And he was fully righteous. I believe he could have been ashamed to be a
man at that moment. We know nothing
about this woman except she is Jewish.
Maybe she is a widow who was forced into poverty and prostitution. The
Pharisees were supposed to look out for widows and the weak. Instead they are using this women as a
thing. She is a means to entrap Jesus.
The Pharisees probably didn’t know her name. Maybe they even set her up and
that is why the man isn’t there. Maybe
Jesus sees the contrast of The leering look on their faces and the bleak
judgement of their eyes. He is so
embarrassed that he looks down and writes.
Maybe.
Theory
4 He recorded the accusers sins. The normal greek word for “to write” is
graphein. But here the word used is
katagraphein, which means to write down a record against someone. This theory believes that JEsus knows the
hearts of the Pharisees so writes “pride” and an arrow at one man, writes
“anger” and an arrow at another, writes lust and an arrow at another. They immediately recognize that he knows
their private failings. They become
overwhelmed with guilt and shame.
Theory
5 He wrote out the woman’s
judgement. Judges wrote out the verdict
and sentence before declaring it. In
this scenario, Jesus wrote out the word “guilty” because she was.
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.
What a turn! Mosaic law called for the witnesses of a
capital crime to be the ones who execute the judgment of the court. If three men witnessed a murder then after
the accused was found guilty they would throw the first stones and the rest of
those present would join in.
Instead of
defending the women’s innocence he makes the accusers consider their own
guilt. All have sinned and fallen short
of the glory of God. All deserve God’s
punishment. Had you and I been there
what sin could he have written in the dirt for us?
But when
they heard his words, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones,
and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. His original crowd was still there but the
Pharisees and scribes walk away. The
younger ones were trained to follow the lead of their elders. In council, the oldest voted first and the
youngest last. Here the oldest ones vote
with their feet. The younger ones do the
same.
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.”
What did
Jesus write on the ground the second time?
If he wrote “guilty” as his verdict the first time, did he write
“Forgiven” as his sentence the second time?
The first writing was the verdict of the Law. The second writing was the truth of the
Gospel. He erased “Guilty” and wrote
“Forgiven.”
When Jesus
sees a sinner he doesn’t have a compulsion to condemn. He doesn’t want to judge. He is not eager to punish. He feels pity. Jesus created this woman just he created
you. He knit her together. He knows when she said her first word. He hears her prayers. He wants to restore her. He wants nothing but good things for
her. He loves to forgive her.
The same is
true about Jesus and the Pharisees. He
has pity on them also. His forgiveness
was available for them as well as for her. “In their arrogance they would not
await Christ’s second statement: neither do I condemn you.” They walked away in shame when they could
have walked away forgiven. When you are
guilty don’t walk way from Jesus. Come
close and he will say, “Neither do I condemn you.”
Jesus loved
this woman too much to let her continue in her sin so he says, “Go and sin no more.” When God forgives you, it’s not a free pass
to do whatever you want. It’s an
opportunity to turn your life around.
Go and sin no more means, ask for forgiveness from those you have
hurt. Restore your relationships. Make this right.
As Jesus says
this the sun has risen above the horizon.
It is a new day. The night is
fully gone.
Jesus says,
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not
walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Amen.