WOMAN CAUGHT IN ADULTERY

John 8:1-11

NOVEMBER 10, 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?”

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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

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

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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”.

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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).

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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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Romans 5:1-2, 5 NKVJ 1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our

Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through Whom also we have access by faith into this grace in

which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out

in our hearts by the Holy Spirit Who was given to us.

Romans 5:1-2, 5 NKJV

God poured out His wrath against sin on Jesus so He could pour out His love into

our hearts!

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Justice = God giving me what I deserve (death)

Mercy = God not giving me what I deserve (death)

Grace = God giving me what I do not deserve (eternal life!)

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GRACE

God’s

Riches

At

Christ’s

Expense

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GRACE

God’s

Riches

At

Christ’s

Expense

FAITH

Forsaking

All

I

Trust

Him

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

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

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

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

1 Peter 1:18-19 NKJV 18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or

gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 19 but

with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

1 Peter 1:18-19 NKJV

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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.

The scribes and Pharisees were no doubt puzzled by Jesus' silence.

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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.

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Straightening up Jesus said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him

be the first to throw a stone at her.”

The Lord's reply was simple, yet profound.

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

broadened the Law's power by exposing the sins of the accusers (their thought

life).

It 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.

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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]).

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

John 8:8 NKJV

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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 Jerimiah 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 NKJV 8 You have set our iniquities before You,

Our secret sins in the light of Your countenance.

Psalm 90:8 NKJV

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.

Anytime a person is willing to uncover (confess) their sins, God is willing to cover

them (with the blood of Jesus).

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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!

The Great White Throne Judgment

Revelation 20:12, 13b-15

12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were

opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead

were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the

books.

13b And they were judged, each one according to his works. 15 And anyone not

found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

Revelation 20:12, 13b-15

John 8:9a 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 8:9a 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.

That requirement is sinlessness.

That takes me out of the stone-throwing business.

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John 8:9b NKJV 9b And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

John 8:9b 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 future.

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.

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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.

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First;

The prosecutors are called: Where are those accusers of yours?

Romans 8:33-34 NKJV 33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God Who justifies. 34 Who

is he who condemns? It is Christ Who died, and furthermore is also risen, Who is

even at the right hand of God, Who also makes intercession for us.

Romans 8:33-34 NKJV

Satan, 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: “Has no one condemned you?”

She said, “No one, 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 Accusers of yours?

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

their accusations, no matter how objectionable, 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 one

condemned you?

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."

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

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

was lost.

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

Those we know don't need to be condemned, they need to be saved!

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Romans 8:1a NKJV 1a There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus…

Romans 8:1a NKJV

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 the sin of this woman.

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

John 3:17 NKJV 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the

world through Him might be saved.

John 3:17 NKJV

He did not come to judge this woman nor us.

He came into the world the first time to be our 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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