John Chapter Eight
1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early in the morning he 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, and 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."]]
As we start the eight chapter of John's gospel, we find the familiar story of the woman caught in the act of adultery. As we examine this in the light of discernment, we see two competing interests at play that still persist today. What we should be concerning ourselves with and what we prefer to distract ourselves with. Verse two makes it clear what Jesus wants our focus to be on when He sat down and taught them. There were no gemstones, gold dust, angel feathers or glory clouds. There were no signs that make you wonder as Bill Johnson likes to absurdly say. There were no bells and whistles. No grandiose sermon illustrations that divert our attention away from the only thing that matters - being taught by Jesus. And how does Jesus teach us today? Through His word. Not topically deciding what we want covered. Not interjecting our biases or politics into it. He sat down and taught them. This dynamic is sorely lacking in the church today as most people leave church entertained to the hilt but taught either very poorly or not at all. We get the smoke machines and emotionally driven worship songs about how great we are. We get the insistence that God wants us all rich beyond our dreams of avarice or healthy always and forever. We get the sideshow, the pomp, the circumstance. We get the braggadocios tales of "whoa" for what the church has done or thinks it has done. Then the little sermonette designed to not teach us anything substantive about God and Christ. Maybe a sermon on how significant we are or how to improve our marriage. Maybe some narcigesis about how that was really us in the Valley of Elah slaying our Goliath. But not "taught." Sure there may be scripture fragments designed to slap a patina of piety on what is otherwise coordinated quasi-religious indoctrination. The result is a church that is woefully uninformed about the actual teachings of Jesus Christ and what it should mean for us as His followers.
The contrast we see is that the Pharisees decide to test Him and what better way than to focus on someone else's sin. What better way than to make us feel self-righteous. To make us feel like "at least I am not them." We see this in parable of the publican and the Pharisee from Luke's gospel:
He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed[a] thus: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.' 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted." - Luke 18:9-14 (ESV)
The Pharisees were the false teachers of the age when Jesus walked the earth. They were no better than the tax collector in this parable and in many ways much worse because they had convinced themselves that their collective darkness was actually light. Jesus says, how deep is that darkness. The prideful stance of believing in our heart that at least we are not like extortioners, the unjust, or adulterers when that is exactly who we all are before a holy God. To avoid having to look at his own sin, he focused on the sins of the man praying beside them. So it was, so it still goes. That is what we see here in the story of the woman caught in the act of adultery. Does this minimize her sin? Of course not. Jesus' punch line was neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more. We see this rampant in NAR preaching and teaching today. We are given a foil. Someone to look down on. Someone to hold in contempt to avoid holding ourselves in that same contempt. We are sold the evil leftists, or the sinners of the unsaved world, or those that might vote democrat. Or those that may choose to not vote at all. Or we are lured into hating the immigrant. They are all murders and rapists even though most are just trying to survive. We are told other groups are secretly eating our pets, and we buy it. Reposting and retweeting dehumanizing content designed to exalt ourselves as at least not being "them." Just look at how Jesus forces them to confront what? Their own sin. What we all need to be focused on. This is not about excusing sinful behavior but rather saying - neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more. THAT is the gospel. Not, well, we really should stone this person.
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." 13 So the Pharisees said to him, "You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true." 14 Jesus answered, "Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. 15 You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. 16 Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father[a] who sent me. 17 In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. 18 I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me." 19 They said to him therefore, "Where is your Father?" Jesus answered, "You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also." 20 These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.
Post Article Comment and Rate This Article
