SIN
NO MORE!
Introduction: One more season of
lent began on Ash Wednesday according to the Catholic Church tradition. Though
we don’t strictly observe Lent at Hope Church, those of us who came from other
denominational backgrounds may take this season seriously. Some would abstain
from certain things to identify with the suffering and the passion of Christ
during these forty days leading up to Palm Sunday. Whether you are in the habit
of giving up or not during lent, Jesus wants all of us to give up one thing.
Let’s find out what that is in John 8:1-11.
In
the story we read, we will see how Jesus reached out to a woman caught in
adultery. Before we explore this passage, here are a few things we need to
know. As you read it at first, this story appears to be an unnecessary
interruption of what Jesus was doing.
In
the Bible, as noted in the bracketed NIV text, this passage is missing in most
of the oldest manuscripts. In some documents, it was attached after Luke 21:38.
Because the story fits the character of Jesus, however, many consider it an
authentic account of Him. It is worth studying it to find out principles of a new
way of living. Let me unpack this story.
At
this point, Jesus was traveling around Galilee, avoiding Judea, where the
Jewish leaders were plotting his death. But that did not stop him from
celebrating SUKKOT, a Jewish festival of Shelters. We will pick our
story up from here.
I. WHERE IS THE
GUY?
Vs.
1-3, “Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, but early the next morning, he was
back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught
them. As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees
brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in
front of the crowd.”
Just
imagine you were in the temple courts listening to Jesus’ teaching. A group of
religious leaders caught a woman in the act of adultery and brought her before
Jesus. They accused her, saying, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery.
The Law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?” What did the law say
about those who were caught in adultery?
Lev
20:10, “If a man commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, both the man and
the woman who have committed adultery must be put to death.” Duet 22:22, “If a
man is discovered committing adultery, both he and the woman must die.”
The
law clearly says both the man and the woman who have committed adultery must be
put to death. Here they say they found the woman in the act of adultery, but
how about the man? Was he not also equally guilty? Why didn’t they catch him
and bring him before the crowds?
Did
they strictly follow the law or only when it was convenient for them? We see
this type of malpractice and misinterpretation of rules happening all the time
in our time. When it is comfortable, we go by one explanation, and when it is
not, we will change it to meet our selfish agenda. The Pharisees bent the rules
and let the man get away so that they can trap Jesus.
II JESUS STOOPED
DOWN
Vs.
6 “They
were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus
stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger.” Let’s observe Jesus’ posture
of stooping down.” Max Lucado, in his book “Grace,” gives a beautiful
explanation, “Someone would stoop for her. Jesus descended lower than anyone
else so that the woman’s accusers had to look down even farther. He’s prone to
stoop. He stooped to wash feet, to embrace children.
He
stooped to pull Peter out of the sea, to pray in the Garden. He stooped before
the Roman whipping post. Stooped to
carry the cross. Grace is a God who
stoops.”[1] Coming back to our story,
the Pharisees were standing tall in their accusations against the woman,
whereas Jesus stooped down to the ground level. By doing so, he identified with
the woman in her lowly state of sin, guilt, and public humiliation. This kind
act was in contrast to the arrogant attitudes of the Pharisees, who thought
they were the custodians of the law of Moses.
For
Jesus’ stooping down was a sign of humility, as he often displayed it both in
private and public encounters with people. But the proud Pharisees kept
pestering him with questions. This time Jesus stood up to the bullying leaders
to protect the woman, so he said, “All right, but let the one who has never
sinned throw the first stone! “Then he stooped down again and wrote in the
dust.” What was Jesus writing on the ground?
Speculations
about what Jesus wrote abound: Before announcing sentences, Roman judges would
write them down. For example, a text such as Ex 20:17 (“You shall not covet …
your neighbor’s wife”) might have drawn attention to their sin. Perhaps he
wrote what he also said, or maybe he was conspicuously ignoring them.
What
did he mean by, “who has never sinned throw the first stone? Did that involve
only the perfect people have the right to throw the first stone? Here Jesus was
not referring to perfection as the criteria, but whether or not they were sinless
of that very sin of adultery.
In
other words, He was saying, “anyone who has never committed adultery can throw
the first stone. Hearing that one by one, they slipped away, beginning with the
oldest. What can we learn from what Jesus said? When we accuse someone of some wrongdoing,
we better check ourselves and see whether we are not guilty of doing the same.
Romans
2:1, “You may think you can condemn such people, but you are just as bad, and
you have no excuse! When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you
are condemning yourself, for you who judge others do these very same things.”
Matthew
7: 3-5, “And
why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own?
How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that
speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite!
First, get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to
deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.”
These
scriptures indicate that we all are prone to sin; at times, what we do may be
more harmful to us and others. If God has to expose our sins, who can stand
against Him? Therefore, let us hold off our judgments and be gracious towards
people. Let’s see how Jesus was kind.
III WHERE ARE YOUR
ACCUSERS?
Vs.
9-11, “only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. Then
Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t
even one of them condemn you?” “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither
do I. Go and sin no more.”
Now
the scene has changed. The angry Pharisees and all those who came along with
them to humiliate the woman had walked away. Only Jesus and the woman were left in the
middle of the crowd. We could only imagine what this woman might have gone through.
What would this Jewish Rabbi do to me? Would he take advantage of me like the
other men? Is he going to rebuke me for what I have done? And so on!
On
the contrary to what she might have been thinking, Jesus did something
beautiful. He stood up again and said to the woman, “where are your accusers? Didn’t
even one of them condemn you? The woman could barely get these words out; she
said, “No, Lord.”
After
that, she may have expected a harsh rebuke from Jesus for what she had done. Instead,
she heard some of the most graceful words of her life, “Jesus said, “Neither do
I. Go and sin no more.” What powerful words of grace and forgiveness of sin? In saying, “Go and sin no more,” Jesus
was not speaking of sinless perfection; he was warning against a return to a sinful
lifestyle.
His words both extended mercy and
demanded holiness. Jesus was always the perfect balance of “grace and truth”
(John 1:14).
If you were in the crowd watching the whole drama with whom would you identify
yourselves? How would you see Jesus? The Pharisees saw Jesus only as a good
teacher, whereas this woman saw Him as her Lord. Hence, she received
forgiveness and a second chance to live a life that would be pleasing to God.
What
can we take away from this story? Just like the woman caught in adultery, we
have our accusers. Our accusers could be
those who either directly or indirectly responsible for our downfall. Or
perhaps we become our own accusers. Our greatest accuser is the devil. He
tempts us to sin, and when we do sin, he accuses us before God of that sin and
condemns us.
When the devil accuses you before God, Jesus
would stand up for you and silences the accuser saying, Father, I have paid for
his or her sins by my precious blood. They are free from all accusations and
condemnations. In me, they are forgiven and become a new creation.
Upon
hearing those words, the accuser of our souls will have to flee at least for
the time being. Then Jesus walks up to
us and says to us, “I love you; I don’t condemn you, go on your way, you are
free but one thing, “SIN NO MORE.” That is God’s grace at its peak.
These
days people don’t want to talk much about SIN, let alone give it up. Susan
Wesley has a definition of sin. “Whatever weakens your reasoning, impairs the
tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes away your
relish for spiritual things is sin.”
When
we are given this challenge to Sin No More, we are called to give up everything
that would weaken our reasoning and harden our conscience and blurs our vision
of God and others. My prayer is that during this lent; we will resolve to sin
no more and to live a life that would be Christ-honoring. We will learn to be gracious and merciful to
others, as God has been forgiving and merciful to us. May God help all of us to
become more Christ-like. Amen!
