Sermon nugget Weds May 21
Theme- Confronting Sin
Verses- John 8:7-9 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."
Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. (NIV)
Consider the Challenge
Notice what the law says, Leviticus 20:10 "..and the man that commiteth adultery with another man's wife, even he and the adultress shall be put to death. Deut. 22:22 "If any man be found lying with a woman married to a husband, then they shall both of them die."
Adultery is not a solitary sin. It takes two to tango. Where was the man? Why did they just pick on the woman? It's the age-old problem of a double standard. It is sexism, pure and simple. There are many women who are raped and it is automatically assumed that she must have asked for it. Why is it that many blame women and not the men?
Jesus knew the hearts of the accusers. Perhaps they had set up this woman with the intention of trapping Jesus. They were not following the letter of the law if that was what they were interested in doing.
Jesus appears to ignore their questions. Notice by Jesus initial silence the point of attention is diverted from the woman to Jesus, why won't he answer. "Come on Jesus, give us an answer."
He got up from the ground and looked at the accusers and said, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." The challenge was to examine your own lives and see if theirs are any better than hers. I think there was also the non-verbal communication going on. Jesus gave time to let them think.
But after he makes His statement, then the focus of attention is not on Jesus any longer but on the people and their self evaluation concerning their own sins. Instead of passing judgment on the woman, Jesus passed judgment on the judges.
What was it he was writing on the ground? We do not know. It is believed by some that Jesus was writing on the ground the list of secret sins of the men who were accusing the woman. They saw them written down and became convicted. Maybe they were afraid that Jesus would reveal them publicly. One by one they left from Jesus presence.
Romans 2:1 says ,"You therefore have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things."
Jesus responded to their charge by challenging them to look at themselves. The danger with accusing people of sin is that we too are sinners in need of God's forgiveness. I remember the condemnation that Jimmy Swaggert publically had against Jimmy Bakker and his sexual exploit. It wasn’t long that Swaggert was caught in the crime of visiting prostitutes the same time he was condemning Bakker for sexual impropriety. It is hypocritical. Ted Haggard led the Association of Evangelicals that stood against the sin of homosexuality while visiting homosexual prostitutes. There is a public role and a private actions that make their piety a farce. That is why Scripture is plain, Galatians 6:1 " Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted."
As the Holy Spirit evaluates your life, where is the challenge that points to the needed change and repentance?
Pastor Dale
