Book of John 8:1-30: Woman Caught in Adultery
March 6, 2021
Jesus gives message about Rivers of Living Water on the last day of the festival.
A division happen among the people “who Jesus was.”
Pharisees tried to Arrest Jesus at the Temple with Temple guards.
Now, the Feast of Tabernacles being now over.
The night before there had been a meeting of the Sanhedrin and people were divided in their opinion as to whether or not Jesus was the Messiah. Nicodemus defended Him.
·
Everyone had gone home, and apparently no one had invited Jesus to his
house.
·
Early in the morning, He came back into Jerusalem after spending the
night on the Mount of Olives, went back to the temple in the morning, and sat
down to teach.
· The Feast of Tabernacles had ended, but Jesus took advantage of the opportunity to minister to the pilgrims in the temple.
John 8:1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
Jesus spent the night on the Mount of Olives. The mountain about a mile directly east of Jerusalem and on the western side was Bethany where Martha and Mary lived.
John 8:2 Now early in the morning He came again into the Temple, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and began to teach them.
The Feast of Tabernacles had ended the day before, but Jesus, at dawn, took advantage of the opportunity to teach the many visitors still in Jerusalem in the temple.
Sitting is the position of authority in teaching of the Scriptures as a teacher of the Law as one of authority and doctrine.
John 8:3 The scribes and the
Pharisees brought a woman caught in
adultery, and having
set her in the center of the court,
·
Notice, the Pharisees brought this adulterous woman to Jesus while teaching.
·
With this rude disruption, they put the woman in the center court.
·
They wanted to stop Jesus teaching to the people.
· The Pharisees were hoping to succeed better this time and to make the point so that, to be seen by all the people.
John 8:4 they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act.
·
Where was the man or her husband?
·
Why wasn’t this taken to the Temple officials?
· Interesting, how the wicked really go about to make a snare for good people
John 8:5 "Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; but what do You say?"
Leviticus 20:10 "If anyone commits adultery with another man's wife, including when someone commits adultery with his neighbor's wife, both the adulterer and the adulteress are to die.
Entrapment: To present to Jesus a no-win situation and trying to have Him say something that was contrary to the Law.
·
Again, Where is the man?
·
It takes two to tango.
·
They only quoted part of the scriptures.
· They had already ignored the law by bringing the woman without the man.
Remember, they were not allowed to do Capital Punishment because Rome denied it for the Jewish Leadership, not allowing nations under Rome authority to do their own executions.
John 8:6 They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. {As thought He did not hear them.}
When Jesus stooped down gesture was a recognized sign of not responding to what was being said to Him.
Remember, if Jesus had said to stone her, He would have contradicted Jewish law and if He said to stone her, He would have run counter to Roman Law.
·
This
is the only time in the New Testament that Jesus is described as writing.
·
The
ground here means the pavement or stone or the dirt on the pavement.
·
Instead of passing judgment on the woman, Jesus passed judgment on the
judges!
·
What Jesus wrote, we do not know but we know it was very powerful.
· Jesus was sitting to teach, but had to get up and stooped down.
Psalms 90:8 You have placed our iniquities before You, Our secret sins in the light of Your presence.
Our Secret
sins on earth are spread pit before you and you see them all and are an open
scandal in heaven, what does our Guarding Angels think?
By Grace we
are saved.
John 8:7 But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."
Jesus stood
up and in answering did not abolish Moses law, rather, He applied the law to
the lives of those who had accused the woman.
John 8:8 Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.
Jesus wrote
2 Times writes with finger, Interesting side,
Jesus wrote 2 times with finger the 10 Commandments.
Exodus 31:18 When he finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two Tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone written by the finger of God.
****Exodus 34:1 And the LORD said to Moses, "Cut two tablets of stone like the first ones, and I will write on these tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you broke. {not on list}
John 8:9 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.
What Jesus did could have happened in a few minutes, the sun was rising. These individuals was opened to the light of the sun, their guilty past was exposed by the light of the world,
These individuals knew that Jesus know their lives, that they were as guilty as the woman they had brought. Remember, they were not allowed by the Roman government to stone this woman.
John 8:10 Then Jesus stood up and asked her, "Dear lady, where are your accusers? Hasn't anyone condemned you?"
The individuals were convicted by their own conscience, for they were not without sin. The encounter with the Pharisees could have happen in a few minutes. They wanted to stop Jesus from teaching.
Jesus wrote twice. What did He write? Seventh commandment? Name of the man? List of sins by the accusers?
John 8:11 "No one, sir," she replied. Then Jesus said, "I don't condemn you, either. Go home, and from now on do not sin anymore."
Jesus did not condemn her, but told her, go and sin no more."
“None but
the woman”: Law required two witnesses (Deut 19:15).
Witnesses must be first in carrying out the sentence and put them to death (Deut 17:7).
I am the
Light of the World
Jesus immediately addressed and teach the people present.
John 8:12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life."
Light of
the world: Remember
that the Feast of Tabernacles had just ended. The use of light is important for
the feast:
In the
Temple, in the Court of Women stood 4 golden candelabras,
each with 4 golden bowls.
Some records suggest it illuminated the entire city.
Sun is physical
light of the world
Jesus is the spiritual light of the world and exposes sin
Remember Jesus said about John the Baptist,
John 1:7-8 He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that all might believe because of him. (8) John was not the light, but he came to testify about the light.
John 8:13 The Pharisees told him, "You are testifying about yourself. Your testimony is not valid {or true}."
Not true or valid here does not mean “false”; it means “not sufficient.” The Pharisees challenged Jesus on legal grounds, because no man on trial in a Jewish court was allowed to testify on his own behalf.
Their point was that if Jesus was the only one testifying as to who He claimed to be, it would not be enough to prove His case.
John 8:14 Jesus answered them, "Even though I am testifying about myself, my testimony is valid because I know where I have come from and where I am going. But you do not know where I come from or where I am going.
Jewish leaders
attempted to discredit Jesus. It did not work. Now they openly attack Him with
a series of charges and questions at Him as we will see.
John 8:15 You are judging by human standards, but I am not judging anyone.
The religious leaders pass judgment on Jesus without knowing the facts, but judge according to external, and superficial examination, appearances. Jesus lets their lives, actions and consciences judge them
John 8:16 "But even if I do judge, My judgment is true {or valid}; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me.
John 8:17-18 In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two people is valid. (18) I am testifying about myself, and the Father who sent me is testifying about me."
Jesus just told the Pharisees that the testimony of two
people is valid proof, that is, My Father and I. Notice Jesus
said your law, not our law. Deu 19:17
Also notice, there are 2 who bear testimony to the same thing.
John 8:19 Then they asked him, "Where is this Father of yours?" Jesus replied, "You do not know me or my Father. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also."
Notice, the Pharisees did not ask, who, but where they already know the Father.
“Where is this father”: Asked in scorn. They are highlighting what they understand is that Jesus was born of fornication (v. 41).
Jesus came to reveal the Father (Joh_1:18), and they had not received Him.
John 8:20 He spoke these words in the treasury, while he was teaching in the Temple. Yet no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.
· This proves that God has power over wicked
men to control them, and to make them accomplish his own purposes.
·
The treasury: Most popular
area in Temple, in the forecourt of the Court of Women. 13 bronze chests: 9 for
taxes and 4 for offerings.
· This was where they had brought the woman taken in adultery.
John 8:21 Later on he told them again, "I am going away, and you will look for me, but you will die in your sin. You cannot come where I am going."
Jesus reminded the Pharisees He is going back to the one Who sent Him. (John 7:33)
John 8:22 So the Jews were asking, "He isn't going to kill himself, is he? Is that
why he said, 'You cannot come where I am going'?"
·
The Pharisees thought Jesus was going to kill
himself and not at their hands because Jesus speaks of a voluntary departure.
·
Were they mocking or scornful of Jesus just now.
·
Jewish
belief placed suicide on the same level with murder
· Because Jesus is returning to Heaven, where a sinner cannot enter
John 8:23-24 He told them, "You are from below, I am from above. You are of this world, but I am not of this world. (24) That is why I told you that you will die in your sins, for unless you believe that I AM, you will die in your sins."
Jesus said He is Messiah from Heaven and they are from
the earth.
John 8:25-26 Then they asked him, "Who are you?" Jesus told them, "What have I been telling you all along? (26) I have much to say about you and to condemn you for. But the one who sent me is truthful, and what I have heard from him I declare to the world."
Jesus answers that His statement concerning Himself is always the same. He consistently claims that He is the Messiah, the Savior of the world
John 8:27 They did not realize that He had been speaking to them about the Father.
Jesus had clearly explained on several occasions that the Father had sent Him, and yet they did not accept it. They knew about the Father from Psalms.
The Problem: They understood that Jesus spoke of God, but they were unwilling to acknowledge that he really came from God.
John 8:28 So Jesus told them, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I AM, and that I do nothing on my own authority. Instead, I speak only what the Father has taught me.
This is the 2nd of 3 references to lift Jesus up on the Cross in the Book of John {3:14; 8:28;12:32,34}; again Jesus said He was the Messiah.
John 8:29 Moreover, the one who sent me is with me. He has never left me alone because I always do what pleases him."
Imagine what the Pharisees will say about an individual saying, I always do those things which please Him. This is a distinct claim to deity.
Jesus answers that His statement concerning Himself is always the same: He consistently claims that He is the Messiah, the Savior of the world.
John 8:30 While he was saying these things, many believed in him.People believed in Jesus, not the Pharisees and others, that Jesus was the Son of God and the true Messiah, as we know, faith comes by hearing.
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