Neither Do I Condemn Thee
John 8:1-11
I want to begin by noting that this text is controversial.
Some throughout history have feared that it excused or even promoted adultery.
That is utterly ridiculous – I hope that when we are finished today you will understand why that is.
The other reason it is controversial is that many modern scholars say it is not really part of the Bible.
Some claim it is a true story but was not part of John’s original text.
They say someone added it later – Some claim it is entirely made up.
They say it is not original and it is not true.
Many point to the fact that some of the oldest manuscripts we have access to today do not include it.
That is extremely misleading.
There are very old Greek texts and early translations that include it.
There are also early Christian writers that refer to it going back to the second and third centuries, older than many of those so-called “best manuscripts”.
My opinion is that some early Christians wrongfully feared, like I said before, that is somehow promoted or excused adultery.
There is historical evidence that it was purposely omitted from public reading of Scripture based on that.
Because it was rarely heard or highlighted, it came to be looked upon as less valuable as other Scriptures.
This led to it being shunned and excluded.
I really do not like having to defend the text of Scripture, but it is under attack today like never before.
Not just from the world, but from inside the ranks of Christianity too.
Sometimes it is important to just stop and plant a flag, so everyone knows where you stand.
Now, let’s look at what the Bible says.
The setting, going back to John chapter 7, is the Feast of Tabernacles.
This celebration was held in the fall, probably our October, and was one of the three great Pilgrimage feasts where the people of Israel would gather at the Temple and unite in worship.
This is six months before the Passover at which Christ would be crucified.
Opposition is increasing and his enemies are plotting against him.
Here they think they have the perfect trap.
Christ is teaching to the gathered crowds in the courtyards surrounding the Temple.
The scribes and Pharisees burst through the crowd and throw a woman down in front of him.
They accuse her – “Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.”
This violated the created order of one man and one woman united in faithful marriage.
This violated the Seventh Commandment – “Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery”.
Moses told them how to deal with this crime:
Deu 22:22 If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put away evil from Israel.
That is what the woman’s accusers were referring to in vs. 5.
They challenge Christ’s authority – “what sayest thou?”
It was not an honest question nor an honest challenge.
It was a trap.
I think they assumed there were three possible things Christ would do:
First, Christ could affirm the Mosaic Law, condemning the woman to death.
This would make Him contradict Himself:
Joh 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
I think it possibly could even get Him in trouble with the Romans, who usually insisted on signing off on the death penalty.
I am less sure on that than I used to be, but I do not want to rule it out.
Second, Christ could disavow the Mosaic Law, allowing the woman to walk free.
That crowd so zealously loved and clung to the Law that, had He done so, they likely would have torn him apart.
Third, Christ could dodge the question and not take a stand.
This would make him look weak and a coward.
That is the nature of the trap, and the mortal minds of His enemies could not surmise any way that Christ could get Himself out of this.
They neglected to consider that this is the One who told Isaiah:
Isa_55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
By the way, there are obvious problems with their case.
One of the main ones is the absence of the second party.
If she was caught “in the very act” of adultery, where was the man?
That is what Moses told them in the verse we read earlier: both the man and the woman were condemned.
Another is that if they were so zealous in following the Law, why did they bring the woman to Christ?
Why not take her to magistrates and execute justice correctly.
It is a most suspicious case when you really think about it.
What did Christ do in this impossible situation?
Well, it was the last thing they expected.
He does not speak an answer, but with His finger He begins to write in the dust on the pavement.
By the way, that is the same finger that wrote the very command she was accused of breaking.
Exo 31:18 And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.
I think it is also the same finger that wrote on the wall at Belshazzar’s feast in Daniel 5.
Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin – God had numbered the kingdom of Babylon, found it wanting, and had divided it among the Medes and Persians.
What did He write?
Was it the Ten Commandments again?
Was it something like being weighed and found wanting?
Was it the names or sins of the accusers?
Was it the names of the women they had committed adultery with?
When we get to Heaven we can ask and find out for sure, but one of the best theories I have heard is something I heard Mickey Carter preach on when I was in Bible college.
My wife sat under his preaching and she will agree with me when I say that you will be hard pressed to find a better Bible teacher than him.
He pointed to Jeremiah 17:13:
Jer 17:13 O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.
Maybe that is what He wrote.
I do not think the exact words are as important as their effect.
He looked up from writing and said – “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her” – and went back to writing in the dust.
Verse 9 says that conviction set in on the accusers.
One by one they left.
There is a very curious detail here – they left eldest to youngest.
I think that proves the special Holy Spirit conviction that was pricking their hearts.
Someone said, and if I were to make a movie out of this scene this is how I would do it, that there was a hush over the crowd that watched curiously and all you could hear where the rocks being dropped as the accusers walked away.
When Christ looks up, the accusers have disappeared.
They had high-tailed it out of there.
I picture a small opening in the crowd that had been listening to Christ.
In it is Christ and the accused woman.
He addresses her: “Woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee?”
You see, if there were no witnesses, there could be no execution:
Deu 17:6 At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.
Deu 17:7 The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So thou shalt put the evil away from among you.
Just moments before, that woman was anticipating that cruel death that came with the blows of hundreds of stones hurled at her.
Now she looks wonderingly at Christ and answers, “no man, Lord”.
Here’s a fun fact – the Samaritan woman in John 4 also called Him “Lord” – three times.
Christ’s responds: “Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.”
No witnesses and no accusers meant no case.
The woman was free to go.
Christ admonishes her that she has been spared and to change her ways.
Now, I want to break this story and make some application for us today.
I. Like that woman, we stand guilty before God.
The accusers knew she was guilty.
She knew was guilty.
And this fact is often overlooked – Christ knew she was guilty.
He is God and knows all things!
Not one of us can claim a perfect record.
Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
II. Like that woman, we have an accuser.
We have an accuser today – Satan.
Look at how he is described in Revelation 12:
Rev 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Rev 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
The same devil that accused Job accuses us.
He says, “God, that one that says they are your child – look at what they did! Look at who they are! They are guilty!”
We stand knowing he is right.
We cannot offer a defense.
III. Like that woman, we must trust in the Saviour’s mercy.
Like her, we are guilty.
Like her, we are accused.
Like her, our enemy presses for retribution.
What will Christ do?
There is an unwritten question here in our text – I think it is obviously implied.
Christ looks at in mercy upon us; He offers us life and forgiveness.
The question is: Do we trust in Him to save us?
Can He? – Yes!
Will He? – Yes!
Like her, we find divine forgiveness when we know our guilt but put all our trust in the only One that can deliver us.
IV. Like that woman, God expects a change in us.
“Go, and sin no more”
It is an impossible command on the surface.
We cannot help it – our broken nature is bent toward sin.
But it is not saying we must meet perfection to maintain our salvation.
It is saying that because we have been redeemed, we do not need to dwell in sin.
We’ve passed from death to life – so there is no need to live among the dead and dying.
We’ve passed from darkness to light – so there is no need to dwell among the shadows.
We’ve been washed spotless in the Blood of the Lamb – so there is no need to dwell among the filth and smut of this old world.
We do not do that to remain righteous; we do it because Christ had given us His righteousness.
CONCLUSION
- Before you start casting stones, remember that once you where the target.
- Forgive as freely as you have been forgiven.
- Do not forget what God has delivered you from.
- Never lose sight of the grandeur of the Cross and the Empty Tomb.
- Never get over what God has done for you.
- If you are listening to this and you stand guilty and condemned as the woman in our text, trust in Christ for salvation.