The Gospel of John | Throwing The First Stone – John 8:1-11
Jesus does not come to condemn by to forgive and save His people.
As the Festival of Booths winds down, Jesus continues teaching in the synagogues with the same authority the people witnessed. Likely, the Pharisees still felt threatened by His teachings of being the prophesied Immanuel, God with us. Throughout Christ’s teachings, He routinely challenged the structure and hypocrisy of the ruling class that oppressed their people by piling law after law on top of them. Yet, the hearts of the Pharisees looked toward their own ability to maintain the law and advertise their own self-righteousness. As Jesus taught, they brought a woman caught in the act of adultery in an attempt to trap Jesus.
While there is some history with this particular passage of scripture as to whether or not it was included in the original text that John wrote (likely it was not), the lessons of this passage still stand true without any contradiction to scripture. Yet, we want to be careful to not draw new or original conclusions from this passage that cannot be supported by other portions of scripture. We want to be true to the original text of the Gospel according to John and we also want to understand the history of the church for the past 1,300 years. Hence why this article is addressing it. We want to be faithful to the history of Christianity while still acknowledging the historical
The trap had been set where Jesus would either show forgiveness and ignore the law, or enforce the law and condemn someone publicly. However, Jesus had other plans and began writing in the sand. There is much speculation as to what Jesus wrote but suffice it to say that it likely brought challenge or conviction to the Pharisees. Then, Jesus challenged the Pharisees to enact the punishment of sins if they truly felt if they were innocent. Let the one who is without sin cast the first stone. Jesus forgiving the woman dragged out by the scribes and Pharisees demonstrates the clear and foundational truths of the Gospel. First, we must come face to face with our sin. Jesus, calling out the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees, revealed their sin nature within them and the hypocrisy of being willing to hold to some aspects of the law while ignoring the ones we tend to fail in. Second, the Gospel of Jesus Christ provides the forgiveness of sins through the works of Jesus Christ, so that we might be free from being compelled to sin as God heals our heart to even desire sin.
Our Role In Sin Confrontation
The Pharisees dragged the woman before Jesus Christ in an effort to trap Him. They had had construed a situation where Jesus, to uphold the law, would need to condemn a woman to die, even though the other half of the party, notably the man with which she was an adulteress with, could not be found and was not brought up with her (as would be required by the Mosaic law they quoted). The Pharisees sought to trap Jesus by pitting His sensibility and commitment to the truth of scripture against His popularity among the crowds. There goal had not been to seek justice but rather to use people as a means to delegitimize Jesus as the good teacher that the community had seen. Yet, for Jesus, dealing with the sins of mankind to set the captives free is exactly what He came to do. The works of Jesus, from the healings to the ever closer crucifixion sought to redeem people from the grips of death. As followers of Christ, our works should reflect that same mission.
All too often, we exhibit a willingness to point out the sin in others while requiring that we receive grace. In actuality, this is backwards. We must be willing to confront the sin in our own lives with the self-reflective honesty that we have sinned against God. With other we cry out for justice but with our own failures and faults, we cry our for the mercy of God to overlook our sinful nature. In approaching the light of Jesus Christ, our sin and failures are laid out plain before our Savior, much like the woman who had been tossed at the feet of Jesus. Yet, we must not be afraid of willingly moving closer to God. We cannot fear the sting of condemnation. Without Christ, we stand condemned anyway. Our only hope is to approach the cross of Jesus Christ in humility knowing that our works nailed Him to the cross so that we might be free. And we cannot turn a blind eye to the rampant sin in our lives but lay every ounce of filth plainly before the Lord proclaiming “Help me Jesus.”
Yet, when it comes to others, we must be willing to fully extend grace that we want to be extended to us. When we feel slighted or wronged, our first instinct seems to often be to want immediate, swift, and disproportionate “justice” if we can even call it that term. We demand that God punish the sin in others while ignoring our own. In reality, the role of the Christian and the believer is to show grace to the sinner in hopes for reconciliation. The role of the Christian is to pursue justice vigorously, extend grace to mankind, and allow vengeance to be given by God. Through showing grace to those who need it, we demonstrate the power of the Gospel in the forgiveness of sins. Our role is not condemn others but to show them love in their sinful state. We show the others the same love of God that Jesus shows to us, even when its difficult.
- What does the Pharisees’ actions reveal about their heart and their desire to be obedient to the law?
The One Able To Throw The Stones
We read through this portion of John 8, think that as Jesus challenges the Pharisees and scribes to throw the first stone, only if they are without sin, we tend to think that no one present held the qualities to throw the first stone. This ignores one key point that speaks the most to the person of Jesus Christ. He and He alone could rightfully cast the first stone as the one who walked among us without sin. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15, ESV). Furthermore, the criteria that Christ puts down is absolutely true. Only the person who does not sin could rightfully and justifiably condemn a person for their actions. Every other condemnation would be a type of hypocrisy that seeks justice for some and desires grace for ourselves. Jesus being sinless rightfully stands in judgment over all the world and still speaks and moves with grace as the propitiation of our sins.
This passage echos the sentiment of John 3.“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:17 ESV) Christ coming did not intended to place humanity under the foot of condemnation but rather to redeem them. Furthermore, as is reiterated in Romans 8:1 “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (ESV). For all the justification that Jesus has to rightfully condemn the woman, the message is salvation and redemption. Jesus offers the forgiveness of sins through His sacrifice on the cross in order to pave a path for us to return to Him.
The result of our coming to Christ leaves us all a changed person. When we come to Christ we cannot reasonably stay the same. The closer we come to the light the more clear we see the sin that marred our very existence. We stand vulnerable before the Lord fully aware of the depth of our sin and depravity. Yet, Jesus, by His grace, forgives us of our sin and tells us to go and sin no more. We cannot remain in our sin after encountering the forgiveness of the risen God. Forgiveness and grace is not permission to continue to sin but rather freedom from the sin that ensnared and entangled us, dragging us to our death. Jesus prayed us from the hands of death that we willingly chose and set us on the firm foundation of faith so that we might be with Him forever.
- Who remains to accuse the woman? What commands does Jesus give to the woman caught in the act of adultery?
Discussion Questions
- This passage deals a fair amount with the heart of the believer and the outward actions. Why does the heart of the believe matter so much to Jesus?
- Where has Jesus personally shown you grace and the forgiveness of your sins?
- Why do we struggle with extending grace to other people? What comes out of our heart when we feel that?
- How does the forgiveness of Jesus Christ free us from the need to sin in other areas of our life?
- Where are you currently scared to bring the honesty of your sin before the Lord? What assurances do you see in this passage for people who bring their sin to Jesus Christ?
