Feast: Jesus and the Feast (Part Three): Light of the World
#FT23-08PM
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Given 07-Oct-23; 69 minutes
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transcript:
The last verse of John 7 and the first 11 verses of John 8 are controversial among the more scholarly theologians of this world. Many of them believe this passage has been interpolated. That is just a fancy word that means inserted or shoehorned into the original text of John's gospel. Your Bible, if you look at this section, John 7:53—8:11, probably has a little note on it that leads you to a marginal reference, and like my New King James says here in the margin: "NU bracket 7:53—8:11 as not in the original text, they are present in 900 manuscripts of John."
What does this mean? You are not a textual scholar, I guess, so maybe you are a little bit uncertain of what all that means. But as in the New King James, NU refers to the NU text, the so-called critical text, published in the 27th edition of the Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament and in the United Bible Society's fourth edition. It is often called the Nestle-United or NU text.
Now, the NU text features the Alexandrian or sometimes it is called the Egyptian text style or text type (I will use the latter, text type), and it is the oldest of the Bible manuscripts. Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus (sounds like something you sneeze). But this text, the NU text, the Alexandrian Egyptian text type, is the primary text of modern critical scholarship under the assumption that older is better. That is, older is closer to the original manuscripts. And so it must be right. Right? That is the assumption.
However, though written as early as the fourth century AD, Alexandrian texts often disagree with each other and show signs of very poor copying and preservation. Now remember, in the marginal reference it said that there were 900 manuscripts that have this section of John 8 in it. Well, the 900 manuscripts that do have this are of a different text type. It is called the Byzantine or the Eastern text type. And this Byzantine text type represents about 85% of known Greek New Testament manuscripts. So it is the majority text, the majority of all the ancient texts are of this Greek text type. And what is amazing about these many, many, many hundreds of texts that they have from early on, is that they are incredibly consistent.
You remember the other ones were disagreeing with one another quite a bit and they had signs of poor copying and preservation. But the Byzantine one is not, they are almost all the same. They show very little variation from each other.
Now, why do scholars not like these texts? Well, scholars trust them less because the earliest of these many manuscripts hail from the fifth century, 100 years later than the Alexandrian type. However, that is rather a perverse conclusion because you can tell, if you get into this type of scholarship, that these texts have obviously far older roots than when they were copied. Readings that are considered uniquely Byzantine have been found in 2nd and 3rd century papyrus fragments, as well as in quotations from the early church fathers, as they are called. The Byzantine text has been for centuries the standard New Testament of the Greek-speaking churches of Greece and Asia Minor where Paul did most of his ministry.
Thinking about this and the upside down way that scholars think about these things, the difference between the text types suggests that we should give a bit more credence to the idea that this disputed passage is right where it is supposed to be. However, we should note, I want to be honest with you, I do not want to try to bamboozle you in any way, that this particular passage, these 12 verses, are different from the way John normally writes. And that is why scholars have thought this is not John or this was written at a different time, you know, maybe when he was writing in a different style. Numerous expressions within this passage and construction syntax and that sort of thing, are found nowhere else in John, but are very characteristic of the synoptic gospels like Matthew, Mark, and Luke, particularly Luke.
It may indeed have been interpolated, but it is likely to have been of apostolic origin and placed here, maybe not because John actually wrote it. Maybe he did, maybe he had jotted it down and secreted it somewhere and somebody found it and said this belongs in the gospel. But the reason why it was probably placed here, if it was interpolated, is because it actually happened at this time. This is where it fits. One commentator, a man named D. A. Carson, many of you may have heard of him, asserts "There is little reason for doubting that the event here described occurred." And the reason he said this is because similar stories of Jesus and a sinful woman have come down in other writings, in a way validating what is said here in John 8.
So I trust that this passage is part of what God wants us to understand. He put it here for a reason. It has come down to us preserved through the transcriptions of His Word down through the centuries. So I am going to preach it as Holy Writ. But I wanted you to know that there is some controversy about this section by scholars. And usually, I think, "Well, why should we care about what they think?" But you should know that they do make a bit of a stink about this section.
Today's sermon will focus on this passage and the verses that follow. That is, John 7:53—8:12. We are going to assume that this incident occurs on this Eighth Day of the Feast because in the timing, the internal timing or chronology of this, this fits very neatly into this place, this time. It starts in the evening of the seventh day of the Feast and begins again in the morning of the Eighth Day. It fits very well with the themes we have historically identified as part of the meaning of this appointed time. Specifically the idea of the White Throne Judgment period and the opening of salvation to all the billions of people who were not called and converted during this present age.
As others have said before me, the Old Testament says very little about this Eighth Day. If you would go to Leviticus 23 to look for details on what this Eighth Day means, you will be disappointed to find that it says it is just a holy day on which we are to have a sacred assembly and offer an offering. If you were to go to Numbers 29, you would find pretty much the same thing. And so what the scholars think about this day, going on such a serious lack of evidence, they just think it is part of the Feast and pretty much go with that.
But there is more because even though the Old Testament does not tell us much about it, the New Testament does, but it does it only through hints. It does not necessarily say, the Eighth Day is about "this." We have to understand through the revelation of the fact that the holy days of God, His appointed times, are markers on the Plan of God, that the Eighth Day begins to come into focus through the prophecies that are given to us, primarily in Revelation, and Revelation 20 in particular. So let us go to Revelation 20. If we did not have Revelation 20 I think we would have had a difficult time coming up with any kind of meaning and chronology about this day. We are going to read verses 11 through 15.
Revelation 20:11-15 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast in to the lake of fire.
So if we are correct in aligning chapters 19 and 20 of Revelation with the fall holy days, then this final period of judgment is foreshadowed in the final holy day, this particular day, the Eighth Day. As John writes here, this is the time when God opens the graves of all those who have lived, uncalled and unrepentant, resurrecting actually billions of people to physical life under a similar regimen to what we are experience experiencing now but without the presence of Satan. Because by this time, Satan and his demons will have been cast into the Lake of Fire. We see that in verse 10 of the same chapter.
Revelation 20:10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet [were cast]. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
This period of time that this appointed time represents is one of judgment, one of resurrection, one of conversion, one of being evaluated by the things that they do, not just what they believe but what they do. If you notice, it is twice mentioned there that they will be judged according to their works. They have to show God not only do they believe, but they practice what it is that God wants them to know. That is, what we have been revealed as God's way of life. So billions of people, as I believe it was estimated, 50 to 70,000,000 people. Who knows, that number may be even bigger than we know. But, I mean, that is just back-of-the-napkin type of calculation. But that is a lot of people to shuffle through over 100 years, but we are going to be ready for it because during the 1,000-year reign of Christ, that, as I have speculated before, will be one of our primary jobs, that is, to get ready for this period so that they will be housed, fed, clothed, and able to rise to a life where they can begin living and learning the way of God.
But by the end of that period, all humanity will either be saved as sons of God or they will be dead, dead victims of the Lake of Fire. They will have gone into the second death. This is the day, this is the time when God finishes up. Everybody has run through the process of judgment, process of evaluation, which is basically what we are going through here during our lifetimes, learning to live God's way and then He will make the judgment, and once everybody is judged, then the time has come for the New Heavens and the New Earth.
Let us go back to Ezekiel 37. If you know your chapters, this is the Valley of Dry Bones. We will read the first 14 verses. God uses the children of Israel being resurrected at this time as an example of what will happen. And you will see here very clearly in the way it is described, this is a resurrection to physical life.
Ezekiel 37:1-2 The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry.
What we see here in this description is these bones represent all the dead of Israel; and 1) there is a lot, just piles and mounds filling up this valley of bones. And bones represent dead people and the bones represent destruction, futility, death, that they lived their lives and all they ended up with was bones. There was no life, there was no future. 2) Also when he says here they indeed they were very dry, this is an indication of a long time having passed. So you get the idea that these are all Israelites from even the earliest times, those who were not called. It is a long, long span of generations upon generations upon generations of Israelites who failed and all they have to show for it was the "shin bone connected to the ankle bone" or something like that.
Ezekiel 37:3-14 And God said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" [They are very old and dry. Does it look like we can squeeze any life out of them? Ezekiel had never been asked a question like this. He says],"O Lord God, you know." [You are the Creator. You know the answer to this question. This is a little tough for me.] Again He said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! [Does that not sound kind of futile? They are lifeless bones. But you know what? Those lifeless bones can listen better than the Israelites did when they were alive. We see they respond.]
Thus says the Lord God to these bones, "Surely I will cause breath to enter into you and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord."'" So I prophesized as I was commanded, and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling [sounds like an Edgar Allan Poe story]; and the bones came together, bone to bone. Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them. Then He said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on the slain, that they may live."'"
So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army. Then He said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, 'Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!' Therefore prophesy and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it," says the Lord.
We have for many years in this church of God interpreted this passage to prophesy the resurrection of all uncalled Israelites in the second resurrection. Obviously, as we saw as we went through there, the imagery shows the dead rising and receiving the breath of life. But it is not just the breath of life that they receive. They do receive physical life again. We see all their sinews and flesh and muscles being attached to the bone and such, and they stand in their physical beings again. He describes them as an army. But then He, in this last couple verses here, offers them the Holy Spirit so they can be converted and receive salvation and change to spirit life eventually.
That is what Israel had been missing. The great missing dimension in the life of Israel was always God's Spirit. They were always rebellious because they did not have the right spirit, the right mind to do what God said. And it is that way even today. And we should not forget the other families of the earth, because Israel is just the first. These things happen to all the ethnicities and nationalities of peoples because that is what nationalities are. They are families grown great, just like Israel is a family grown great. God will do this, not just to Israel, but to all the Gentile peoples around the world at the same time.
And so He will give them an opportunity, an opportunity that they either were never offered, they probably were not offered, throughout most of history and most people had no idea of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And even if they had an inkling of what it was, God has been very specific in whom He has called to His church. So I would say this is quite above 99.9% of the people who have ever lived in this earth.
Let us go to Isaiah 65. James mentioned this earlier. We will start in verse 20. Now, if you notice verse 17 through 19, especially verse 17, we get an idea of a time marker here. It says, "For behold, I create a new heavens and a new earth." This is slightly out of order chronologically. This should actually probably come after verse 25. But this is the way God put it in the Old Testament. And as I mentioned, without Revelation 20 we would not really be able to have an idea of the chronology of how it is going to play out. But verse 17 puts it in the ballpark here. So that is the general timeframe of this passage, right before the New Heavens and the New Earth.
Isaiah 65:20-25 "No more [in this time] shall an infant from there live but a few days, nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days; for the child shall die one hundred years old, but the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed. They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of My people, and My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain, nor shall they bring forth children for trouble; for they shall be the descendants of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them. It shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and the dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain," says the Lord.
Isaiah's prophecy here explains how those resurrected people from Ezekiel 37 and Revelation 20:12 will live during this time of their judgment. The first thing God tells us is that the judgment period will be generally 100 years—so that a baby who is resurrected at that time will live 100 years or if a senior citizen is resurrected at the same time, he will also have 100 years to live and to be judged according to his works. As He does with us, God will judge them as worthy of the Kingdom of God or sentence them to death in the Lake of Fire. God does not change the way that He judges people. It is always according to their works. He gives them grace through the blood of Jesus Christ. But from that point on, they have to show Him that they are diligently learning His ways and practicing them and growing in character, producing the fruit that His Father wants to see.
Now, verses 21 through 23 here show that they will live normal lives of building, planting, and enjoying the fruits of their labors. We can take from this that it will be a time of very little trouble. There will not be a whole lot of outside problems. You know, they will not have to worry about wars. They will live in a millennial setting where God is in complete control and that He set everything back on the way that it should be. So they are not going through natural disasters and those types of things, as far as we know. This is close to utopia that they will be living.
In a way, they are going to have things a whole lot easier than we do. I mean, that is why we have our reward that we do because we have to face a world of sin and the constant attacks of Satan, as well as our own human nature. And that is tough. We get a great reward because we, if we endure to the end, will have shown that we will face this world and all its problems, and Satan and sin in the same way that Jesus Christ did. And that puts us on the level of Christ. We can become the bride of Christ and be His firstfruits.
But these people because of their situation will not have the same reward as we will because their way will be somewhat easier than our way. But they will still have themselves to overcome. And we know that that is difficult. That is enough for their own reward because there is nothing more evil, it seems to me, than human nature that is bent on satisfying the self, and it will go to all kinds of extremes, and it is our job and it will be their job to overcome that.
So they will have their reward. They will be glad of their reward. They will glorify God for their reward, even though it is lesser than ours, because they will be so thankful that their lives did not end in futility. They did not know about this great future that they had when they died and as we saw in Ezekiel 37 the Israelites, the bones say, "We have no hope." But God is going to give them a hope and I am sure surprise most of them with life.
Verses 24 and 25 describe a time of millennial peace and the icing on the cake is that God, the glorified Jesus Christ and His bride—His firstfruits—will actively work with them so that they can live godly lives and attain salvation and eternal life. So at the time of the judgment's end, all the rotten apples among humanity will be consigned to the Lake of Fire and only the saved and changed among humans will remain. Then we get to look forward to some fiery recreation that cleanses the heavens and the earth and then the time of the New Heavens and the New Earth will begin. And if you want to look that up, that is II Peter 3:10-13.
But what is, to me, very interesting about that little passage, especially the last part of verse 13, is Peter says that the New Heavens and the New Earth is where righteousness dwells. At that point, there will be just righteous people. There will be no more sin, as it says, as you go into the latter chapters of Revelation 21, 22. There will be no sinners. Everyone who lies and does all those abominable things will not be let in; they will die, they will be in the Lake of Fire, and only righteousness will survive into the New Heavens and New Earth.
That was the background for John 7:53 through 8:2. But let us go back there. I want to read John 7:53 through 8:2. I want you to think of the woman here who has been caught in the act of adultery as one of those people that will rise in the second resurrection says in verse 53 of chapter 7,
John 7:53 And everyone went to his own house.
I do not know if you are aware of it, but after the seventh day of Tabernacles, it is no longer necessary for you to live in a temporary dwelling. You do not have to be in your tabernacle after the seventh day. The Eighth Day is a separate festival. So tabernacles is over and the Eighth Day is a separate festival. So this tells us that at this time, everybody started taking down their tabernacles and went to their own house. Just so you get the timing here.
John 8:1-2 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Now early in the morning, He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them.
Jesus goes to the Mount of Olives. This is very interesting. Let us see the contrast here. After the seventh day, everyone went to their own homes. Jesus did not. Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. And the indication is that He stayed there all night on the Mount of Olives. And then early in the morning, in verse 2, it shows Him coming into the Temple in the morning. And then teaching. Let me read this in a little bit different way.
Everyone went to his own house. But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. And early in the morning, He came again into His house, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them.
Is not the Temple His house? Interesting here. I think there is a bit of foreshadowing in the way this is presented, because the Mount of Olives is famous for a couple things. Mostly people know it because it is the place where He was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. He liked to go there to rest and relax on the Mount of Olives. The second thing that it is known for is that that is the place where His feet shall stand when He returns as King of kings and Lord of lords. That is where He comes and He begins putting down His enemies and establishing His Kingdom.
So we are getting a little bit of an idea of what is setting up here as how we are supposed to consider Jesus in this vignette. It is like He has been transported in time, in a symbolic way, to when He is ruling over all. He is the Great Judge. He has come, then, in the morning. The morning is always an idea of a new beginning, a new time, a new day has dawned. He has come into His house, He has sat down on His throne, and He begins teaching. He teaches the nations.
I think that you can look at this as a foreshadowing of that future event and the times of the Millennium and the Great White Throne Judgment when He is the great Ruler and Judge, and He will be actively teaching the people. So we see Him, then, as the great Teacher, the royal High Priest instructing in the way of righteousness.
And it is interesting that it says here in verse 2, "and all the people came to Him." You did not have to send heralds out and say, "Come here! Jesus is going to be preaching this morning at the Temple." No, He came, sat down, and the people came to Him. And that is exactly what Isaiah 2:3 and Micah 4:1-2 say will happen in the latter days when God reigns. That all the nations will come to Jerusalem to hear the law. And we are seeing a very small representation of this in the life of Jesus Christ on the day that looks forward to this particular time. And it says, then, in those places, He will teach them His ways.
Let us go on to the next section here. Verses 3 through 6 of John 8.
John 8:3-6 Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now, Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?" This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.
Now the scribes and the Pharisees, as they invariably did, try to lay a trap to get Him to break the law. How would He judge this woman caught in the very act of adultery? I have always thought, where was the man who sinned with her? Why did they bring just her and not him? Did he set her up? Was he a Pharisee that they hired or some guy off the street that the Pharisees hired to do this sin so that they could accuse Jesus, or did he just run faster? It could be he just got away or did they let him go because he was a Pharisee, or did he have certain status that they were not willing to sacrifice him? Was he a friend of theirs? I do not know. That is something that has always kind of bothered me, that they just brought the woman and not the man as well.
But Leviticus 20:10 and Deuteronomy 22:22-24 reads very clearly that the law required her death. Israel was ordered to stone such sinners and to these Jews, they saw it as an open and shut case. It was a winning case for them. They could not see how Jesus was going to wiggle out of this one. He would have to commit. You would either have to commit one way or the other. So they thought they had cornered Him into a no-win situation. If He disregarded the law that is back there in Leviticus 20:10 and Deuteronomy 22, it would undermine His credibility by appearing, then, to be a lawless person, that He was not going according to the law. And at that time, there were laws on the books that He could be charged in the courts for being an anarchist.
Conversely, if He upheld the law, the people would see Him as no better than the Pharisees and a hypocrite for not extending His well known compassion for this obviously railroaded sinful woman. He was between a rock and a hard place, you could say. If He took it to an extreme and demanded that she be stoned, He then would run afoul of the Romans who disdained such punishments. For only the Roman prefect at the time could rightly impose the death sentence and they did not stone just to injure, they stoned to kill.
But Jesus dexterously avoid stepping into their trap. He simply does not react. He does not become frazzled or argumentative or fearful or start stuttering or dithering one way or the other. He just simply begins writing on the ground with His finger. Many have wondered what He wrote but the text simply does not say. So if we are going to think about what He wrote about, we have to just speculate, it is not firm, it is not certain. Some think He wrote the names of those accusers and maybe (dash) write one of their sins down. Many have proposed various scriptures that they think He may have written like Jeremiah 17:13 or Exodus 23:1 or verse 7.
Those are the ones I found in the commentaries. You can look at them and see if you thought they might work. But some think it was just a delaying tactic. These are the ones who think more like people and He just decided to stoop down and write down, kind of like scribble or just draw in the dirt or something while He is thinking of an answer, or some think that He was just refusing to respond.
However, the best suggestion that I have ever heard for what He wrote in the dust of the ground there is that He began writing the Ten Commandments. You ever heard that one? I thought it was genius. Start turning to Exodus 24, verses 9 through 12. If He wrote the text of the Ten Commandments on the ground, I think they would be familiar enough. I do not know how big He wrote them. I do not know how big you have to write Hebrew for it to be seen in dirt. But, I think people who are standing around could see the signs there on the ground and know that that was the sign for what it said in the Ten Commandments and so they would automatically think of the Ten Commandments. Do you know that the Ten Commandments are the only part of Scripture that was physically written by God?
Exodus 24:9-12 Then Moses went up [this is up on Mount Sinai], also Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and they saw the God of Israel. And there was under His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and it was like the very heavens in its clarity. [we went through this this morning with Martin] But on the nobles of the children of Israel He did not lay His hand. So they saw God, and they ate and drank. Then the Lord said to Moses, "Come up to Me on the mountain and be there; and I will give you tablets of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written, that you may teach them."
Exodus 31:18 And when He had made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.
It makes sense to me. Here He is sitting, teaching as the Great Judge of Israel, as their King, as the way I have set this scene up. And they ask Him to make a judgment. So what does He do? He writes down the law and He writes down the basic law, the moral law, not all the little oral law details that they would have used and thought were necessary in this case. He basically told them, this is what God has said. He did not even have to open His mouth to say, "Ok, this is what I am judging on, the Ten Commandments.
Back to John 8. So now we have, if that is the correct speculation there, the basis of the law, the basis of judgment that He will use during that time in the future, same as now. But everything is being done, laid out, very systematically here so we can understand how our God judges. That is what He is showing here, how He judges. Remember, I mentioned a couple times He is going to a judge according to our works, right? That is what it says. He will judge the people in the Millennium according to their works and the people in the Great White Throne Judgment will be judged according to their works. It is always the same, and the basis is always the Ten Commandments, the moral law of God.
Let us go on.
John 8:7-11 So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first." And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. 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. When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, "Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?" She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more."
What He finally says to those scribes and Pharisees comes from Deuteronomy 17:7, when He says he who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first. What it says in Deuteronomy 17:7 is, "The hands of the witnesses shall be the first against the wicked person to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall put away evil from among you."
So what did He do? How did He get out of this no-win situation? He flipped the judgment back on them. It was basically, "I don't have to judge this situation. You're the one that is accusing her. So you want this sinner to die? If you're sinless, be My guest, be the first to punish her. If you're so righteous and you have made yourself to be a judge, go ahead, do your duty. Do what the law says. Deuteronomy 17:7. Go ahead. Strike her down."
So from the oldest, I think we are supposed to believe that that was the wisest among them, to the youngest, they all crept away because their consciences were pricked knowing that they were sinners like her. They deserved to have all their friends and neighbors come and throw stones at them too. So they leave in shame.
Jesus had a way of doing that. Have you ever noticed? Jesus had a way of making people see themselves in His presence. Peter, when he sees the great Creator God do His bit out on the lake says, "Depart from me, O Lord, because I'm a sinful man." He did that in the Old Testament too with Isaiah and others. "Oh, I can't stand it. You're making me see how dirty and corrupt I am." And He does it with these men, too, who had accused this woman of adultery. He just turns the light, makes it shine, not so much on the woman but turns it over so it shines on them. "Why bring this woman under judgment? You're just as guilty as she is."
Finally, Jesus addresses the woman very respectfully and that probably helped her, probably put her at ease. He asked her where her accusers were. Notice His grace and kindness here. He was the Judge. They had set Him up as judge in this case. We know that it has already been told us that God has given all judgment to the Son. So it was His job to judge, not at the time to judge, but it was His job to judge. And so He stepped into the role and did what He does as judge. But He does not ask her to justify herself. He does not ask her if she was guilty. I think it was pretty clear that she was guilty and that is why the Jews had used her that way. I mean, maybe she was scantily clad. You know, she was a well known unfaithful woman in that part of Jerusalem. Or maybe she was a prostitute. I do not know, but it was pretty clear that everybody knew that she was guilty. She had indeed committed adultery. So He did not need to know anything further.
And besides that, we also know from Scripture that He knew the hearts of men, and that includes women. And so He knew what was in her. He knew that she was, yes, a very blatant sinner. So she was very likely grateful that He did not drag her through the shame of a public confession. And so in turn, He asked her two questions. "Woman, where are your accusers?" And "Has no one condemned you?" She answers the second question, has no one condemned you, with a very respectable, "No one, Lord."
I think she understood at least a little bit, she may not have understood that He was Messiah, but I think she understood that He was an awesome person. He was majestic. She probably knew who He was as Jesus of Nazareth and she knew His growing acclaim or growing popularity. Probably everybody did in Jerusalem. But just like those Temple guards the day before, something about His demeanor caused people to respect Him, call Him Lord, because He bore Himself that way. He had great majesty and as the Judge, He was showing it in as full of force as He could at this moment.
So His bearing and authority are worthy of respect and she understood that. And she also understood that she still stood before Him under judgment and He had the authority, at least from the Pharisees, to make that decision. He could still say, stone her. So she was quite courteous to Him.
But Jesus refuses to condemn her. But it is not just, "Oh no, you're fine. Go, go ahead, leave, go back to your life." No, He does not say that. He firmly admonishes her, "Go and sin no more." The ESV renders this last part, "From now on sin no more." I think NIV has it even better. "Go now and leave your life of sin." He speaks of repentance, obviously. He says, "I'm giving you a chance to do it better this next time. I'm not going to judge you or condemn you right now." Notice He uses that word, "Neither do I condemn you." He had made an evaluation. He knew, as we have been saying, that she was an adulteress. Everybody did. There was a judgment made but He would not take the next step of condemning her.
He is saying, "You've seen your sin, you know that you did wrong. I do not condemn you, but I do not support your lifestyle. From this moment on live right. Don't do this again. Fill your life with godly things, with righteousness. This is the way to a godly life, overcoming sin."
Let us move forward into John 12. I want to bring this out.
John 12:47 "If anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world."
This was on His mind at the time. He was not out to condemn, He had not, it was not the time to judge. He was here for a different purpose. Let us go back to Luke 9 and see something else very similar.
Luke 9:55-56 But He turned and rebuked them [This is James and John, the sons of Zebedee. They were trying to rain down fire from heaven for people who are trying to obstruct Jesus.], and said, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." And they [simply] went to another village.
His job at the time, in His first coming, was not to judge, was not to make those final judgments about people. But His job was to preach the gospel and to be the sacrifice for sin. He was establishing, in its final form, the way of salvation through His words, His teaching, and through His example. His career, as judge would happen afterward when He went into glory, after He was resurrected and ascended to heaven.
So His compassionate response here, "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more," gave her hope, gave her a future. He recognized her sin probably better than she did. He knew, it was very clear that under the Old Testament law, she should die. But He came bringing a new and living way—not the old way. The Old Covenant law was, as Paul writes, the ministry of death. You will find that in II Corinthians 3:7. It could not give life. There was no wiggle room. There was no out. If she sinned, if she committed adultery, find the rocks, the gravel pit is over there. There was no grace, no forgiveness, no mercy.
Paul says in the previous verse, II Corinthians 3:6, "The letter kills" and that is what the Pharisees brought before Jesus. They wanted Him to condemn her, but Jesus was not that way. Paul adds to the letter kills, "but the Spirit gives life." and the Spirit was Jesus Christ. He gives life. So if the sinner dies after he sins, he has no hope, no chance to repent, to change, to seek to live a better life, to live more righteously, to please God. It is done.
But under the New Covenant, God's merciful forbearance and grace allow us to grow in character, to have a second chance, to have a time when we can work things out and make good new habits that will lead us to live righteously. And you know what that does? I am sure it was here in John 8:2. It produces profuse gratitude for His abundant grace and help; that He just does not blast them for their sins. He says, "Okay, I know you did wrong. You know you did wrong. Let's try to change it and do it better next time." And we say, "Yes, Lord, I'm sorry. Thank you. I appreciate the extra time. You are very graceful, gracious."
This is what is told us in Romans 2,verses 1 through 10.
Romans 2:1-10 Therefore you are inexcusable. O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another, you condemn yourself [we saw this exactly in John 8]; for you who judge practice the same things. But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who "will render to each one according to his deeds": eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good, seek for glory, honor, and immortality; but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
That is why God gives us great mercy and forbearance, so that He through His goodness can lead us to repentance. And therefore we have hope and a great reward ahead of us if we cling to His way and continue to grow.
Let us go back to John 8 and just pick up verse 12. Now we have to connect this to what we have already seen here. He has just told this woman, "No, I do not condemn you. Go, that is, live, and sin no more."
John 8:12 And then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."
This is His great, "I am the light of the world" declaration and it corresponds so well to what we just saw of Him as the Great Judge of all the earth. He stood up and gave us light. He shone a great light on the people who witnessed this. And now upon all those who read this passage with understanding. He showed us the way of His judgment. He showed us His mind and how He thinks and what He wants and the great hope He wants to give, and what He expects as well.
If He did indeed write down the Ten Commandments, He expects people to follow them. He expects them to do well. But He is so compassionate and willing to let people off, if you will, by His grace upon repentance so that they can grow and overcome and do better the next time.
He is not a cruel taskmaster. He is not a cruel judge. He is not a hanging judge, as it were. He does not just kill indiscriminately. He does not show His wrath until it is absolutely necessary. He is just, but as my dad used to say, that He always leans toward mercy because He would rather give mercy and grace and see improvement than condemn.
So when He says, "I am the light of the world," He is helping us to understand by shining a light on Himself and shining a light from Himself that He is the way, He is the light that guides us in the path of righteousness and goodness. His example sheds light on godly living toward salvation. His Word, as it says in Psalm 119:105, is a lamp to our feet, revealing not just obstacles along the way, but it lights the true path toward the Kingdom of God.
He is the light to the Gentiles, as it says in the Old Testament, bringing salvation to the ends of the earth to all mankind. If we follow that light, if we are in the light, as Paul later says, as He is in the light, we will never walk in darkness, but we will have the light of everlasting life. As it says, He sheds His light abroad for us and if we follow it, we will one day be it in its fullness.
Let us just finish in Revelation 21, verses 22 through 26. And just remember we are the Bride of Christ. We go with Him wherever He goes.
Revelation 21:22-26 But I saw no temple in it [that is New Jerusalem], for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. Its gate shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.
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