Gospel of John - Throwing Stones

                                        

Throwing Stones

John 8:10:1-11

When I was little, I had a neighbor who loved to throw rocks at me, until my dad heard about it and went and had a talk with his dad. This was the end of rock throwing. We have all heard the idiom, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” Well, names can hurt as well, especially if they reveal a hidden problem or sin. Such could have been the case in this story in John chapter 8. Though many scholars believe that this was inserted later than the writing of John’s gospel, nevertheless, by the Holy Spirit’s directing and anointing, the lesson is profound for the pariah of the world. Let’s begin the lesson, “but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?”  They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 

Jesus must have stayed after the feast ended, for the teaching again is at dawn in the temple courts. The faithful sojourners would have been up early to begin their trek back home. Jesus again knowing the hearts of the people, he began to teach the word from God to those who lingered. As he is exhorting the people to believe in him and the one who sent him, God the Father, the religious rulers show up.

The Pharisees and the teachers of the law brought in a woman caught in adultery, they made her stand before Jesus and all that were listening. She was probably shivering in her night clothes, head down in shame and fear, knowing that this was her last morning in this world. They were at the ready with a supply of stones in order to kill the adulterous woman for breaking the law of Moses, though they didn’t bring in the man who was the woman’s companion for the night. 

Jesus, knowing the stone cold hearts of these leaders, sat quietly at the attempt to deceive him into breaking the law or misinterpreting it. They gathered around the girl, awaiting their opportunity. 

They asked Jesus if it was lawful to stone this woman because of her sin. It is not known if some of them had heard Jesus on the mount exhorting the people on the law of Moses and what was the correct interpretation of the law that Jesus spoke on the Mount, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Jesus used the same word for lust in Hebrew as covet. He didn’t add to or take away from the law, but addressed the heart concept of the law in the tenth commandment, "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor" Ex. 20:17

Jesus in the stillness of the morning as the crowd waited, drew something in the dirt, blown in during the festival. With bated breath, they all waited as suspended in time eternal.

Application - There are spectacles that you will remember for the rest of your lives. Out of high school, I went with a friend from work to a professional wrestling match. It was a cage match, and it seemed they had let out every assisted living facility in the town to come to this match. The elderly men and women were all screaming, with their canes in the air, along with a subversionist name ring-sided Rosie, to kill the downtrodden wrestler with a metal chair. Rosie had worked the people into a frenzy. My friend and I wondered if we were going to get out of there with our own lives. Later, It became known that it was all staged, but you couldn't have told that to the crowd that night. 

We all find ourselves in a place of being the judge, jury, and executioner. But it is Jesus who is our example, not this sin and anger driven world.

Next, the Pharisees and teachers of the law in their zeal were losing patience with Jesus’ silence to their question, and again bombarded him with the question and possible other questions. As Jesus stood up, the people were probably aghast at the impending death of this treacherous woman. The Pharisees and teachers of the law were palming their stones, or bouncing them in their hands in anticipation. Jesus’ words to their accusation and question of the woman’s fate hit them like a ton of stones. 

Let’s look at the text, “When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin 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. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

Jesus’s words probably were not shouted, but directed resolutely at the accusers of this woman, for he knew the darkness of the sin of each person in the crowd. “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” After speaking these words, Jesus again stoops down and begins to write in the dust and dirt on the court’s stone floor. 

Astounded wouldn’t begin to describe this scene, or the failure in the hearts of the Pharisees and teachers of the law. For they knew their sinfulness began at the fall of man in the garden of Eden. They knew the lies and compromises made between men to seal alliances. Even bringing this woman fresh from an adulterous affair would have soiled their lives according to the proverbs, let alone the oral laws of the Talmud “Sotah”. “So is he who sleeps with another man's wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished.” Proverbs 6:29

At another time, Jesus had been invited to dine at the home of Simon, a pharisee. It is here they would have remembered the woman who had anointed Jesus, and cleansed his feet with her tears and hair. (Luke 7:36-50)

After hearing Jesus’ reprimand, they dropped the stones, oldest to youngest. As the teachers of the law and the Pharisees departed, stoneless, Jesus spoke to the woman who had expected to have been dead by now from the deadly pelting of stones upon her body. He said, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? As she peeks through slitted tear-filled eyes to the space around her. To her astonishment the men had all left, and a large pile of rocks were left in their place. Then she looks at Jesus, and with whispered words, “” “No one, sir.” Jesus’ next words must have gobsmacked her, for she knew who she was and the sins that had possessed her life. “Then neither do I condemn you,” “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

Application - Most people have read the ten commandments or at least heard of them, though today they are banned from public display in almost every state and federal building in the United States. 

People have wrongly interpreted the commandments, believing in that obeying them will bring salvation and justification. We all at one time or another have tried to justify ourselves by pointing out the sins of others, if not out loud, in our hearts and minds. 

In another time as a teacher, a young man asked me if it was a sin to abort a baby. He was referring to a young woman in the class, trying to harass and condemn her. I remembered Jesus' words in this story, and God’s words in the book of Romans, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” I responded to the young man and the young woman, as well as the others listening. “There isn’t anyone in this room who hasn’t sinned, and we have no right to throw stones.” At these words, all went back to their places and went back to work.

Jesus citing the concept of adultery, identifies the heart of the problem is covetousness, which includes lusting of the heart. The commandments were given to us to point out our sins, and how impossible it was for a person to keep all the ten commandments. Jesus wants us to look at the plank in our own eyes, before we can deal with the issue of a speck in someone else's life. There is another proverb from the 1300’s in England by Chaucer, “Those who live in glass houses, should not throw stones.”

Another person put it this way, “Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones” is a common, clever proverb that’s used to remind people not to criticize others for a flaw that you yourself possess. It is a way of reminding someone not to act hypocritically.” (poemanalysis.com)

The last words of Jesus are of great importance, many times we overlook them. We receive the forgiveness (no condemnation) for our sin(s), and then continue in the sin(s) that we were condemned for, like the dog, we return to the vomit. 

The Holy Spirit inspired Paul to pen the words of Rom. 8:1-6 - “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.”

I’m again including the ABC’s of salvation (JD Farag). Please, Jesus, God the Son, came to this world to save all who would believe and trust in him. He desires to reveal himself to you, He is the Light that overcomes the darkness of this lawless world. He hears your prayers, and all authority in heaven and earth have been given to him. He will answer you if you will truly believe. If you haven’t asked him to be your Lord and Savior, today could be that day.

 First, A - Admit that you are a sinner. This is where that godly sorrow leads to genuine repentance for sinning against a righteous God and there is a change of heart, we change our mind and God changes our hearts and regenerates us from the inside out. Romans 3:10 - As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one." Romans 3:23 - For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (We are all born sinners which is why we must be born spiritually in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven). Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. The bad news is that the wages of sin is death, in other words our sin means that we have been given a death sentence, we have the death penalty hanging over our heads, that's the bad news. But here's the good news: The good news is that the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Ephesians 2:8-9 - For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. Second,

 B - Believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and that God raised Jesus from the dead. This is trusting with all of your heart that Jesus Christ is who he said he was. Romans 10:9-10 - That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. Third, 

C - Call upon the name of the Lord. Every single person who ever lived since Adam will bend their knee and confess with their mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, the Lord of lords and the King of kings. Romans 14:11 - For it is written: "As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God." Don't wait until later — do this now. Romans 10:13 - For "whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." "O God, I am a sinner. I'm sorry for my sin. I want to turn from my sin. I believe Jesus Christ is Your Son; I believe that He died on the cross for my sin and that He was buried and You raised Him to life. I have decided to place my faith in Jesus Christ as my Savior, trusting only in His shed blood as sufficient to save my soul and to take me to heaven. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for saving me. Amen."

Please share this with someone this week, the Lord knows that we and they need it.

If you would like other lessons, please go to http://pmdinhisservice.blogspot.com 

Until next week, In His Service Mike Davis

I am developing a new webpage on Spiritual warfare. Please give it a look. I’m adding answers each week to questions that pertain to our time today.  Thank you

http://uss-warfare3.webnode.com