John 8
This chapter of John’s gospel has a multitude of themes from condemnation, legalism, and forgiveness (vv. 1-12) to Jesus’ indisputable ‘I AM’ statement declaring His divinity (v. 58). We see other truths throughout this chapter including how our sonship is characterized by our actions and our actions display who our father is, Satan or God (vv. 37-47). Don’t take this passage the wrong way. Just because you are a child of God does not mean you will be sinless, but as the individual matures in their walk, he/she should sin less as a byproduct of their faith. Within this chapter, Jesus also prophecies that the Jews (a term in this passage used for the pharisees) will be the ones who have Jesus crucified (vv. 21-30). For the sake of time, the remainder of this post will examine verses 1-12.
It is always important to start with the context of any passage so we can get the full picture. The setting of John 7 is the Jew’s Feast of Tabernacles (John 7: 2, 37) and as we continue reading into chapter 8, the celebrations had concluded, but no doubt many people had remained in Jerusalem for the night and then woke up at dawn to hear the Rabbi Jesus speak in the temple in Jerusalem (John 8: 2). Then here come the pharisees bringing a woman who was caught in the act of adultery trying to trap Jesus in his sayings (If only they knew Jesus was God and could not be trapped). This is the trap: if Jesus told them to stone the woman, He would have broken Roman law that disallowed the Jews to carry out their own executions (John 18:31), but if He told them not to stone the woman, then He would have broken Jewish law (Deut. 22:22-23. Note that this law is for both man and woman to be stoned and is for certain circumstances).
Jesus calmly starts writing in the dirt. It is unknown what He is writing, but some believe the ten commandments and others believe the accusers’ names and sins. Jesus upholds the Jewish law by permitting the stoning, but He found a loophole. Jesus, knowing the conscience He put in man states, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” One by one the accusers left. When Jesus and the woman were alone, Jesus confronted her sin with compassion, mercy, and gentleness stating, “neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more.” No doubt this is a staple for how we ought to display compassion and mercy to others, but it also shows us to not condone sin in others’ lives. This is the idea of speaking truth in love to our believing friends and family members who have fallen into a sinful lifestyle. We act and speak with grace and mercy, not in condemnation. It is the Holy Spirit’s responsibility to convict the person, but it is our responsibility to bear their burdens with them.
Tools to help us in confronting sin in our believing friends lives
1. Display Jesus’ compassion, mercy, and forgiveness (John 8: 11)
2. Act with a spirit of humility and gentleness (Galatians 6:1)
3. Be careful not to be tempted and fall into sin as well (Galatians 6:1)
4. Fulfill the law of Christ: Loving God by Loving your Neighbor (Galatians 6: 2)
5. The Truth is what sets a person free, not a set of strategies (John 8: 31-32)
6. Be patient and pray earnestly (2 Peter 3:9, Colossians 4:2)
My prayer for you all would be to not take my word for it, but to vigilantly search the scriptures like the Bereans in Acts 17!