https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/AdulterousWoman.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tby Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: John 8:2-11<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I. People rarely want their sins pointed out.<\/p>\n A. It should be understandable. We want to think well of ourselves and have others\nthink well of us also. \n
B. The common response to rebuke is to attack the messenger – Proverbs 15:32<\/p>\n
C. You’ll hear people inappropriately quote, “Judge not …” – Matthew 7:1<\/p>\n 1. The fact that they are making a judgment to make this statement doesn’t\ncross their minds.\n
D. Or “Him who is without sin cast the first stone” – John 8:7<\/p>\n
1. Sometimes it is shorted to “You shouldn’t cast stones.”<\/p>\n 2. The implication is that we all sin; therefore, you can’t condemn what\npeople do.\n
E. Let’s look at what happened in John 8 to understand it better.<\/p>\n
II. A side comment about the passage<\/p>\n A. John 7:53-8:11 is not in many of the early manuscripts. Sinaticus, Alexandrinus,\nVaticanus, and Ephraemi are all missing this section.\n
B. It isn’t that the passage was unknown. <\/p>\n 1. The Bezae manuscript does have it, though it is not considered a reliable\nmanuscript\n 2. While the Vaticanus doesn’t have it, there is a mark indicating there is an\nalternative reading at this point.\n 3. The Syriac Didascalia Apostolorum, dated about A.D. 200-250 says, “…for\nyou do not obey our Savior and our God, to do as He also did with her that\nhad sinned, whom the elders set before Him, and leaving the judgment in\nHis hands, departed. But He, the searcher of hearts, asked her and said to\nher, ‘Have the elders condemned thee, my daughter?’ She said to Him, ‘No,\nLord.’ And He said unto her, ‘Go your way; neither do I condemn thee.’ In\nHim therefore, our Savior and King and God, be your pattern, O bishops.”\n[Didascalia Apostolorum, VII.ii.23]\n 4. There are numerous references to the passage in Christian writings dating\nfrom the A.D. 300s. \n 5. Jerome (A.D. 417) mentioned that it was in many manuscripts in both\nGreek and Latin.\n
C. Augustine, I believe gives a clue as to the problem. <\/p>\n 1. He stated that some skipped the passage to avoid the idea that Christ\nsanctioned adultery.\n 2. “Certain persons of little faith, or rather enemies of the true faith, fearing, I\nsuppose, lest their wives should be given impunity in sinning, removed\nfrom their manuscripts the Lord’s act of forgiveness toward the adulteress,\nas if he who had said, Sin no more, had granted permission to sin”\n[Augustine, De Adulterinis Conjugiis 2:6–7].\n
D. What we might have is an early “editing” that influenced many manuscripts.<\/p>\n 1. Some speculate that it might actually had been a part of Matthew and got\nmoved\n
E. Other evidence<\/p>\n
1. Nothing in this passage contradicts the rest of the Bible<\/p>\n
2. It contains all the traits of a genuine eyewitness account<\/p>\n
3. It is attributed as inspired by the early quoters.<\/p>\n
4. Its acceptance was widespread, though not complete in the early church<\/p>\n
F. Despite the questions, it is solidly seen as genuine. <\/p>\n
III. The account<\/p>\n A. It was early in the morning on the day after the Feast of Booths. Jesus was in the\ntemple. People began to gather around him, so he sat down and began to teach the\npeople.\n
B. The Scribes and Pharisees took this as an opportunity to test Jesus – John 8:3-5<\/p>\n 1. When Rome took control of Palestine, they issued an edict that no death\npenalties could be issued without their permission – John 18:31\n 2. If Jesus said the woman should be put to death, then the Pharisees would\ngo to the Romans and report that Jesus was violating their laws.\n 3. If Jesus let the woman go, then they would claim that he wasn’t upholding\nthe Law of Moses. \n
C. As Jesus often did, he did not do what was expected. He ignored them.<\/p>\n
D. Instead of answering, he wrote on the ground with his finger – John 8:6<\/p>\n 1. People have long wondered what Jesus wrote, but there is no way to guess\nwhat was not recorded. \n
2. So why mention it?<\/p>\n 3. By focusing on his writing instead of the accusers, he caused the Scribes\nand Pharisees to get angry. They insisted that Jesus answer.\n 4. That delay showed that Jesus was only answer at their insistence. He\nwasn’t volunteering the information.\n a. This is important because the Law required that judges make\ndecisions in legal matters – Deuteronomy 16:18\n
b. Jesus was a judge, but not one the Jews recognized – Luke 12:15<\/p>\n c. Their insistence shows that they were insisting Jesus become their\njudge.\n
E. His pronouncement? – John 8:7<\/p>\n
1. He then went back to ignoring them.<\/p>\n 2. The statement does not mean that only sinless men could uphold the law.\nIf that were true, there would never be judges – Romans 3:23\n F. The Law required that the witnesses cast the first stone in a death penalty –\nDeuteronomy 17:7\n 1. Jesus said that if the men who brought the woman and the charges were\nguiltless in this matter, then they should carry out the law.\n 2. There is a subtle implication, Jesus is basically agreeing that the woman\nwas guilty of adultery\n 3. But Jesus put the decision of whether to follow Moses’ Law or Roman\nLaw back on the shoulders of the Pharisees and the Scribes. They became\ntrapped by their own snare\n
G. But there is more going on here that is often missed<\/p>\n 1. The men clearly stated that they caught the woman in the very act of\nadultery.\n
2. So where is the man?<\/p>\n 3. The Law requires that both the man and woman be stoned for adultery –\nDeuteronomy 22:22\n 4. The fact that they only brought the woman and not the man demonstrates\nthat they were not<\/i> guiltless. They were hiding someone from the\nconsequences of his sin.\n H. And they knew it! Beginning with the oldest and wisest, they slipped away – John\n8:9\n 1. It dawned on them that not only could they not make the difficult decision\nto violate the Roman law to uphold the Mosaical Law, they realized they\nhad no case because of their own duplicity.\n
2. This then illustrates what Jesus taught in Matthew 7:1-5<\/p>\n 3. They were trying to prove that Jesus would not uphold the law while they\nwere not upholding it themselves\n
I. After a while only Jesus and the accused woman were left – John 8:10<\/p>\n 1. The fact that all the accusers had left is an important point. The law\nrequires that two or three witnesses are necessary to carry out a death\npenalty – Deuteronomy 17:6\n 2. Jesus knew the woman was guilty of adultery, but he asked where her\naccusers were – the witnesses to the crime\n
3. She acknowledged that there were none there to accuse her<\/p>\n J. Jesus stated that he would not condemn her either. She was free to go, but she\nmust stop her sinful ways – John 8:11\n
1. Jesus was talking about the death penalty, not the charge of sin.<\/p>\n 2. Jesus said the woman had sin. It was a fact that they both knew was true.\nHe told her to stop.\n 3. The implication is if she would change, she would be forgiven – Ezekiel\n18:21-23\n
IV. Neither Matthew 7:1-5 or this passage is saying that others can’t point out sins. <\/p>\n A. Both are saying that those trying to straighten out the sin in others have to first\nlook at themselves – Galatians 6:1-2\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: John 8:2-11 I. People rarely want their sins pointed out. A. It should be understandable. We want to think well of ourselves and have others think well of us also. B. The common response to rebuke is to attack the messenger – Proverbs 15:32 C. You’ll hear people inappropriately quote, “Judge not …”…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[66,1571,713],"class_list":["post-20773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-adultery","tag-forgiveness","tag-judging-others"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":61810,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-should-credit-be-given-when-using-someone-elses-material\/","url_meta":{"origin":20773,"position":0},"title":"When should credit be given when using someone else’s material?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 9, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Brother Hamilton, I first want to tell you how much I appreciate all of your efforts to serve God and proclaim His word. Although we have never met, your postings and sermon outlines have assisted me in my studies and in my efforts to teach others for several years.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37661,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/being-a-conversationalist\/","url_meta":{"origin":20773,"position":1},"title":"Being a Conversationalist","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 5, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Download Audio Text: Romans 12:10-18 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A young lady wrote and asked, \u201cHow can you be a good conversationalist? I\u2019m so boring. I don\u2019t know how to strike up an interesting conversation.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is a good question because talking to people is something we just take\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23630,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/better-than-self\/","url_meta":{"origin":20773,"position":2},"title":"Better Than Self","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 12, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Please add an audio file by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Philippians 2:1-11 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When learning another language, it helps to start with the most common words first, the ones most likely to come up in a conversation. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0So what is the most common word spoken in English? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0One study in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11290,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-good-example\/","url_meta":{"origin":20773,"position":3},"title":"A Good Example","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 13, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Jeremiah 35:1-19 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0People learn in a variety ways. Some ways make a bigger impression on a person than others. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0People don\u2019t learn how to be a Christian just from reading or listening to the Bible, though that is a major method. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Preachers must understand\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37967,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-good-testimony\/","url_meta":{"origin":20773,"position":4},"title":"A Good Testimony","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: III John \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The book of III John is not very long, but it teaches us many things concerning our example. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There is the bad example of Diotrephes, but there is the excellent example of Demetrius - III John 11-12 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0People spoke well of him,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14682,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-appreciate-that-you-post-your-sermon-texts-and-not-just-audio-files\/","url_meta":{"origin":20773,"position":5},"title":"I appreciate that you post your sermon texts and not just audio files","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 2, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, Hope this email finds you well I just wanted to send a quick message to express my appreciation for your website.\u00a0The fact that you take the time to post sermons in text form rather than audio-only is a tremendous help in studying the word.\u00a0I have learned a great\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20773"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20773\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}