The good news, guys, this morning, the text that
we're in, there is no controversy on this at
all. People don't have differing opinions on
this passage in the least. So it's going to be
real simple and real easy today. I was being
facetious. There's a lot of opinions on this.
And as I was working through and studying, I
felt like I could have spent half the week just
in a piece that wasn't even... actually, the
text, but it was a little bracket right at the
beginning. So, if you look in your Bibles, depending
on whether you have the CSB or ESV, most versions
are going to have a little bracket that says
something like, the earliest manuscripts do not
include John 7, 53 through 8, 11. So, we're going
to talk about that and why, but before we do
that, we are going to come before the Lord in
prayer. Because if you're here to hear Jared
talk this morning, no bueno. We're here to hear
the word of the Lord and to let his Holy Spirit
work in our hearts and draw us closer to him.
So let's open a prayer. Heavenly Father, you
are good. We praise you because you are worthy
of all honor, of all praise, of all glory. Lord,
You have given us the gift of your son, Jesus
Christ. You have given us the gift of your word.
You have given us the gift of people who spent
time to dive deep into your word and to translate
it from its original languages across so many
different texts and manuscripts. And Lord, you
still speak to us through your words. So I just
pray that you would open our hearts and our ears
to what you would have for us this morning. Let
it be your words. We pray this in Jesus' name.
Amen. So, I mentioned that little bracket at
the beginning, and I want to start there. We're
going to focus most of our time in the text.
We're not going to do a whole historical lecture
about biblical translation and inerrancy and
the process by which the canon was established
and manuscripts were selected. We're not going
that deep. But I do want to touch on something
because there is controversy over this particular
passage, chapter 7, verse 53 through 8, 11, because
it wasn't actually found in some of the earliest
Greek manuscripts that biblical scholars worked
to translate some of our more modern day English
and other language translations from. It is in
some of the earliest Latin ones, which came way
later. And some of the later manuscripts have
this passage in different places. There's two
other places it could be in John. One translation
of manuscript that was put together puts it over
in the book of Luke. And there's kind of two
common views. There's more, but these tend to
hold the biggest sway. One is a view that St.
Augustine held. The other is St. Jerome. And
Augustine's was, hey, the early church fathers
actually... may have left this out because it
seemed like it gives too much license for people
to sin. And so that it didn't create confusion
prior to some of Paul's further letters and things
of that nature. When they pulled the scriptures
together, they just left this piece out. But
it was really actually written by disciples.
And then the other one is, Jerome, that it was
oral stories. This was all true and was passed
down through oral tradition that kind of either
got missed in writing it as a manuscript or it
became so commonly referred to and everyone knew
about it that they then decided to take that
and to put that in as they were collecting and
establishing more of the manuscripts. Regardless
of what view you hold to or I hold to, No doctrine
depends on this passage alone, and the account
is consistent with the teaching and the character
of Jesus. So rather than be a reason to doubt
the veracity or the truth of God's Word, I think
it's actually really cool that the translators
are so focused on making sure they're doing the
best job they can in bringing the scripture,
that they're actually calling out and saying
like, hey guys, there is some discrepancy. There
are some different viewpoints on this. However,
we do believe that it does match the character
and the work of Jesus. We do believe that this
is historically accurate, and so it is included.
So we can view this as authoritative and trustworthy,
because everything in this account lines up perfectly
with how the Bible describes Jesus. Jesus. So,
I do. I believe it happened exactly as it states,
and we're going to dive in, and we're not going
to form individual pieces of doctrine off of
this, but all of this does point back to what
we do know about Jesus. So, we're going to start
and look at chapter 7, verse 53, which is kind
of smushed right in there with 8, and then we're
going to look through 8. chapter, verse 2. So,
it says, then each one went to his house, but
Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn, he
went to the temple again, and all the people
were coming to him. He sat down and began to
teach them. So, this may not have been right
after the Feast of Booths that was just finishing
up at the end of chapter 7. It may have been
Again, we don't know exactly where this was in
the chronological timeline, but regardless, people
are going home to their own house. Jesus had
been teaching in the temple, and Jesus goes to
the Mount of Olives. We don't know exactly why.
Was he going there to pray? Was he camping there?
Did he actually go from there over to Bethany,
which wasn't that far where he had some family
and stay? We don't know. Scripture doesn't explicitly
tell us, but it does then mention that he came
and early in the morning at dawn, he came back
to the temple again and all the people were coming
to him. And he comes and he sits down and he
starts to teach them. So what was interesting
was back in that time, typically a rabbi or commonly,
a rabbi would be the one who would sit and everyone
who was coming to listen to him would stand.
So, Craig, could you bring me a chair? I'm going
to sit. The rest of you are going to stand for
the rest of this. I'm just kidding. We're not
going to do that. It's a good thing we didn't
do that last week when we did chapter 7 with
all 52 verses. You would have been standing for
a long time. So, good news, we're not doing that
today. But I want you to get the picture in your
head of what's going on here, right? Jesus has
come back to the temple, and these people are
coming, and they're saying, teacher, we want
to hear, what do you have to say? Just the chapter
before, when they were in the middle of the ceremony
and they're doing the piece of the water, Jesus
is there going, hey, guys, look, look at me.
Not because he wanted attention on himself, but
he was saying, look, I am living water. And so
the people are like, what's going on? Who is
this guy? And they're coming. They've seen him
doing signs. They've seen him healing people.
And so they're coming and they sit down. And
they're all fanned out around him. He may have
been sitting up on a step. We don't know exactly.
But I want you to picture this. Jesus is there.
People have come to him to hear what he has to
say. And he starts teaching. And then chapter
8 verse 3 says, Then the scribes and Pharisees
brought a woman caught in adultery, making her
stand in the center. Guys, this was quite the
spectacle. Okay, so they're in the temple grounds.
And I want you to picture this, right? Jesus
is there. It's early morning still. The sun is
still rising. It hasn't even come up high enough
to be over the walls of the temple. The morning
doves are still. singing their songs. People
are quietly listening to Jesus. And then all
of a sudden, there's this really big disturbance.
A bunch of religious bigwigs in their fancy clothes
that are set apart from everyone else start coming
down the stairs from an inner part of the temple
or from a different section. And are all coming
out and there's this big procession. It's the
Pharisees, it's the scribes, it's the lawmakers.
And they are coming out and right towards the
front of the procession is this woman. And she's
disheveled, wearing probably slightly less clothes
than would be normal for that situation. And
there's two guys who have her arms in a vice
grip. And they're just half dragging, half walking
her along. And they come right down and they
come to the group that's sitting in front of
Jesus. And they start pushing through the crowd.
Hey, get out of the way. We've got something
to do here. They're making a scene. And they
bring this woman up in front of the crowd, right
in front of Jesus. And they set her there in
the center, the center of attention. And this
woman was caught in adultery. So this is going
to get your attention, right? Everybody, including
Uncle Ron, who was standing there while Jesus
is teaching and started to... And, you know,
your aunt's over into his... Even Uncle Ron's
awake and is like, what is going on here? And
so everybody's locked in and watching. And as
we get to verse 4, the Pharisees... lay out the
charge that's happening here. So John chapter
8 verse 4, teacher, they said to him, this woman
was caught in the act of committing adultery.
In the law, Moses commanded us to stone such
women. So what do you say? They've come, and
then scripture in the first part of chapter verse
6 says this, they ask this to trap him. in order
that they might have evidence to accuse him.
The author makes it pretty clear what's going
on here. They're asking this to trap Jesus so
that they can have evidence to accuse him. The
religious leaders have brought this woman who
was caught in the act of adultery, and they're
going to come and they're going to present a
death sentence, which was allowed, that was under
the law, but the requirements of the law for
what was going to go on here were pretty stringent.
For someone to be stoned to death, according
to the law, at least two or more witnesses had
to literally catch the people in the act of adultery.
With verifiable witness of two or more people
before the death sentence could be rendered according
to the law of Moses. So the Jewish leaders bring
a woman who was caught in the act of sleeping
with a man who was not her husband. Then they
announce this sin publicly and condemn her and
demand that Jesus then and there make a public
judgment. Now, a couple things to note here.
They don't actually really care about justice.
That's not what's going on here. The woman actually
did sin. Scripture is clear. Jesus isn't even
going to deny that later. But they are, these
religious leaders, the Pharisees and the scribes,
are using this woman's sin as a tool. They're
weaponizing her sin to take out Jesus. The other
thing to note here, it takes two to tango. Adultery
is a team sport. If you're not sure what I mean,
ask your parents. Where's the guy? The law says
that both the man and the woman are to be put
to death. And stoning was for a specific situation
in where the woman was not married to the man,
was betrothed, or was the daughter of a priest.
So there were some pretty stringent things. So
there's something that's a little interesting.
going on here. A lot of biblical scholars say
this was probably a setup, that she actually
did sin, but may have been set up, and the guy
was in on it, and the Pharisees and the scribes
were using this as a situation to put Jesus in
where there was no escape for him. Maybe, I don't
know, scripture doesn't explicitly say that.
That could make sense because they don't bring
the guy, they just bring the woman. So something's
kind of fishy here, but they bring her forward,
and they've already condemned this woman. They've
already said what she has done under the law
of Moses deserves death. So Jesus, what should
we do here? This is what the law says. They're
setting a trap. They're saying, hey, this woman
is condemned. Condemned is like a building term.
It's unfit for use. Condemnation takes a person's
worst act and makes it their entire identity.
Condemnation exposes sin in order to destroy.
It sees another's guilt clearly while often being
blind to our own. But they're bringing this woman
forward, and they're setting a trap for Jesus.
And in doing so, they have already judged and
said, this woman is condemned by what she has
done. And before we're too quick to distance
ourselves from these religious leaders and look
at this as we sit here now in 2026 and think
back to something that happened over 2 ,000 years
ago. before we start saying like, well, you know,
I wouldn't act like that. Why are they making
such a big scene? I'm not going to go march some
woman out in front of everybody and try to, you
know, go to Jesus and be like, so Jesus, what
you going to do, huh? Right? It's easy to look
at what was going on here and distance ourself
from this. But if you're a Christian, Often this
is a posture that we take. I won't just call
you out. I'm going to call myself out. I'm very
quick to look at the sin of somebody else and
say, wow, that was pretty bad. Man. And to look
at somebody with condemnation. See, the longer
we go to church, the easier it can become to
think, I'm right, they're wrong. We know the
language. We know the expectations. We know how
church people are supposed to act and think and
talk, and slowly we begin comparing our cleaner
-looking sin to the more visible or what we deem
more ugly -looking sins of others. And in doing
so, it's kind of like we're carrying some stones
ourselves, stones of comparison, of gossip, of
disgust, of suspicion, of self -righteous judgment.
And we look and we define somebody else by the
things that they have done. At the same time,
we expect everyone else to understand the complexity
and the nuance of our own failures. To realize
my sin isn't as bad as Jared's. Or, well, if
you just understood why I'm sinning, then the
sin really actually wouldn't still be that bad.
But Scripture is clear. Sin is missing the mark
of holiness that God has set. And this is exactly
where Jesus is about to bring these religious
leaders to so that they have to confront it.
But first, let's notice the trap that they've
laid and they've set for Jesus. So here's the
trap. It's a lose -lose scenario or a lose -lose
-lose scenario. They're sitting here, and they
have brought this woman who, there's no dispute,
she was caught in the act of having sex with
someone who was not her husband. And the punishment
that was put in Moses' law was both the man and
the woman are to be put to death. So they bring
this to Jesus, and if Jesus says, or picks up
the stone and says, yes, stone her, let's start
stoning her, Jesus actually becomes a Roman rebel
because Rome had said, hey, for capital offenses,
Rome is the one who can render judgment. There
were some scenarios where the Jewish leaders
could come, they could petition for acts of religious
reasons for executing capital punishment, but
this all had to go through Rome. So if Jesus
says, yep, stone her right now, they can twist
this where, oh, Jesus is a rebel against Rome.
Now we get to let the Romans kind of take them
out for us. But if Jesus says, no, no, don't
stone her. Let her, no, we can't do this. Then
he violates the law of Moses, and he exposes
himself as a false prophet. Jesus has been gathering
this following, and a good chunk of his followers
are, as the Pharisees would say, dirty, rotten
sinners. He's hanging out with tax collectors.
He's hanging out with prostitutes. He's hanging
out with all the other sinners. And if he doesn't
show mercy to this lady, chances are pretty good
that maybe he's going to lose a little bit of
his following. So they're setting this up for
Jesus to essentially kind of no matter what goes
on, they can twist this and use it against him.
It's kind of similar to what happened in Matthew
when they come and they're testing him. They
come to trap him and they say, hey, you know,
Jesus, should we pay taxes to Rome? They're trying
to back him into a corner. And Jesus' response
in this? He bends down, and he starts writing
in the dirt with his finger. Kind of interesting.
So here we are. They're laying this accusation
with a very public entrance and scene, and they're
asking Jesus to render judgment. And he just
bends down and starts drawing in the dirt. Verse
7 of chapter 8 says this, when they persisted
in questioning him, he stood up and said to them,
the one without sin among you should be the first
to throw a stone at her. Verse 8 says, then he
stooped down again and continued writing. Stooped
down again and continued writing on the ground.
So here we are, all the crowd. all the religious
leaders, the condemned woman watching and waiting
while Jesus bent over riding in the dirt with
his finger. Everybody's craning their heads to
see what's going on. You can hear a pin drop.
Uncle Ron is still awake. He has not started
snoring again through this whole deal. Everybody's
locked in. And Jesus is here, drawing in the
dirt, right in the way. The religious leaders,
though, are not letting them off the hook. Maybe
at first they're like, what's he writing? But
eventually they're like, hey, Jesus. So? Jesus,
we asked you a question. Jesus, what should we
do in this? Come on, Jesus, come on. What are
you doing here? Answer. And so they persisted
in questioning him. And Jesus had stooped down
and there's, There's a lot of speculation to
the posture here of what Jesus did. Scripture
doesn't say it, but it's interesting. The fact
that he stoops down and he draws the attention
of the condemnation towards this woman. And the
attention comes away from her. as he stoops.
Maybe that's why. I don't know. That's interesting
to think about. Scripture doesn't explicitly
lay that out, so I'm not going to read something
into Scripture that's not there. But when they're
persisting in questioning him, then Jesus stands
back up, and he looks at them, and his response
is, the one without sin among you should be the
first to throw a stone at her. This is really
commonly quoted. especially by non -Christians
towards Christians. Well, you who are without
sin, throw the first stone. Basically saying,
hey, you judgy person, you messed up too, so
you can't throw anything at me. Who are you?
You're a sinner too. That's not what Jesus is
saying here. As Jesus responds, he doesn't deny
the woman's guilt. He doesn't downplay that.
But he does expose the guilt of the people who
have come and put her on this kangaroo court
trial. Normally, things of this nature would
have been done separately according to the law.
But he exposes the guilt of the people condemning
her by saying, hey, the one who's without sin
among you should be the first one to throw a
stone at her. See, the accusers believe the woman
was on trial and Jesus is caught in their trap.
Jesus shows them that they stand before God as
sinners too. We shouldn't read this story only
asking, hey, what's wrong with them? We need
to be careful not to stand at a safe distance
and then also look at the sin of the woman as
if this is a different level than ours. Jesus
in Matthew chapter 5 talks about how adultery
is not only an external act. He says that lust
reveals an adulterous heart. Whether that's lusting
after someone or lusting to be desired by others.
We walk in those things. And this is sexual immorality.
Jesus kind of elevates from the external act
to, no, that even happens in our hearts. And
according to Jesus' standard, We're not merely
watching the woman who was caught in the act
of adultery. In one way or another, we are actually
standing with her. The leaders, the Pharisees
who endeavored and worked to keep the law and
the scribes, were also standing on trial with
her. Now, that doesn't erase meaningful consequences
to our sin, but it does erase our right to be
self -righteous, and to sit in judgment. Because
we all come to Jesus guilty, exposed, and dependent
upon grace. And that's what makes Jesus' response
so remarkable. See, Jesus doesn't minimize anyone's
guilt. He doesn't say, well, you know, your sin
is not actually sin. It's really not that bad.
That's not the response. But also, Jesus doesn't
join in the condemnation where he says, oh, how
dare you? You are rotten. You are not fit for
use. That is not what Jesus does. He looks and
he extends grace. and mercy. And Jesus' response
to the Pharisees here, I believe is actually
an act of mercy toward them as well. When he
says, the one without sin among you should be
the first one to throw a stone at her. He's not
joining in the condemnation, but he's calling
them to examine their own hearts, even as they're
condemning this woman who's before them. See,
God is extending grace through his son. Jesus
Christ. See, grace doesn't call evil good. Grace
tells the whole truth. And according to God's
law, the woman was guilty and the accusers were
also guilty. We're all guilty and the wages of
sin are death. It was only Jesus that was without
sin. Jesus was actually the only person in that
entire circle, in the entire world, who actually
had a right to throw the stone at the woman.
But the sinless one doesn't join in the condemnation
of sinful people. I mentioned earlier how that
you who is without sin, it's commonly thrown
around. See, this passage doesn't prohibit justice.
This passage is not licensed to say, well, you
can't judge me. It's a reminder that we are all
sinners in need of a Savior. And that Savior
is Jesus. He is the one who is moving toward
the cross where he is going to take the sin and
the condemnation of this woman upon himself.
And he will bear that sin. And that's grace.
Grace is unmerited favor. And as he moves towards
that cross, in Romans chapter 8, verses 1 through
2, Paul writes this to the church in Rome, Therefore
there is now no condemnation for those in Christ
Jesus, because the law of the Spirit of life
in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law.
of sin and death. Christ's work on the cross
accomplished that. That there's no condemnation
in Christ Jesus because of what he has done.
See guys, grace is not God overlooking sin. Grace
was not just Jesus taking judgment upon himself.
The only one who was qualified to condemn to
condemn will instead be condemned in the place
of sinners. Jesus, God's own son, sent as man,
fully God, fully man, the only one who lived
a sinless life, the only one who had the right
to condemn, crucified on the cross, paid the
penalty that our sin deserves, wipes that penalty
out through his blood and through his grace,
then was risen again and now calls us sons and
daughters when we give our lives to him as Lord
and as Savior. If that's true, spoiler alert,
it is, then we also have to let God's verdict
be greater than our own. Because some of us might
say, I know God forgives me, but I can't forgive
myself. I condemn myself. You might say, Jared,
Jared, you don't understand. You don't know what
I've done. Doesn't need to be a bunch of Pharisees
that put me on trial. I'll put myself on trial.
And we say, hey, you know, I know God forgives
me. I just. I need to do more. I can't forgive
myself. And in that, it might sound humble. It's
actually spiritual pride. Because who do we think
we are? Are your standards higher than the standards
of a holy God? Do you believe the cross wasn't
enough for what you've done? Our hope is not
that we've punished ourself enough to deserve
peace. Our hope is that Jesus has bore our condemnation
completely. And if we're in Christ, God's verdict
is more authoritative than yours. And it's like
the reminder that God gives to Paul in 2 Corinthians
12 verse 9. Paul, who is struggling with health
and with weakness, Jesus says, my grace is sufficient
for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.
See, through all of this, grace does not condemn.
So Jesus has stooped back down and he's writing
in the dirt again. We don't know what he wrote.
Scripture doesn't record that. There's a lot
of people that speculate about this. Well, maybe
he was writing the sins of the Pharisees. Maybe
he was writing the Ten Commandments. Maybe it
was a picture of his hand just like God's hand
on the wall in Babylon before it fell. We don't
know. But honestly, I don't think it's that important
that we know because we see the result. See,
the accusers, they left. So John chapter 8 verse
9 through 11 says this, when they heard this,
they left one by one, starting with the older
men. Only he was left with the woman in the center.
And when Jesus stood up, he said to her, woman,
where are they? Has no one condemned you? No
one, Lord, she answered. Neither do I condemn
you, said Jesus. Go and from now on, do not sin
anymore. It says, starting with the oldest of
them. Maybe these were the guys who had enough
life experience to realize, oh, I'm picking up
what Jesus is putting down. I've come here in
condemnation, and I'm accusing this woman. And
he's saying, hey, if you're without sin, then
absolutely. The law says this. If you are not
guilty of the same sin, go ahead. And the guys
who have walked through life a little more and
have realized, okay, maybe I'm not as great as
I think, they're the first ones to leave. These
guys who are like, ha ha, we've got Jesus between
a rock and a hard place on this one, are watching.
And listening. And Jesus is just still there
in the dirt. He's not looking at them. They're
all standing around. And they start to walk away.
The oldest all the way to the youngest. Until
no one who was there in accusation was left.
And it's just Jesus and the woman at the center.
The crowd was most likely still there. And then
he gets up and he stands and he looks at her.
And he says, hey, woman, where are they? Has
no one condemned you? He's not saying like, woman!
The term here actually is kind of a term of endearment.
And he's saying, has no one condemned you? See,
I think the Pharisees and the scribes realized
that they had, all sinned. We're reminded in
Romans 3 .23, and this is not a text that was
written quite yet, but is directly applicable
because Paul is sharing with the church in Rome.
A later time in Romans 3 .23 when he says this,
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory
of God. The Pharisees knew that. The law was
there to show them that they couldn't do it on
their own. and that they needed the Messiah to
be the perfect atonement. They got twisted in
religion and pushed to a, well, you know, if
we do the right things, say the right things,
we can be the holiest people, and then we stand
in the right to judge because we're better than
the other people. We don't sin quite so badly.
Maybe they did. Whatever the narrative was that
they were believing, all have sinned. And they
realize that, and now we're left with this central
image of this passage. The woman knows she has
sinned. Her accusers are gone, but now she is
standing before the only person who fully knows
her and has the authority to condemn her. And
he says, woman, where are they? Has no one condemned
you? She says, no one, Lord. And then Jesus says,
neither do I condemn you. Going from now on,
do not sin anymore. Think the order that Jesus
speaks to her in verse 11 is important. Because
we see that grace precedes transformation. Jesus
doesn't say to her, hey, clean your life up.
Change your life, stop sinning, and then come
back and I won't condemn you. Jesus says, look,
I do not stand here and look at you and say,
because of your sin, you are unfit for use. He
also doesn't negate that she has sinned. But
he says, I don't. weaponize that sin against
you. I am extending grace. He gives unmerited
favor, and then he calls her towards transformation.
He says, go and from now on do not sin anymore.
We'll talk about that in a minute. But this grace
that he extends, isn't licensed to keep on sinning.
He's not calling her to a different life and
saying, now you got this get out of jail free
card, right? I'm not going to condemn you. So
do whatever makes you feel good. Do whatever
feels right. And I'm not going to condemn you.
He wasn't imperiously saying, you who are without
sin, throw the first stone. He's literally the
only one who could throw the stone. And he doesn't.
Not because he's afraid of the trap that the
leaders set, but because he knows he's going
to the cross where he will bear her guilt, her
shame, and her condemnation on himself. He frees
her from condemnation and calls her away from
the sin that's destroying her. See, this particular
sin that's brought before Jesus here in this
passage, it falls within a broader category of
sexual immorality. And that doesn't mean that
sexual sin is the only sin that destroys. Sexual
sin is not the only sin that grace can transform,
but it's a specific category that's before us
in the text. So I want to address that honestly
this morning. Sexual immorality is broader than
just the particular sin of sleeping with somebody
who wasn't the husband committed by this woman.
Scripture includes lust. It includes sex outside
of covenant marriage, adulterous relationships,
same -sex sexual and romantic practices. every
single attempt to take God's good gift of sexuality
outside the boundaries he has established of
one man and one woman in covenant marriage and
to twist it for our own hearts and our own desires.
It includes pornography. Sexual immorality is
not a harmless private choice or habit. It trains
us to consume rather than to love. It damages
intimacy. It brings secrecy and comparison, distorted
expectations. It often carries with it guilt
and shame. And this woman is now brought, and
this is blasted out publicly in front of everybody.
But Jesus doesn't expose sinners to destroy them
like the religious leaders did. Jesus calls us
into the light and doesn't condemn and gives
grace so that there can be transformation, so
that his grace can transform us. See, we might
not be dragged in front of a group of people
with your sin on full display. Maybe there is
some type of hidden sin that you've buried and
are working hard to keep under wraps. But we
can confess it and bring it to the light because
his grace is sufficient. He doesn't condemn.
You can't say, no, I'm too far gone for Jesus
to transform my heart and my life. And that extends
outside of just this category of sexual immorality.
There is no sin that is too great that it doesn't
fall at the feet of the one whose blood was shed
on the cross. for all sins. Jesus calls us into
the light so that his grace can transform us.
But in verse 11, he doesn't call her to a life
of perfection. When he says, go and from now
on, do not sin anymore. He's not saying, hey,
I'm not going to condemn you, but if you sin
again, I guess I have to condemn you then. He's
saying, go and have your life Walk away from
the sin that you are pursuing because look at
the grace that has been extended to you. You
are not unfit for use. I will take your sin on
myself, on the cross, and bear it. And there
is no condemnation that is in Christ Jesus. When
we looked at Romans 3 .23, There's also verse
24, which says this, Romans 3 .23 and 24, See,
that is what would be extended to this woman.
That's what's extended to us. So the question
is, where are we at in this scene, right? Scripture
is not meant to just be pulled out so we can
look at ourselves. But when we walk through God's
word, we also can't walk away from that saying,
well, that was good. Glad I'm not that woman.
Glad I wasn't a knucklehead like the Pharisees
and trying to overdo it. Glad I've got grace.
And then go on through our week. Who God is and
what he has done calls us. to look at ourselves
and say, who are we and how are we to live? So
I do want to ask, where are we? Where do we see
our tendencies in light of this passage? For
some of us, are we standing with the religious
leaders where we can see everyone else's sin
real clearly? We're carrying stones of comparison
and contempt, gossip, self -righteousness, yet
we're still sinners who don't have the right
to condemn and call someone else unfit for use
because there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus.
Jesus calls us to drop those stones, not because
sin doesn't matter. It does. That's not to say,
well, there should never be encouragement to
walk away from sin and to be church discipline
or civil discipline when there is sin that requires
that, but there doesn't need to be condemnation.
We hope for people to turn to the grace that
is extended through Jesus and to see their lives
changed in Him. It's because, again, it's not
that sin doesn't matter, but it's because we
are a sinner who lives by grace, and there is
no condemnation in Christ Jesus. But maybe some
of us are standing where the woman stood. Our
sin on full display. Or maybe you're standing
in a place where your sins are kind of safely
hidden and you're worried about being outed and
on full display. You might not be looking at
and condemning others, but you have condemned
yourself. Maybe your sin has brought shame, secrecy,
and fear. Maybe no one else knows. Maybe it involves
adultery, sex outside of marriage, pornography,
something else entirely. Jesus does not call
your sin good. However, he also doesn't condemn
you because of it. He does receive sinners who
come to him. So step into the light, confess
it, trust him, receive his grace, and begin to
walk away from the sin that is destroying you.
It's not that you will never sin anymore, but
it's that you will allow the work of Jesus Christ
to change your heart and to transform you as
you walk and seek after him. Some of us are still
condemning ourselves for what Jesus has already
carried. You believe the cross is sufficient
for everyone else except for what you've done.
The sin you've committed is too great to be possibly
forgiven. Stop placing your verdict above God's.
If you are in Christ, there is no condemnation
remaining for you. And there might be some here
who don't know Jesus as Lord and as Savior. And
one day, you will be standing before the one
who fully knows everything about you and who
has the right and the authority to condemn you.
But the good news is, the only one who is qualified
to condemn sinners willingly took the condemnation
of sinners upon himself in his work on the cross.
Turn from your sin. Trust in Jesus because he
offers forgiveness. He offers freedom. He offers
new life. So drop the stones we're carrying.
Step into the light. Receive the grace of Jesus.
Walk away from the sin that he paid for on the
cross. Because grace does not condemn. Grace
transforms. And that grace is given freely in
Jesus Christ. Let's pray and thank him for that.
God, it is amazing that you loved us so much
that despite our rebellion, despite our choice
of the pursuit of our own desires and sin, you
sent your son, Jesus Christ. to be born as a
baby, to live the life that we cannot, to bear
our sins on the cross, to wash us as white as
snow, to be buried, to then be risen again, and
now to intercede for us at the right hand of
God. Lord, if there are any this morning who
are struggling, I pray that you would just draw
them close, help them to see your grace. Lord,
help them not to feel the condemnation of the
enemy of others, but that they would look to
you. They would look to Jesus. And that that
unmerited favor would change and shape our hearts.
Father, you are so worthy. of honor, of praise,
and of glory. We praise you. We pray this in
Jesus' name. Amen.