Neither Do I Condemn Thee

August 31, 2014

John 8:1-11

I believe God wrote the Bible. This Book I hold in my hand is the Word of God. Every word is God’s Word. However, God did not physically pen down these words with His own hand. God used holy men like Moses, David, Solomon, the prophets, and apostles to pen down His Words on paper so we could read them. The biblical terminology for this process is called divine inspiration (2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:20-21).

However, there are three places in the Bible where God actually wrote something with His own hand.

The writing of COMMANDMENTS on the mountain (Ex. 20:1-17; 31:18). Sin is a transgression of these commandments (1 John 3:4). No one, except Jesus, has kept these commandments.
The writing of CONDEMNATION on the wall (Dan. 5). Because everyone has fallen short keeping the commandments, we are are weighed and found lacking.
The writing of CONVERSION on the ground (John 8:1-11).At the end of John 7 everyone had left the Temple and gone home, but

Jesus went to spend the night on the Mount of Olives. Now, early in the next morning, Jesus returns to the Temple to teach. But in the middle of His teaching, He is interrupted (8:1-3).

I. The WOMAN who was guilty (vs. 3-5).

A. The TRANSGRESSION. The woman is guilty of breaking the first handwriting of God—“Thou shalt not commit adultery.” The judgment against adultery according to God’s law was death.

B. The TRAP. This situation was a setup to entrap Jesus. These hypocrites were not interested in condemning the woman, but seeking an occasion to condemn Jesus! [Probably because of the way Jesus entangled them about the Law in John 7:21-24.]

If the Lord answered their question according to the judgment of stoning, they would say, that Jesus had no compassion. If the Lord extended mercy, they would say that Jesus was against the Law.

C. The TYPE. The woman is representative of us. We have all broken God’s law and thereby stand guilty before God (Rom. 3:19, 20, 23; James 2:10). As this woman was condemned to death, so is everyone who has violated God’s law (Rom. 6:23).

II. The WRITING on the ground (vs. 6-9).

A. The wisdom of His RESPONSE.

The Lord stooped to the ground and wrote something in the sand with His finger—Just as He wrote the Law with His finger on the mountain.

I don’t believe He was doodling on the ground.He is God, and God doesn’t scribble indiscriminately. When He does something, it is always with purpose. Whatever He wrote on the ground put the Pharisees under conviction.
Jesus was writing in response to the question, “What sayest thou?” They wanted to know Jesus’ verdict about the Law. Therefore, I believe He may have wrote words from the Law. Deuteronomy 22:22—“If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman.” Since she was taken “in the VERY ACT” of adultery, her companion must also be taken. Where was her guilty partner?

B. The fairness of His RULING (v. 7).