In this sermon, Pastor Dave Capoccia examines the story of the woman caught in adultery, noting the difficult text-critical background of this unique New Testament passage. The passage’s original writer reports Jesus’ amazing handling of the adulteress’ conundrum so that you also might escape condemnation by believing in Jesus and then might walk in grateful holiness.
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let’s pray together great God lord Jesus we come to a difficult and unique passage today help me Lord be able to explain this well in Jesus name amen please take your Bibles and turn right to today’s passage John 753 to 811 John 753 to8 11 if you’re using a few Bibles it’s on page 1069 i’ like us to read the text and then I want you to notice something important about this text with me John 7:53 to 811 this is our next passage in the Gospel of John everyone went to his home but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives early in the morning he came again into the temple and all the people were coming to him and he said sat down and began to teach them the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery and having set her in the center of the Court they said to him teacher this woman has been caught in adultery in the very act now in the law Moses commanded us to Stone such women what then do you say they were saying this testing him so that they might have grounds for accusing him but Jesus stooped down and with his finger rode on the ground but when they persisted in asking him he straightened up and said to them them he who is without sin or he who is without sin among you let him be the first to throw a stone at her again he stooped down and rode on the ground when they heard it they began to go out one by one beginning with the older ones and he was left alone and the woman where she was in the center of the Court straightening up Jesus said to Heroman where are they did no one condemn you she said no one Lord and Jesus said I do not condemn you either go from now on sin no more this is a famous account this is the story of Jesus and the woman caught in adultery but hopefully having looked at the text yourselves you may have noticed something curious about this passage in your Bibles likely you see the entire text enclosed in Brackets or perhaps there’s a line before and after the text and all the words of the text are italicized you probably also see a note before the text or at the bottom of the of the Bible page that says something like later MSS that is manuscripts later manuscripts add the story of the adulterous woman numbering it as John 7:53 to 811 or perhaps the note says the earliest manuscripts do not include 753 to 811 what’s this all about why these brackets these lines these italics these notes for this passage well these are the ways that our faithful Bible translators indicate to us that John 753 to 811 does not appear in the earliest and most reliable manuscripts we have for the co for the Gospel of John and therefore that this text most likely is not original to John’s gospel in other words the Apostle John did not write this passage someone else wrote it and the passage somehow later got inserted into John’s gospel now at hearing such a statement I bet you immediately have several pressing questions first how can translators and Scholars be so certain that John the Apostle did not write this second if John did not write it who did and how did that person’s work end up in John’s gospel and third if John did not write it is this text still true still the Bible and still profitable for steud today I’d like to answer those questions for you this morning and then I’d like to walk you through this passage which despite its problematic origin does ring true with the heart of our savior and The Wonder of the Gospel the title of the message today is the conundrum of the woman caught in adultery the conundrum of the woman caught in adultery let’s talk first about how the science of textual criticism shows us that this passage is not from John to begin with we must remember that we no longer have the original autographs of different Bible books we don’t have for example the original Scroll of the five books of Moses or we don’t have the original piece of Papyrus on which the Apostle John wrote the letter of third John this is potentially a significant problem because though the Bible teaches and we do believe at this church the Bible is God breathed inherent and completely authoritative the Bible is those qualities only in its original documents in its original autographs and what was actually written WR by the apostles and Prophets by the spirit of God if those original documents had been lost destroyed or have deteriorated over time in their physical makeup which they have then how do we know any longer what God actually said via the apostles and prophets in ancient days well though we do not have the original documents we do have many many copies of those original documents hundreds of copies made from The Originals or made from other copies of The Originals during the classical and medieval periods these copies are called manuscripts and they may consist of a fraction of a Bible book an entire Bible book or even a collection of several Bible books but how reliable are these surviving copies of the Bible these manuscripts could errors possibly have crept in to our ancient and medieval copies of the Bible so that like in a game of telephone what we think is the Bible has in fact become hopelessly corrupted over time this is a accusation made by opponents of Christianity but this is where textual criticism comes in and when I say textual criticism don’t get it confused with higher criticism which is bad which is what I talked about a little bit in Sunny School textual criticism is good it’s a friend to the Bible what is textual criticism textual criticism is a scientific discipline in which people use the copies of a now non-existent original document to reconstruct what that original document must have said in textual criticism Scholars compare the surviving copies to see where the copies are all the same where the copies differ and then try to offer explanations as to why there are differences so it’s a little bit like a CSI investigation ation you try to figure out how different versions of a text might have emerged how variance within a text might have emerged so that you can figure out which one is more likely the original now there’s much to the science of textual criticism that would be too much to try and explain right now but the upshot is since this science really began in Earnest in the Renaissance period around the 1400s or so Bible scholars have been able to use the surviving copies of the Bible that we do have to reconstruct with 99.99% certainty the original autographs as given by the apostles and Prophets so we have not lost the scriptures they have not become hopelessly corrupted by this steady of the copies we are able to reconstruct the original authoritative infallible inspired word of God in most cases comparing the copies and figuring out the original was not hard to do because the vast majority of differences or errors in the Bible copies that we have are totally inconsequential they’re usually just spelling variants there are extremely there are a few but extremely rare cases where there is a variant in the text such that it’s difficult to determine what the original was but these as I’ve already said are a very small minority they’re usually marked in some way in your Bible and they do not substantively affect the gospel El or any Christian doctrine all this to say and to emphasize again though the Bibles we use have been produced 30 3,400 to 2,000 years after the original writers actually wrote these different books of the Bible we can be confident that the copies we have today Faithfully reflect those original writings we have the scriptures in accordance with God’s word my word shall not pass away he will always be able to verify what God actually declared but back to our passage why do Bible believing textual critics assert that this passage John 753 to 811 is not part of the original writing of John’s gospel allow me to summarize the most significant evidence the earliest copies we have of the Gospel of John the earliest manuscripts do not contain this passage in fact the first time that this story shows up in any surviving manuscript is around ad 400 in a manuscript called codex basa which notably has a number of other weird variants in it if John really wrote this passage shouldn’t have have appeared in the earliest copies of his book and why is it then that when the passage does first appear it is only in a manuscript known for being or rather for not being completely reliable now the passage does we must admit the passage does appear in the majority of later manuscripts later medieval copies of John’s gospel but even many of those copies mark this passage as having disputed authenticity this is perhaps not original even more telling is the fact that of the Bible manuscripts we have that do contain this passage those manuscripts do not all put this passage in the same spot there are some manuscripts that place this account earlier in John after John 7:36 others place it at the end of John after John 21:25 and still other manuscripts place this account in a totally different book in Luke after Luke 2138 or after Luke 24:53 again we might ask if John really wrote this passage how come the manuscript copies cannot agree on where this passage should be placed how come even Luke becomes a candidate there are also internal clues that is details within the passage and within the passage’s context which also suggests that this passage is not original to John now these observations are admittedly more subjective but they are worth noting the style and vocabulary of John 753 to 811 is different compared to the rest of John’s gospel for example it is only here that we see the words scribes being used John will talk about the Pharisees John will talk about the priests but he never mentions scribes anywhere else in this gospel or the Mount of Olives we see the Mount of Olives mentioned here never mentioned anywhere else in John that’s interesting the writing here really is overall more similar to the synoptic gospels than to the rest of John furthermore the account here awkwardly interrupts what has just been happening previously in John 7 Jesus discussion with the Jews and Pharisees on the last day of the Feast of booths as I’ve been teaching you those passages I’ve been emphasizing Jesus has several rounds of discussion and he’s about to go into another round but this passage interrupts it the text flows more naturally if John 7:52 is followed by John 8:12 now this internal evidence like I said is a is a bit subjective so on its own it would not be decisive we would just say it’s weird but hey this is John’s gospel but with the overwhelming external evidence that which we see by comparing the surviving manuscripts we can safely conclude that John 753 to 811 was not originally part of John’s gospel but was only added later by someone else which again is why most Bibles today mark off this passage and in some special way but now we need to ask if this is not from John from where did the story originate and the answer is we don’t know likely this story is ancient even from the first century even from the time of Jesus it’s an interesting anecdote in the writings of eusebius of cesaria he was a fourth Century Church father and historian he makes comment on the writings of a first century Church Father late first century Church Father named papus of heropolis and he says that papius once related a story quote of a woman who was accused of many sins before the Lord unquote now we don’t get any more information about that story from uus or papius but uus could be indicating that the story of Jesus and the adulter or something similar to it was already known in the late 1 or early 2 centuries even if it didn’t make it into the Bible most likely then here’s what happened at some point in the early centuries an unknown Christian scribe heard the story of Jesus and the adulteress and he felt like the story was true and needed to be preserved and therefore included it in his copying of the Gospel of John indeed the impression one gets when examining the evidence related to this passage’s authenticity is that this is a story or this is a tradition about Jesus that is looking for a home looking for a home somewhere in the gospels for whatever reason the home which Christian copyists eventually allowed for this passage is what we see in our Bibles now John 7:53 to 811 but now perhaps the most important question is this story a true story did this really happen that’s a difficult question to answer and we cannot automatically say yes simply by appealing to the Bible’s inherency since this story really is an interloper among the New Testament books we Christians rightly hold to the verifiable teachings of the Apostles but we have no hard evidence that this story comes from the apostles or is inspired by God never nevertheless most Evangelical commentators today agree that while this account may not be inspired scripture the story most likely is true this probably did really happen why did they conclude that well one it’s difficult to imagine an early Christian making up the story about Jesus especially because in an early church context they treated adultery very seriously two this story does not contradict any other scriptures usually if you’re going to throw something in there that’s not from the Bible you make it different you have a reason for inserting it and then three what the story depicts about Jesus about Sin and about the hypocritical righteous it rings true if you study the other gospels if you get to know the scribes and Pharisees and how they act well they act like this and if you study the Gospel of John and the other gospels and you get to know Jesus Jesus and how he acts well he acts like this indeed the conundrum this story raises is the central conundrum of the Bible that is how can God be just and the justifier of the ungodly how can a holy God forgive sin the scribes and Pharisees think they can use this seemingly unsolvable Dilemma to trap and Destroy Jesus but not only does Jesus foil their trap he once again demonstrates that these realities can be true at the same time God is both holy and merciful thus all Sinners can have hope in coming to him so then while I acknowledge that this passage is not really from the Apostle John and while I do not believe we can confidently call this passage inspired scripture I do believe that we can receive true edification and encouragement from this passage especially when we interpret it in light of that which is definitely God’s scripture therefore with the rest of our time this morning I’d like to look more closely at this passage with you what’s the main idea of this text I’ll say it this way the writer of John 753 to 811 reports Jesus amazing handling of the adulterous conundrum so that you also might Escape condemnation by believing in Jesus and then might walk in grateful Holiness I’ll say that again the writer reports Jesus amazing handling of the adulterous condum so that you also might Escape condemnation by believing in Jesus and then might walk in grateful Holiness we’ll work our way through this text under four simple headings describing the flow of events the first heading covers verses 753 to 82 and that is number one the background number one the background let’s reread those verses everyone went to his home but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives early in the morning he came again into the temple and all the people were coming to him and he sat down and began to teach them these verses establish that the events about to be related happened during one of jesus’ visits to Jerusalem almost certainly these events did not happen in the middle of Jesus discussion with the Jews during his last Fe of feast of Booth before his crucifixion as the insertion of this text between John 7 and 8 would otherwise seem to indicate but the description given here does accurately describe jesus’ habit when visiting Jerusalem as we can verify by paying attention to the descriptions about Jesus in the other gospels when visiting Jerusalem Jesus indeed often stayed on the mountain of Olives that is at the Village of Bethany on the Eastern side of the Mount of Olives he often went into the temple courts to teach as was customary for rabbis to do in Jerusalem and when Jesus did teach in the temple many people often came to hear him teach even if he wasn’t doing any Miracles so with this description from our unknown author we are in one of Jesus customary teaching settings in Jerusalem when a certain shocking event takes place and we hear about that event in verses 3- 6A where we have our second heading number two the test the test let’s reread those verses the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery and having set her in the center of the Court they said to him teacher this woman has been caught in adultery in the very act now in the law of Mo now in the law Moses commanded us to Stone such women what then do you say they were saying this testing him so that they might have grounds for accusing him notice here who confronts Jesus the scribes and Pharisees the Pharisees we’ve already met in the Gospel of John these were the popular religious leaders known for their fastidious their overzealous Devotion to the law of Moses as interpreted according to Jewish tradition who are the scribes the scribes were experts in the law of God they were responsible for its copying its interpretation and its being applied in legal cases among God’s people though not all scribes were Pharisees and not all Pharisees were scribes the two groups fit together like a hand and glove as one commentator put it the scribes interpreted interpreted how God’s law was to be kept and the Pharisees made sure to keep the law just as the scribes interpreted unsurprisingly the scribes often joined the Pharisees as committed enemies of Jesus and Jesus meanwhile often condemned the scribes along with the Pharisees well this evil double team is after Jesus again and like cartoon villains they seem to have come up with an ingenious scheme this time they thrust before Jesus and for all before all those he is teaching a woman allegedly caught in the act of adultery that is while she was in bed with a man who is not her husband with such obvious evidence of her guilt and with her Wicked crime most likely committed very recently they demand from Jesus his opinion as to what should be done with her should she be stoned in accordance with Moses law that adulteresses should be executed or should she instead be spared and forgiven now verse six tells us that the scribes and Pharisees come to Jesus not because they are unsure of what to do or because they need him to preside as some kind of official Authority not at all they already know what to do and they have their own courts their official courts to adjudicate this woman all this is merely to test Jesus to chip him up in something he might say so that they might have something substan his sub substantive with which to accuse and Destroy Jesus really their test is clever because seemingly Jesus will lose no matter how he answers if on the one hand Jesus replies Stone her well and he will have destroyed his reputation as a friend of sinners and he will greatly alienated himself from the people you see most of the common people of Israel at this time were not in favor of the death penalty for adultery as adultery was usually difficult to prove and the penalty was selectively enforced furthermore as the other gospels testify Jesus was regularly sought out by Tax Collectors Sinners and immoral women for forgiveness of sins and entrance into God’s kingdom what sinner would come to Jesus If instead of Mercy from God they think they might find Sudden condemnation and even execution from Jesus but if on the other hand Jesus replies spare her well then he will have set himself up against Moses and thereby up against the law of God he would have taught not to obey the scriptures because this is commanded God didn’t indeed command the death penalty for adulterers in Israel with such an obvious and public repudiation of God’s law Jesus opponents could justly condemn him as a false teacher and then find an excuse to execute him as such and the pressure is on for Jesus to answer the woman was caught red-handed she faces execution the scribes and Pharisees have invaded jesus’ teaching Circle and they demand a ruling she’s standing before him everyone is on the edge of their seats how will Jesus answer but before we find out does something strike you as fishy about this whole situation first isn’t adultery an act committed by two people where’s the man after all God’s law didn’t only command that adulteresses be put to death but also the adulterous men who participate with those women Leviticus 20110 if the scribes and Pharisees caught this woman in the ACT how is it that they failed to catch the man were they simply more lenient with him because he was a man additionally God’s law prescribed that a person could only be put to death for a crime if there were at least two witnesses to that crime that’s Deuteronomy 176 adultery is a capital crime in Israel and thus that provision from God also applies to the adultery situation but what if the chances of two witnesses both being there at the precise moment when normally secretive adulterers are committing the act of adultery after all circumstantial evidence such as furtive glances at one another or even being found in the same room together that is not enough to count as evidence of two people committing adultery they must be caught in the act therefore this two witness requirement was one of the reasons why adultery was rarely Pro prosecuted in Israel to the point of the death penalty you just never found a situation where those requirements were fulfilled divorce was a much more common outcome so how is it that these scribes and Pharisees can implicitly claim if they’re really keeping the law by insisting that this woman has been caught in the act that they remarkably have at least two witnesses to prove it considering these peculiarities there is a possibility that there’s something very Sinister at work here it is possible though unlikely that the scribes and Pharisees indeed just happened to have two witnesses who caught a woman in the act of adultery but somehow failed to catch the man maybe because he was better at escaping but it is also possible and I would say more likely that all of this is a cold and disgusting setup that is the scribes and Pharisees set out on purpose to entrap a woman in the act of adultery just so they could turn around and use her as a pond to destroy Jesus after all wouldn’t such make sense of the otherwise peculiar details the adulterous man got away because he was the one who had been arranged to lure the woman into the act in the first place and the two witnesses were ready because they knew the attempted adultery was about to take place if the woman was indeed set up if this was a version of entrapment then whatever rationalization the scribes and Pharisees told themselves they are just as guilty of sin as the wom that they throw before Jesus but however this peculiar situation came about Jesus has to come up with a response or does he look now at verses 6B to 8 where we see our third heading number three the response the response but Jesus stooped down and with his finger rode on the ground but when they persisted in asking him he straightened up and said to them he who is without sin among you let him be the first to throw a stone at her again he stooped down and rode on the ground notice that at the moment of greatest drama in this confrontation when the woman’s life hangs in the balance and the scribes the Pharisees and the crowd are holding their breath they hear Jesus answer Jesus says nothing instead he Stoops down and starts writing with his finger on the ground the question everyone wonders of course is what does Jesus ride on the ground there are all sorts of theories perhaps an Old Testament Bible verse that applies to the situation perhaps he’s writing out what he’s about to say or maybe he’s writing down the names of the women’s accusers but you know what the real answer is to what Jesus writes it doesn’t matter it doesn’t matter and it can’t be known if it did matter our author would have told us about it or someone in the story would have commented on it they would have reacted to it to what he specifically wrote as far as we know Jesus may have just been scribbling on the ground because Jesus writing on the ground is not about what he writes but what it’s about delay it’s a delay tactic you see the scribes and Pharisees are ready to force this situation to its climax but by refusing to answer their question right away and just doodling on the ground Jesus reestablishes control of the situation after all the scribes and Pharisees really have no right to demand an entrapping ruling from Jesus he currently has no official role in Israel’s judicial system so if Jesus does offer his opinion it will be voluntary and it will be on his timing not theirs furthermore by delaying his answer Jesus de-escalates the attention in the situation a little bit notice though even when Jesus does answer he again then resumes tracing on the ground with his finger giving time for his answer to have its intended effect on the scribes and Pharisees and what is the answer Jesus finally gives to the scribes and Pharisees annoyed at his delaying scribbling they keep asking Jesus to give his opinion and finally Jesus straightens up and declares he who is without sin among you let him be the first to throw a stone at her this reply from our lord Jesus is brilliant once again when presented with losing choices A and B our Invincible Lord chooses C with his answer Jesus shows on the one hand that he does agree with the law of God Jesus affirms that the py due a convicted adulterer or adulteress is death even by stoning according to the law given to Israel but in approving the enforcement of God’s law Jesus also attaches a merciful condition only the one without sin among them may initiate the bloody proceeding what exactly is this condition that Jesus expresses it’s worth noting that this spe specific condition does not explicitly appear in the Old Testament regarding how to initiate an execution specifically by stoning instead Deuteronomy 17:7 says that the two or three Witnesses who testify of another committing a capital crime they shall be the very ones who throw the first stones of execution that’s what the Old Testament law says so then why does Jesus Supply a different condition for the one to begin throwing stones at this woman we should also note that Jesus cannot mean by his statement that only a sinless person has the right to initiate Justice for then the whole Old Testament law would could be completely pointless and unenforceable so what does Jesus mean well one concept assumed in all God’s law is that Justice must not be hypocritical you cannot enforce a standard on others that you yourself do not uphold if you want to enforce a standard on others and you should seek to enforce God’s standard you must first uphold that standard on yourself and doesn’t Jesus himself teach this in the New Testament Matthew 7 1:5 Matthew 71:5 do not judge judge so that you will not be judged for in the way you judge you will be judged and by your standard of measure it will be measured to you why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye but do not notice the log that is in your own eye or how can you say to your brother let me take the speck out of your eye and behold the log is in your own eye you hypocrite first take the log out of your own eye and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye therefore in this instance with the adulteress Jesus is clarifying that only those who themselves could not be found guilty even worthy of death according to God’s law have permission to participate in This Woman’s legal condemnation and execution well what sort of result does this word from Jesus produce let’s find out as we look at the last verses of our passage verses 9 to 11 and our final heading number four the outcome the outcome when they heard it they began to go out one by one beginning with the older ones and he was left alone and the woman where she was in the center of the Court straightening up Jesus said to Heroman where are they did no one condemn you she said no one Lord and Jesus Jesus said I do not condemn you either go from now on sin no more contrary to what we might expect the self-righteous scribes and Pharisees do not respond to jesus’ statement by beginning to throw stones at the woman instead these supposedly holy Men start to leave one by one beginning with the older ones why why do they leave it could be that Jesus wives response forwarded their trap and only expose their hypocrisy to the crowd meaning that executing the woman at this point wouldn’t make Jesus look bad it would make the scribes and Pharisees look bad so the older ones who would basically be the leaders of their group they begin leaving and signaling to the Rest boys The Jig Is up might as well just leave that could be at a more basic level though Jesus words probably brought a measure of conviction to these men especially if they had as I and other commentators have suggested violated God’s law themselves by helping arrange this adultery Showdown with Jesus even a part of any sins that took place with this particular episode we do know from other parts of John’s gospel and the other gospels that the scribes and Pharisees were indeed guilty of sins which according to the law carry the death penalty they were generally speaking serial adulterers who skillfully use the loophole of divorce to trade in wives who no longer please them for younger richer more beautiful and more fertile wives they were also greedy idolators who again used loopholes of religious tradition to justify the pursuit of money even by defrauding vulnerable widows or by denying financial assistance to aging and needy parents these men were also hateful murderers who very early on decided that Jesus had to be put to death no matter what and they justify their self-serving intent as if it would be honoring to God these men were just as guilty just as worthy of death as the woman was so though these men surely were skilled in violating their own consciences in this instance they apparently felt the pain that executing this woman meant that they would also have to submit themselves for execution they couldn’t stand the hypocrisy of that thus the older ones with more sins to remember leave first the others Fallen eventually all the women’s accusers are gone only Jesus the woman and the observing crowd remain It’s Curious that the woman herself doesn’t try to leave you might think that out of trying to protect her own life she might have skedaddled as soon as it was safe to do so but she doesn’t stays right where she is Jesus then points out to the woman that legally she has escaped the sentence of death there are no more witnesses willing to come forward and prosecute her for adultery but then Jesus says something profound in verse 11 I do not condemn you either go from now on sin no more on the surface Jesus is again giving his legal opinion here as if to say they asked me earlier whether you should be condemned and I said yes if they went about the prosecution the proper way but it appears the charges against you have been dropped since there are no charges and no Witnesses then in accordance with God’s law I do not condemn you either you are free to go but notice what Jesus adds at the end of his final statement from now on sin no more why include that statement is this not a recognition is this not a revelation that Jesus the son of God knows that she really is guilty she really has committed sin even adultery no matter how she was enticed no matter how she was led no matter whether witnesses can be produced or not God knows thus Jesus knows that she chose her sin and therefore deserves to die yet Jesus still says to her I do not condemn you either wait a second how can the all knowing Son of God say that does he not care for justice does he not want to uphold the honor of God’s institution of marriage how can he just let adultery go like this without her suffering any penalty in other words we return to the question raised earlier how can a just God justify the ungodly how can he tell her I do not condemn you the answer is not explained here but it would be explained soon how so the cross there is only one basis upon which which Jesus can offer forgiveness to this adulterous woman someone else has to suffer the penalty due her adultery and all her other sins and only one person could do that and that is Jesus himself the Son of God would go to the Cross to suffer for sinners like her to pay the dent of their sin and to suffer the Wrath that they justly deserve from a holy God and also to give them his own record of righteousness in other words Jesus dying on the cross his work on the cross would expunge The Scarlet Letter written on this woman and instead write upon her as faithful and chaste as the Son of God himself that would that’s the new writing that would be upon her and on her soul this is what Jesus does for all those who believe in him this is what Jesus has done for you if you believe in him and this is what Jesus will do for you if you will come to believe in him did this woman believe in Jesus I think we have to answer yes because otherwise how could Jesus say I do not condemn you for Jesus to make the pronouncement he recognizes that she too is covered by the Son of God yet notice how her life is meant to change because of that that fact Jesus follows with follows I do not condemn you either with go from now on sin no more notice the careful order in this whole statement Jesus does not say I do not condemn you either if you go and from now on sin no more that would be teaching some kind of Life of Good Works to earn or keep your forgiveness from God rather Jesus says I do not condemn you either period full stop done deal finished reality salvation is not weight as you earn it is a gift of Grace you receive and she received it but now because she is free because she is no longer condemned because she is Forgiven and saved how should she live go and from now on sin no more woman don’t live for yourself anymore live for me turn from your adultery turn from all your sins come follow me make me the king of your life love me Jesus says worship me keep my Commandments do you see the difference biblical Christians always must stress the true order of Salvation because there are so many perversions of the Gospel out there you do not obey God in order to be saved or in order to keep your salvation and you do not receive salvation Rebel in God God’s love and forgiveness and then just keep living in your sinful ways neither of those is true rather for all true salvation the order is exactly as we see here I do not condemn you either now go from now on sin no more so Brethren are you saved are you forgiven do you now know the love of the Lord Jesus praise God but now heed the command that Jesus gives the same one that he gave to this woman here from now on sin no more you won’t be perfect of course but if you love Jesus you will obey his commands therefore repent of whatever sinful ways still exist in your life or have crept back into your life put to death the old man the old thinking the old speech the old ways As Romans 13:14 says put on instead the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to indulge his lusts that’s how a true Christian lives that’s how a true person who is no longer condemned and forgiven and who is Forgiven that’s how that person lives now as we close and get ready for baptism I have one final question for you to consider who are you in this story who do you see yourself to be do you see yourself spiritually as the adulteress who justly stands condemned before Jesus but amazingly receives his covering and forgiveness or are you the self-righteous scribes and Pharisees ready to condemn others but never willing to deal with your own sin and even when your sin is exposed and you feel convicted what do you do don’t come trembling before Jes Jesus don’t come humbly to those you’ve sinned against you run away and you distract yourself from the guilt within notice my friends and Brethren the great irony of this story is that it’s the adulteress who ends up Justified while the scribes and Pharisees are the ones who end up truly condemned which one are you we read from Matthew 9 earlier in our service but allow me to read Matthew 912 to13 again before I pray Matthew 9:12 to13 but when Jesus heard this he said it is not those who are healthy who need a physician but those who are sick but go and learn what this means I desire compassion and not sacrifice for I did not come to call the righteous but sinners those of you who are being baptized you are dismissed to get ready let me now pray Lord Jesus you have such a beautiful heart Lord it indeed was the question of the prophets all throughout the scriptures how can a holy God forgive save and even dwell with the sinful people there was no answer to that question no full answer to that question except except that it is indeed the case God does do that will do that but Lord now that Christ has come now that the New Testament has been revealed now that the work of the Cross has been accomplished we now see it and how glorious it is God only you could do this only you are such a God who is perfectly holy who will by no means leave the guilty unpunished but at the same time who is full of loving kindness compassion truthfulness forgiving sin even the worst sins we can think of even the most sins we can think of you forgive them for all those who believe all those who turn to and trust in Jesus Christ Lord what a magnificent truth what amazingly good news thank you for revealing it to us thank you for reminding us of it reminding us of it again this morning but Lord I do indeed pray that what Jesus says to the woman would be true of us that because we are forgiven because we believe in Jesus that we will now go and sin no more that we be putting to death those sins as they rise up in our lives and we say no matter what this costs me no matter how vulnerable this makes me before other people I want to follow Jesus first of all so I’m repenting of this sin I’m turning from it I don’t want to make any provision for it anymore I want to follow Jesus I pray that you do that this congregation and among those who are visiting with us today Lord I pray that they would know your salvation they would Escape condemnation but then they would walk holy walk holy not to keep their salvation but to Express gratitude for it as is only right as is worthy of the great salvation you have accomplished Lord may your name be proclaimed may it be blessed and glorified as we look forward to the baptism