The last verse of chapter
7 told us that..."all the people went into their own houses".
And now, the first verse of the eighth chapter tells us
that..."Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives". This
emphasizes for us the very lowliness, and loneliness too, of our Lord
here on earth! As Matthew's gospel tells us..."the foxes have
holes, and the birds their nests but the Son of Man (had) not where
to lay His head". Jesus had nothing to call His own in this
world yet His only concern was for the souls of man. Talk about an
example for us! And from what we know of Him, He probably
spent the night praying up on that mountain, knowing what He would be
facing the following day.
Then, as vs. 2 tells
us..."early in the morning, He came again to the temple".
The Feast of Tabernacles was just completed, but Jesus knew where He
belonged when the call was to worship. Now there's another
example for us in this day of the modern church. I don't see any
reason why we can't be committed to worship and to fellowship! We
think nothing of going our own way on a Wednesday night, knowing that
the church is meeting for prayer. We have determined to follow in
Jesus' footsteps, but our determination lapses when another
opportunity arises. There's quite a difference between our Lord and
us, and I'm sure He doesn't miss the obvious nowadays, any more than
He did on that day in the temple.
"...And all the
people came unto Him." And we know from ch. 5, from the
teaching on the healing of the lame man, that there were all manner
of people there on any given day, much less during this feast...all
kinds, all conditions, all ages, all classes and tribes. They were
all interested in the actions of this uneducated carpenter's son, and
they weren't about to be disappointed! So we're told, that
Jesus..."sat down and taught them". Now up to this point,
the Scribes and Pharisees have used every invention in an attempt to
trip Jesus up, and what they are planning now must have really used
up some gray matter; just read vss. 3-6. The Jews had hatched quite
a scheme; they intended to pierce Him on the horns of a dilemma; it's
what we would call a real "catch-22". But remember, Jesus
knows the heart of man.
You see, those Jews had
plotted and planned, and maybe even set this poor woman up, likely
paying her well, in return for sexual favours. Of course we're not
told that, but those snakes-in-the-grass were not past doing it. And
after all, although they came to Jesus in the name of the Law, their
interest couldn't have been further, from seeing justice done! They
didn't care about that woman's sins...they only cared about Jesus'
righteousness; they only saw Jesus as a Law-breaker, healing on the
Sabbath! So they laid a trap, and offered Jesus two alternatives for
judgement on the woman, just as you might expect...guilty or not.
But then, Jesus is the God of the unexpected!
Now, if Jesus was to judge
that woman innocent, and send her home uncondemned, the Jews would
accuse Him of compromising with sin, and violating the Laws of Moses.
While, on the other hand, if He pronounced her guilty, He would have
completely neutralized His promise to have come ..."to seek and
to save that which is lost". John 3.17 had clearly taught us
that..."God sent not His Son into the world to condemn...but
that the world through Him might be saved".
The Law required that this
woman be stoned to death (vs. 5, 19.7), but what did they care for
the Law, as we saw from our last study? Here they were, plotting the
murder of Jesus, and setting up this poor woman as a collateral
victim of their deviltry (note vs. 44)! No doubt they were
completely confident that they had Jesus in the corner this time, but
there's far more here than meets the eye. What we have in fact, is
no less than a very vivid portrayal of the great enemy of God at
work. The hatred of those Scribes and Pharisees against the eternal
Son of God, was devised by none other than Satan Himself!
Can you wonder at the fact
that we are so easily overcome by Satan's wily ways, when he even
dared to go toe-to-toe with Jesus? But you want to remember that
Satan is not as powerful as Jesus, and this is a prime example of the
fact. You see, He thought that Jesus was about to be stymied by this
smooth move of his, because there was no way, in his wisdom that
Jesus could ever give a satisfactory, much less a legal solution, to
an obviously sticky legal problem! Well, Satan may stand before God
and point his accusing finger, but he is the last one to ever insist
on righteous judgement; but of course, the due process of law must be
carried out; and only Jesus, by the wisdom gained from from eternity past, could answer the Jews' dilemma, in mercy and in
truth. The Law demands that the transgressor be punished. This was
a mighty problem, but our God is a Mighty God! So here we have the
situation...we have Jesus...we have a sinner...we have her
accusers...we have the Law...and we have the question.
"But Jesus stooped
down...", we read in vs. 6..."and with His finger, wrote on
the ground". That was the first thing that He did, and we, even
today, don't know any more about it than the Jews did then; they were
puzzled and we are still puzzled, but you know, that's Jesus' way.
God's ways are way above our ways and His thoughts are way above
our's. All we see here is the mighty hand of God, about to make a
mighty powerful point about the Law, and it's jurisdiction. And
whether we understand his action or not, there certainly is no
missing His intention!
Now remember, Jesus is
God! And He is the only One Who is truly qualified to interpret His
own Laws, so when they continued asking Him, as vs. 7 states, He gave
them the only just response that could be given; and when He did, all
of a sudden, it was those Jews who were on the spot! And believe me,
they knew that the Law required exactly what Jesus was demanding
(Deuteronomy chapt. 17 and 19).
You know, we are all too
quick to point the finger...to judge on appearances, or even on
facts, when we have completely ignored the beam that is in our own
eye. That's why God is the only One suited for judgement, because He
is the only One without sin; the only One even willing to judge, in
grace and in truth; the only perfect One to administer the perfect
Law! And then, Jesus stooped again, and wrote on the
ground...this time, not to allow the suspense to build, but to allow
the Spirit to convict!
Jesus is in perfect
control; He has perfectly calculated the situation; He has perfectly
determined the Jews' intent; and He has perfectly timed His response.
I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall and to have seen
the looks on those faces change from sneering, to scorn, to fear and
disgrace! But then, that's my humanity talking, because Jesus saw
those shameful Jewish leaders as sinners needing repentance. What
Jesus did here was give the invitation not to commit murder, and to
repent of their murderous intent. Again, as recorded in Matthew
12.29..."the strong man had been bound", and Jesus had
neither ignored the Law, or the woman's sin, in the process.
But notice something
typically sad about the people's response as we read in vs. 9. Here
were men, convicted by their own conscience, yet instead of casting
themselves at Jesus' feet, turned away and left Him alone with the
woman. Nothing short of the calling of Holy Spirit can ever bring a
lost soul into the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. And according
to vss. 10 and 11..."when Jesus lifted Himself up, and saw none
but the woman...". What remained? Only an opportunity for the
Lord to express the grace of Father God. Was she saved? Only Jesus
knew her heart, so there's no point in our speculations; and as it
turns out, a person's salvation is between them and their God, after
all. What we have here, is an example from the word, concerning the
correct and just application of the Law, from God's own perspective.
And we will never, never, this side of eternity future, be able to
second-guess the eternal wisdom of our Lord!.
Thus endeth the lesson.
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