Before we get to
the paragraph itself, about the woman "taken in adultery," let's
see one bit of background information.
This all occurred one morning
while Jesus was teaching in the Temple! That would have been
quite an interruption! This "adultery" incident!
Here's the way John described
it.
"And
early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the
people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them. And the
scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman ..." John
8:1-2
So we have Jesus, at the Temple!
But, quickly, let me show you how He
got to the Temple that day!
Point being this, He took great pains to be
at the right place at the right time, as if He knew in advance
that the "woman" was going to be "caught!"
This is as dramatic to me as John's
meticulous verse leading up to the "woman at the well" event!
"And He must needs go through Samaria."
John 4:4
Better yet, the fuller account:
"And
he must needs go through Samaria. Then cometh he to a city of
Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground
that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there
..." John 4:4-6
Jesus deliberately went "through" Samaria
that day, a route the Jews normally did not take, would not
take!
He knew that she, the Samaritan woman, was
coming!
He wanted to be there!
He wanted to help her!
And He did!
Well, back to John 8. Really, we must notice
the last verse in John 7. A day's teaching and preaching in
Jerusalem had ended. We are then told:
"And every man went unto his own house." John 7:53,
including the Disciples it appears!
Everybody went home!
Or at least had a home to which they could
withdraw for safety and rest.
We are being led to believe that even John
and Peter and Thomas and Matthew, all of them, had made prior
arrangements of some kind, plans for the evening.
"And every man went
unto his own house."
But, what did Jesus do?
We go to the next verse, even though a
chapter break occurs.
"Jesus went unto the
mount of Olives." John 8:1
To spend the night!
Are there beds there?
No!
Motels?
Not then!
Just trees!
Our Lord slept there, fairly near the Temple.
In the open!
Why?
That's where He needed to be the next
morning!
At the Temple!
Why?
Because of a pre-arranged "divine
appointment!"
A woman was going to be "taken" and "dragged"
into His Presence! An adulteress, allegedly so anyway.
And Jesus would be there, waiting!
Watch. "And
every man went unto his own house. Jesus went unto the mount of
Olives. And early in the morning he came again into the temple,
and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught
them. And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto Him a woman
...." John 7:53-8:3, putting both chapters together.
Jesus slept somewhere on the mount of Olives,
under some tree or by some bush, while everybody else when
"Home," just so He could be there, at the nearby Temple, early
the next morning to teach and preach ... and meet this poor
"woman!"
Yes, He was waiting for her!
He knew what those wicked religionists were
planning! He knew what was in the hearts of the scribes and
Pharisees! "But
Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because
he knew all
men, and needed not that any should testify of man: for he
knew what was in man." John 2:24-25
See, Jesus knows!
In John's Gospel especially, Jesus'
omniscience is emphasized!
Look at the capitalized words in John 18:4,
at our Lord's arrest. "Jesus
therefore, knowing all
things that should come upon him, went forth, and said
unto them, Whom seek ye?"
Jesus knew she was "coming" that morning!
And He already loved her!
He was soon going to die for her!
He would that very day, in advance of His
Blood being shed, forgive her!
And change her life forever!
Just like He did the Samaritan woman!
Just like He did Martha!
And her sister Mary!
And the amazing Magdalene lady!
And the widow at Nain!
And Joanna!
And Susanna!
And so many others!
Ladies!
Wives!
Mothers!
Jesus loves you!
Jesus will save you!
Jesus will meet your innermost needs!
Jesus cares!
Yes!
The Pharisees mean evil for this captured
woman!
Jesus means good!
They want her to suffer death!
Jesus is about to give her Life, eternal
Life!
They call he "worthless."
Jesus calls her "precious!"
Amazing!
Ladies, happy Mother's Day!
Jesus loves you, too!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 2, VERSE 2:
The
day began early for Jesus. His days nearly always did. I'm
talking about the day the woman caught in that compromising
situation was dragged before our Lord, as He preached and
taught.
Jesus had spend the previous
night sleeping on the Mount of Olives. Literally on the ground I
guess. He Himself had said: "The
foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests;
but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head."
Matthew 8:20
Likely before sunrise the next morning He was
awake. That seemed to be his habit. Mark 1:35 seems typical for
Jesus. "And in the
morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and
departed into a solitary place, and there prayed."
So, we're assuming, after prayer time and
sweet communion with His Father, Jesus did exactly as our text,
John 8:2 says: "And early
in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people
came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them."
The whole phrase "early in the morning"
translates only one Greek word, "orthos." It basically means
"daybreak." It's from an older verb, "oro," which means "to
rise, to rear up one's head." That's dawn, exactly what the sun
does in the east.
The word for "temple" is "heiron," meaning "a
holy place." The word can even refer to the "outer courts" of
the Temple, no doubt where Jesus was teaching. Another word, "naos,"
means the very inner sanctuary itself.
Then notice the attractiveness of Jesus, His
Magnetism!
"And all the people
came unto him," John writes.
The word for people, that noun, is "laos."
The nation of Laos, in southeast Asia, means the land of the
"people." The term means "those of the same stock or tribe or
nationality." These were then all Jews, each of whom had come to
hear Jesus, a traveling Preacher, talk about the Scriptures.
And they were not disappointed!
Most rabbis in the Lord's time did "sit" when
they taught. They even had a term for such a "seat," especially
down at the local synagogue. It was called "the seat of Moses."
Read Matthew 23:2 here: "The
scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: all therefore
whatsoever they bid you observe."
Therefore, "sitting" to them pictured
authority. Like someone "on a throne." The verb is spelled "kathizo,"
meaning "to settle down" in a chair.
Our verse again:
"And
early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the
people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them."
John 8:2
Jesus "taught" them. The word is "didasko,"
related to "dao," which means "to cause someone to learn."
Jesus was a Teacher!
"And
they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one
that had authority, and not as the scribes." Mark 1:22
Nothing serves humanity as well as teaching
them God's Views on life, principles that always come straight
from the Word of God!
So, everyone is at "Church," we would say.
Early in the morning.
And then it happened.
So embarrassing!
Especially for the poor woman.
"And
the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in
adultery; and when they had set her in the midst ...."
John 8:3, which we must discuss tomorrow.
A boisterous and rude interruption!
She, the captive lady, had to have been
scared half to death!
We're soon going to see how very "tender"
Jesus could be!
Oh!
I was wondering a few minutes ago, "What
might Jesus have been teaching that morning?"
If it was on "forgiveness," the Pharisees
sure had bad timing!
If His Sermon was about Grace, the woman sure
was fortunate!
If it was on the soon-coming Cross of
Calvary, that's where all our sins would be forgiven!
Yes!
But you can be absolutely sure what He was
not preaching that day!
Guaranteed!
He was not telling them how to go on
"search and destroy" missions, behind buildings and in alleys
and in dirty rooms at the inn, trying to find some poor creature
who had "slipped," fallen into sin, bad sin, adultery!
Maybe it was her first time, or her
fifty-first time! Either way, she was not Jesus' target!
No sir, He did not come to destroy people.
He came to save them!
Thank God for such a Saviour!
Grace in human flesh, God become man!
Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
Any lady's Best Friend.
And this lady, I believe, the John 8 lady,
was saved that day!
Praise the Lord!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 3, VERSE 3:
Today we reach
the very "heart" of our Text, John 8:3. "And
the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in
adultery; and when they had set her in the midst."
Often the "scribes," professional readers and
copyists, were linked to the Sadducees, a quite liberal
political party. While the "Pharisees," religious legalists,
were opposed to both groups! But here, former enemies have
become friends, just in order to "trick" Jesus or "execute" this
poor woman, whichever comes first!
Reminds me of that day when Jesus was
arrested, Herod and Pilate cooperating as never before!
"And
the same day Pilate and Herod were made friends together: for
before they were at enmity between themselves." Luke 23:9
In both these cases, their hatred for Jesus
was far greater than their hatred for each other! Hatred for the
Jesus Who died for us all!
The word "scribes" is "grammateus," which is
a "clerk, secretary, recorder," once translated as "townclerk"
in the Book of Acts. The root word is the Greek "gramma,"
meaning "letters" of the alphabet!
The noun "Pharisees," a proper noun
since it names a special group of people, a specific group,
means folks who are "separate, distinct, different," not like
all the others! They are the "super-separated" crowd of Jesus'
day, but dead in their theology too! They would never have even
thought of eating an egg a hen laid on the Sabbath! But here
they are about to kill a woman who was "caught," a better word
might be "tricked" into the act of adultery!
Pharisees, "hypocrites" as far as I am
concerned.
The verb "brought" is picturesque, but by
itself not necessarily brutal. It is "ago," just meaning "to
lead" someone. "To lay your hands on her and bring her
somewhere." But still, seems to me, they are nearly dragging
her! There's no way she wanted to go to a public meeting, not
right then! She had to have been frustrated, fearful and
embarrassed! She might have been wrong, but she still deserved
treatment like a human being! Like an individual created by
Almighty God!
They "brought" her.
"And
the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in
adultery; and when they had set her in the midst."
She is not given a name here, notice that
please. John keeps her anonymous. In fact, all the way through
the Life and Ministry of Jesus, each time He meets a lady like
this, immoral, a harlot, or with many husbands, she remains
nameless! He just will not expose them! Or belittle them! Or
treat them contemptuously!
Don't you just love the dear Lord? He's so
kind, right along with His righteousness and holiness too.
The noun "woman" is "gune," translated
"woman" 129 times and "wife" 92 times in the King James New
Testament. Words like "gynecology" and "gynecology" are derived
from "gune." As well as "misogyny," a hatred of women. In Greek
"miseo" means "to hate." A misogynist despises and mistreats
ladies!
The verb "taken" utilizes "katalambano,"
meaning "to apprehend, to overtake, to arrest," kindly or with
force! They grabbed this woman and brought her to Jesus.
Probably the next morning she had black-and-blue places on her
upper arms, bruises, from being forced down the pathway!
The word adultery is spelled "moicheia," and,
excuse me if this is too plan, it means having sexual
intercourse with someone who is another man's wife or another
woman's husband. "An illicit sexual relationship with a married
person."
Normally if this kind of liaison occurs
between single people, it's called "fornication," rather than
adultery.
Furthermore, they "set" her in front of all
the people attending as Jesus preached and taught. Right beside
Jesus, no doubt. The verb "set" is "histemi," really meaning "to
stand." Point is, they will not allow her to be seated, a much
more modest position. They make her stand, embarrassed and maybe
somewhat exposed.
I do not want to be too plain, but if she was
dragged away from a bed, she was not very well clothed, if at
all. Perhaps someone threw a sheet around her, or something.
Realistically, this is a cruel situation!
"In the midst" is "en mesos," right in the
"middle" of all these peering eyes! I can't help but wonder if
these Pharisees and scribes might be a little bit perverted,
themselves!
No law on earth would have made the accused
stand in public like this. No civil law. But they don't care
about justice or compassion, rather, just getting even with
Jesus! At the expense of this woman, if need be!
Again I say, cruel!
And let me point out one more thing. If the
sin of adultery has been committed here, where is the man? That
particular sin can't be committed alone, you know. The law would
have required both him and her to be tried!
This is unfair!
And Jesus, of course, knows so!
Another thing, rabbinical law is Jesus' day
required strong proof if anyone was being accused
of adultery! Eye-witness proof! Not of just seeing the two
together, entering a room or going down a corridor, but actually
doing what she's accused of! Such reconnaissance is
nearly impossible!
I believe this whole thing was a set-up. This
lady just might have been tricked! They were willing to
sacrifice her, to stone her to death if necessary, if they could
just get Jesus to make a mistake, a blunder, in his ruling!
"Lord, what sayest thou?"
She is a "victim" more than an "adulteress"
in some ways!
This is a sham, a pitiful example of abuse!
And Jesus is not going to fall for it!
He will not be misled by their Pharisaical
lies and deception!
Poor woman!
Wise Jesus!
Somehow I think things are yet going to be
all right.
Nobody is going to be stoned!
Somebody is going to be saved!
All because of Jesus and the amazing Grace of
God!
And isn't that true of us all?
We would all already be in Hell, were it not
for Jesus' shed Blood and the forgiveness available in His dear
Name!
Amen!
And ladies, Jesus still has compassion for
you, even when you're mistreated and abused and forgotten.
Remember that please.
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 4, WHAT MOSES SAID:
I am amazed how
the devil and his crowd use the Bible, God's Word!
Well, they abuse it,
anyway!
They misquote it.
They, Peter says, "twist" it.
They "force" it to mean
whatever they want it to mean, really.
Listen to the Pharisees and
scribes tell Jesus why they have "taken" a certain woman, a
woman "caught" in the act of adultery, and have sought to kill
her! To have her stoned to death!
"Now
Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but
what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him, that they might
have to accuse him." John 8:5-6
First, the Bible, "Now
Moses in the law
commanded us, that such should be stoned."
This is true, according to the Bible. But
it's not the whole truth! Here's what Moses wrote:
"And the man that committeth adultery with
another man's wife, even he that committeth
adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the
adulteress shall surely be put to death." Leviticus 20:10
See, this is really written with the man
being the centrally guilty party, not the woman!
And even more clearly, Moses taught that the
adulterer, the man, as well as the adulteress, the lady, were to
be punished equally!
These hypocritical accusers of this poor
lady, these Pharisees and scribes, have indeed twisted the
Scriptures to "fit" their own needs!
They have brought no "man" to Jesus, not at
all! Yet, there must have been one!
And they have only applied the part of
Scripture that helped their cause, not the part that revealed
their incomplete obedience!
The devil, during Jesus' forty days of
temptation, also misquoted Scripture! He stopped short of the
verses he didn't like!
Using the Bible to "kill" someone!
Or to try to kill her, anyway.
But in reality, the woman was only indirectly
a target of their hatred. They actually were going after Jesus!
Watch.
"Now
Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but
what sayest thou?
What do you think, Jesus?
And if Jesus had said, "Stone her," they
would have accused Him of violating Roman Law, which clearly at
that time forbade capital punishment of any kind without a trial
and due process.
And if Jesus had said, "Let her alone," they
would have accused Him of being lax on sin, not a holy Man at
all! Of tolerating wickedness!
It's a "no-win" situation for our Lord!
Or so it appears!
Then the real truth:
"This they said, tempting Jesus, that they might have to accuse
him."
The verb "tempting" is "peirazo," meaning "to
challenge, to try, to examine," almost always in a negative
sense.
"Accuse" is "kategoreo," meaning "to bring
charges" against someone.
This wicked crowd will sacrifice the woman,
leaving her bleeding and dying if necessary, and the man
running around somewhere free as he can be, while their real
"target" was Jesus, trying to make Him look "bad" before the
poeple and before the government!
That's terrible!
But it shows how the devil so-called loves
people!
Fact is, he does not love people!
He kills them, to get his own way!
He sacrifices them, to harm the Son of
God!
He uses them, to advance his ungodly
cause!
But while the Devil and the Pharisees and the
others "abuse" this woman, probably a whole lot more than her
"lover" ever abused her that day, Jesus treated her kindly!
Our Lord spoke to her gently!
He, in fact, ultimately forgave her too!
What a difference!
How Satan values people! They are
expendable!
How Jesus values people! He will die
for them!
And that, my friends, says it all!
"Now
Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but
what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him, that they might
have to accuse him."
But, as you know, Jesus did not say much at
all!
Instead, He wrote!
And whatever He wrote was powerful!
It sure "scattered" this crowd of accusers!
More about that tomorrow, Lord willing.
Ladies, if I were you, I would sure be
thankful for Jesus!
He's the True Champion of kindness and love
and grace, to women as well as men!
He loves us all.
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 5, WHAT JESUS WROTE:
Jesus' first
response to the scribes and Pharisees was puzzling. John, an
eye-witness, tells us: "Jesus
stooped down, and with
his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them
not." John 8:6
One Bible teacher suggested that our Lord was
merely ignoring that crowd of accusers. See the last clause:
"As though he heard them not."
But, later, Jesus certainly does not
ignore these hypocrites!
The first half of verse six, today's verse,
has already warned us: "This
they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him."
I believe our Lord is saying, by His actions,
"Your little plots to deceive Me will not work, Pharisees and
scribes. Your schemes and plans will melt in comparison to what
I am writing here in the sand."
And what Jesus wrote, whatever He wrote, was
used of God to "scatter" this poor lady's enemies! It, the Text,
must have been powerful!
The noun "finger" is spelled "daktulos." It
is believed by scholars that this word is derived from "deka,"
the Greek number for "ten."
Get it?
A "finger" is one of ten such members
that each human possesses, five on each hand.
But this is not just any finger writing!
It belongs to God, God the Son, our Lord
Jesus Christ!
This finger, God's Finger, has written
before!
Where?
When?
In Moses' day!
God wrote the Law!
The Books of Moses we now call them.
"And
he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with
him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone,
written with the finger of God." Exodus 31:18
"Written with the finger of God!"
And that's not all the writing God's fingers
have done, either!
Next, in Daniel 5:5, on the wall in
Belshazzar's palace, while a wild party continued:
"In the same hour came forth fingers
of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the
plaister of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the
part of the hand that wrote."
Those are God's "fingers" again!
Now let's skip back to our Text today, John
8, and Jesus Himself!
Yet still the fingers of God, make that
singular, "finger" of God:
"Jesus
stooped down, and
with his finger wrote on the ground, as though
he heard them not." John 8:6
Jesus' writing, I believe, carried the same
weight as the Ten Commandments of Exodus 20, or more, the whole
Law of God. And these men, these accusers, were as guilty of
violating God's commandments as was this woman caught in
adultery! Maybe different commandments, maybe not, but just as
guilty!
And these men, as they seek the death of a
poor girl perhaps as young as a teenager, but likely no older
than twenty-something, must have had in their consciences,
standing there in the Presence of Holiness Itself, Jesus the
Christ of God, a tinge of guilt! I wonder, as Jesus wrote, if
they envisioned that Handwriting on the wall in Belshazzar's
palace? Belshazzar was told that judgment was coming, soon! And
it did, that very night!
Belshazzar died!
Jesus' writing in the sand that day could
have evoked either image, Exodus 34 or Daniel 5. And these
Pharisees and scribes knew the Bibles very well.
But, if a reminder of the Law of God, the one
that called for the man adulterer to be tried right alongside
the woman adulterer, did not phase them at all, and if the fact
of impending judgment, like Belshazzar's, did not move them
either, not one bit, maybe this will ...
Some of the older Preachers, many years ago,
believed this. That Jesus wrote on the ground that day a few
names.
Names?
Yes, names!
Like Salome and Naomi and Jochebed and Mary,
Jewish ladies' names.
Why would Jesus have written names?
The old Men of God would have explained that
Jesus perhaps wrote the names of these men's past
"indiscretions!"
Their most recent "girlfriends!"
Their last "flings!"
Most men in the Roman culture certainly had
some. The ancient historians are clear on that point!
Either a "secondary" wife, called a
concubine.
Or a prostitute, just for "enjoyment" they
said.
Or just a one-time, when-they-were-young,
"mistake."
Think of it!
If Jesus did write the names of these
Pharisees' ex-girlfriends, or maybe still girlfriends, their
"lovers," what they would have done!
As soon as they saw her name, or their names,
written by Jesus there in the dirt, likely they would have
panicked ... and left the area!
Leaving the woman to stand alone!
Un-accused!
And, guess what?
That's exactly what did happen!
Jumping ahead a bit, let me show you.
"And again Jesus stooped down, and wrote
on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted
by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning
at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left
alone, and the woman standing in the midst." John 8:8-9
They scattered!
If Jesus showed knowledge of their
adulteries, and He knew all things, no wonder they got out of
there in a hurry!
By the way, how did these religionists know
where to find a prostitute on such short notice anyway?
Ever wonder that?
They knew where they congregated
apparently.
Isn't that strange!
Pharisee Levi saw her name there, in the
sand, flowing from Jesus' stick. "Miriam of Judah!"
And with that, he is gone!
And so forth.
That would have been some powerful writing!
I know I've speculated today, but it's been
holy speculation!
One way or another, Jesus brought this lady
to a point of repentance!
And with no one there to accuse her, not any
longer, Jesus did not condemn her either!
In fact, looks to me like Jesus forgave her!
He saved her!
And to this day, He still does.
He saves sinners!
Praise His Name!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON SIX, CASTING THE FIRST STONE:
Whatever Jesus
wrote on the ground must have produced some kind of "guilt" in
these Pharisees and scribes.
The very idea! Accusing a woman
of adultery, while they themselves were involved in no-telling
how many avenues of wickedness!
Here's what Jesus finally said
to them: "He
that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at
her." John 8:7
The "qualification" for administering the
sentence, stoning this poor woman to death, was sinlessness!
"He
that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at
her."
The verb "cast" is "ballo, meaning "to throw"
something, especially a ball. Executions are often bloody,
painful events!
The noun "stone" is "lithos," as in
lithography.
And "without sin" is only one word in Greek,
"anamartetos." It means "not missing the target!" Never
disobeying God!
Jesus will allow the stoning if ... just one
of the detractors has never sinned!
Any one of them?
But, no!
All have sinned!
No exceptions!
So, logically, only One Person ever lived Who
could have stoned her!
And that Person was standing right beside
her!
Jesus!
"He
that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at
her."
Yes, Jesus was "without sin!"
Look, is Jesus picking up stones?
No.
He, with His awesome omniscience, knowing all
things well, decided not to harm the lady!
He will not "condemn" her!
"Katakrino" means "to judge harshly."
Jesus could have given the order, "Stone
her!"
But He did not.
Instead, He had compassion on her!
He loved her!
And He forgave Her!
After all, that's exactly why He was soon to
go to the Cross of Calvary! To shed His precious Blood, to die
for our sins!
Praise the Lord!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
A further note ...
When Jesus used the term "without sin" He
meant a lot! "Anamartetos" is only found right here in all the
Bible!
It's a specifically technical word.
It means not only "no sin," but on a much
deeper level, "not capable of sin!" Or at least that's what
Thayer's Lexicon says!
Anamartetos is built with the alpha privative
"a," here spelled "an" simply to make it assimilate better, and
the verb "amarteo," meaning "to sin, to fall short of the mark."
Other study sources define the word like
this: "unfailing, unerring, without fault, blameless, having
done no wrong, guiltless, innocent!" Then one more adds: "having
not sinned!"
Only One Person meets those qualifications!
Jesus!
Only Jesus could have "killed" this young
lady!
A stone hurled by His mighty carpenter's
hands would have been needed!
But He would not do anything like that!
He would show her understanding!
And kindness!
And sympathy!
And, ultimately, no condemnation!
I believe she was saved that day!
Indeed!
LESSON 7, JESUS ALONE,
AND THE WOMAN:
The
Lord Jesus can not only "draw" people unto Himself!
He can also "scatter" people!
And often does!
Here's a "drawing" verse.
"And
I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men
unto me." John 12:32
Here's a "scattering" verse.
"From
that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no
more with him." John 6:66
In fact, today's Text is a "scattering"
verse, really!
Jesus had just wrote in the sand, on the
ground. The accused adulteress stood by His side. Then John 8:9
says: "And they which
heard it, being convicted by their own conscience,
went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto
the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in
the midst."
The Pharisees and scribes left!
Their little plot had failed!
The verb "convicted" is "elegcho," meaning
"strong reproof." Proving to a person that he or she is "wrong!"
"Conscience," both in English and Greek,
means that bit of "inner knowledge" that can help us make
decisions. Of course it must be informed by the Lord, too! "Suneidesis"
blends "sun" (meaning "with") and "eido" (to see, to know, to
perceive"). That's how words are built in Greek!
The adjective "eldest" is "presbuteros," not
only meaning oldest in age, but sometimes greatest in rank. The
senior member of a group.
"Left alone" insinuates that that crowd of
hypocrites "forsook" the Lord and the lady! The verb is "kataleipo,"
meaning "to forsake!" To lose interest!
The noun for woman, "gune," is thought to be
derived from "ginomai," the Greek verb meaning "to come into
being." I always thought of it this way. Woman is the one who
"gives birth" to new life, bringing it into being.
Jesus and the woman, alone!
Jesus had to "scatter" that crowd of accusers
in order to save that lady!
And scatter them He did!
The verb "went out" is pretty strong!
"And
they which heard it, being convicted by their own
conscience, went out
one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last:
and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst."
It's spelled "exerchomai" and means "to exit
outside!" It has elements of both "to go" and "out," nearly
redundant. But powerful!
They left with fervor!
In a hurry!
I think Jesus was about to "expose" some of
their secret sins!
Just like they had exposed the woman's secret
sins!
Jesus ... scattering!
Sounds strange.
But sometimes it's necessary!
Moses prayed this prayer every day. Watch it
carefully please. "And
it came to pass, when the ark set forward, that Moses said, Rise
up, LORD, and let thine enemies
be scattered; and
let them that hate thee flee before thee." Numbers 10:35
Wow!
It might be wise sometime for us to ask the
Lord to "scatter" our enemies, too! And the "enemies" might not
always be people. They could be diseases or devils or problems
or hindrances of many kinds.
Jesus "draws."
Jesus can "scatter."
Jesus knows best.
And this woman will leave His Presence "a new
creature!"
Praise the Lord!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 8, VERSE 10:
They are called
"nominatives of address." At least in English they are. In Greek
they are most often represented by the "vocative" case. And they
are usually nouns, proper nouns most often.
Our Verse today has two of
them. I will mark them so you can more easily see what I mean.
"When
Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said
unto her, Woman,
where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She
said, No man, Lord."
John 8:10-11
Jesus, when talking to the lady, called her
"woman."
When she responded to Him, she used the term
"Lord!"
Let's talk about these names, in order.
"Woman" translates the Greek noun "gune." It
means a lady, and her age is not specified. "Of any age," you
could really say. When the word "assimilates" into English, when
it "blends" into our language, the "u" becomes a "y." So any
word beginning with "gyne-" is going to mean something about the
"ladies." Or any word ending with "gyny." For example,
"misogyny," which means "a hater of women." It's sad that this
word ever had to be coined!
When Jesus calls her "woman," it is not a
term of disrespect! Not at all. Our Lord even called His Own
Mother that! In John 2:4, at the scene of His first recorded
miracle, "Jesus
saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine
hour is not yet come." We all know Jesus never once
disrespected His Mom.
Here's the thing about Jesus calling this
adulterous lady, this allegedly adulterous lady, "woman."
He did not give her name!
But, Brother Bagwell, did He know it?
He knows all things!
Yes, He knew it!
But He refused to speak it, lest we should
know it too!
He kept her anonymous!
Lest she be further embarrassed!
That's kindness.
That's thoughtfulness.
He just called her "woman."
Now, let's talk a minute about what she
called Jesus!
"She said, No man,
Lord."
This is the first time she has spoken to Him,
too!
But by now she's heard enough to reach a
conclusion!
This Man is the "Lord!"
"Kurios" in Greek can mean anything from
"sir" to "master" to just an earthly "lord." The "boss," so to
speak. But here, along with 665 other places in the New
Testament, it means "Lord" as in Lord God!
This lady knows Who Jesus is!
The misguided Pharisees don't!
The highly educated scribes don't either!
Nor do most of the crowds!
But she does!
He is LORD!
Who Else would have so loved her?
Who Else would have so defended her!
"If they are not going to bring the guilty
man, as well as the guilty woman, Neither
do I condemn THEE! Not just thee alone!"
The Lord said that!
In so many words!
To her!
Who Else would have stood by her, not gawking
at her no-doubt partially exposed body. "Taken, grabbed, seized"
in the very act of adultery!
She did not have time to put on her Sunday
clothes! Be sure of that. Surprise was the weapon of these
deceitful Pharisees!
They had "caught" her!
Who Else would have spoken to her so softly
and kindly?
And Who Else would have allowed her to leave
so free of "condemnation?"
I'll answer all those questions with one
word.
The Lord!
The Lord Jesus!
The Lord Jesus Christ!
And, as the Psalmist assures us;
"The Lord, He is God!" Psalm
100:3
This lady just got saved!
"No man (or woman)
can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost."
1st Corinthians 12:3, written by Paul.
He called her "woman."
She called Him "Lord!"
He showed her respect!
She showed Him reverence!
She was an adulteress, no, make that an
ex-adulteress!
He was the Lord God Almighty!
What an ending!
To a potentially deadly situation!
Every one of us today should be on our faces
before God, thanking Him for His awesome, amazing, marvelous,
overwhelming GRACE!
Yes!
Thank You, Lord!
Praise His Good Name!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 9, VERSE 11, GO AND SIN NO MORE:
Two verbs, and
both are imperatives, in just one verse!
"Go,
and sin no more." This is Jesus speaking to the woman
accused of adultery, John 8:11.
"Go" and "sin" are those verbs, one being
positive and the other negative!
Jesus is going to allow her to leave, "not
having been stoned!"
"Go" translates "poreuomai," actually meaning
"to travel to the other side." It's from a background of words
meaning "to pierce, to go from the front to the back" of
something.
This lady, no doubt, thought she would die
that day!
And, truth be told, we do not know one thing
about her.
This sin in which she was caught might have
been her very first failure in that area. Now that does not
relieve her of responsibility, but it's sure better than her
being a long-time prostitute. Having had hundreds of such
affairs.
If so, Jesus knew it.
Even more to the point, she might have been
"tricked" into this horrible situation. The verb the Pharisees
used about her, "taken" in adultery, suggests she was "seized,"
nearly "kidnapped," while involved with some man in town. A man
who was obviously worthless! Who would not even stand with the
woman who "loved" him! If so, this lady is as much a "victim" as
a "sinner."
And if so, Jesus knew that too!
And this is for sure, she was "used" that
day! The woman was, to the Scribes and Pharisees, merely a
"pawn" in a game of "We'll get Jesus today!" Remember verse 5,
directed to our Lord: "Now
Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but
what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him, that they might
have to accuse him." She was "expendable!" Her life was
useless to these men! Just a strategic piece of property!
And Jesus knew that, too!
And our precious Lord quietly dismissed her!
"You may go!"
"Go back to your home."
"Go from peering eyes, where you can clothe
yourself again."
"Go from all the shame and embarrassment."
That's what Jesus was saying!
"Go,
and sin no more." John 8:11
This whole paragraph, all 11 verses, is
"questioned" by some so-called scholars. They say it does not
belong in the Bible! It's missing from some of the more popular
manuscripts! Some versions of Scripture do not even list it in
John 8, not at all. Instead they put it at the end of the Book,
denying its authenticity.
By the way, it is NOT missing from the old
Textus Receptus, the manuscript from which the King James Bible
is translated. I'll just leave it in my Bible, right where it
is, please.
And now here's why many of the old Jewish
Rabbis thought this Text best "left out" of Scripture. The very
words we are studying today, "Go and sin
no more," are interpreted as too light a response to the
sin of adultery!
"Jesus could not that easily have dismissed
her," they say.
"Too light a punishment," they assert!
"This will only encourage more adultery,"
they thought!
I say we had better let the Lord Jesus say
what He says ... and quit correcting Him all the time!
If he chooses to forgive her, let Him alone!
If He, in His pure and Holy way, chooses to
"love" her and and be "kind" to her, so be it!
He makes no mistakes!
"Go and sin no more."
I believe that the woman, having observed
Jesus' love and compassion and kindness, had already realized
the error of her ways. She knew she had sinned! She also
realized that she had met the Saviour! After all, she had just
called Him "Lord!" And she knew
that she had just been born-again!
And what else could Jesus have said to a new
creature in Christ?
You may go!
Begin living that new life, even
today!
And, balancing the truth of God's amazing
Grace, Jesus adds: "And sin no more!"
Do not have any more trysts with such men!
Flee youthful lusts!
Live a pure life!
"Sin no more!"
The verb for "sin" her is picturesque, very
much so. It is spelled "hamartano." It begins with the letter
"alpha," roughly equivalent to our "a." That here negates the
meaning of the root word. It reverses the whole word. And the
"stem" of the word is "meros." That's a "part" or a "portion,"
one's very own possession or inheritance.
We have just been told that "sin," by this
definition anyway, takes away one's "part, portion, lot, or
allotment," things given him or her already!
That is, sin robs!
Sin steals!
Sin takes away blessings God wanted to send
our way!
Now this "word picture" I'm giving you today
is not the standard "quicky" answer to the "What is sin?"
question.
But it is what the word "hamartano" means!
Sin costs!
So, Jesus charges, commands really, the lady
to "sin no more."
No more adultery!
And, if she just got saved, she went home
that day as pure as any lady in Israel!
Having been washed in the Blood of Jesus!
On the way to Heaven!
She was now cleaner than the withdrawing
Pharisees had ever been!
Justified, by the Son of God!
Not condemned!
What a marvelous picture of God's Grace, John
8:1-11.
And what a wonderful lesson on how to treat a
lady, a woman, even when she has failed in some major area of
life!
Treat her like a lady!
Not like trash!
Value her, not for what she was, but for what
she could become!
In Christ Jesus!
Jesus loves sinners!
Including adulteresses!
And adulterers as well!
There was one of them in this story too, but
he is hiding. And he did not receive forgiveness.
One must see Jesus for that!
Think one more time about this woman.
She was literally dragged to Jesus!
By the Devil's crowd!
Forcefully!
Perhaps to be stoned to death!
And yet ... she was saved!
Her life spared!
He sin forgiven!
That little "trick" backfired on old Satan,
didn't it?
He lost a soul to Jesus that day!
Praise the dear Lord!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
To anyone reading here today ...
No person has gone too far ... but that God's
Love and Grace can reach you! Even you! He loves you. He
died for you. He can, and will, save you. Trust Him right now!
If He saved this woman, and it appears He
did, He can do the same for you, too!
The Grace Of God!
