Civil Government: Magistracy, Authority, and Romans 13: Christian & Civil Government

Christ and the Adulterous Woman

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Civil Government

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2002-10-20

Synopsis: John Weaver expounds John 8:1-11, arguing that Jesus did not abolish the death penalty for adultery but upheld the law by requiring clean-hands witnesses. The scribes and Pharisees, themselves lawless, attempted to trap Jesus, but He exposed their hypocrisy by referencing the ordeal of Numbers 5. When the accusers departed, no civil case remained, and Jesus granted the woman religious forgiveness, calling her to sin no more. Weaver distinguishes civil and religious forgiveness and applies the passage to church discipline and the failure of lawless men to administer justice.

[John Weaver] And let me just tell you that I am working on several different messages. Hopefully I'm going to have one prepared for next Lord's Day, and it may end up being in two different parts. And then Dr. Brissey has asked me to deal with a subject which I already know that will end up taking me two or three messages to deal with. And then there is another message I want to bring as well. I've got an awful lot of studying to do as well as preparation, so some of these are, well, you'll see when I get to preaching them, they're a little different, and so they require a little more attention.

[John Weaver] So let's look in John chapter 8 today, and let's read the first 11 verses. John 8, beginning with verse 1. Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives, and early in the morning He came again unto the temple, and all the people came unto Him, and He sat down and taught them. And the scribes and the Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery, and when they had set her in the midst, they said unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery in the very act.

[John Weaver] 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 Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. And when they 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. When Jesus had lifted up himself and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers?

[John Weaver] Hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more.

[John Weaver] Now, I would venture to say that most of you have never heard this passage preached on before. In fact, many individuals have never even considered this passage or its implications. Let me just tell you up front that this passage is a hotbed of controversy. Now, the reason I say it's a hotbed of controversy is because it is usually not only misunderstood, but is usually even taken out of context. There are some who even try to deny the authenticity of this passage. There are some that would even say that this passage should never even have been in the Bible to begin with, which, of course, I believe is outright blasphemy and heresy and denies the infallibility and the inspiration of the Bible. But there are many individuals who take this passage and use it to teach antinomianism. Now let me tell you, I hope you understand the term antinomianism.

[John Weaver] The Greek word nomos is the word law. Antinomianism refers to someone who is against God's law. So an antinomian then is someone who either does not believe that God's law is valid, or at least he lives as if God's law had no effect at all upon him. And usually what people do when they come to John chapter 8, They're trying to say that here, love supersedes the law. In other words, the law is the Old Testament. Now, in the New Testament, we have love, and that which matters is we just love, love, love, love, and it doesn't matter about God's law at all.

[John Weaver] Well, I can quote this. But hold John 8 and look in your Bibles to the book of Romans chapter 13. And I'm certainly not wanting to get into an exposition of this truth this morning. I've done it in time past. But I want you to look in Romans chapter 13 and let me read to you verses 9 and 10. Watch carefully. He says, for this thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not covet.

[John Weaver] Everybody understands this is the Ten Commandments, right? And if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor. Therefore, love is what? The fulfilling of the law. What is biblical love? Biblical love is not sentimentalism. It's not emotionalism. It's not a funny feeling. It's not goosebumps. It's not overlooking sin. Biblical love is the fulfilling of the law of God. You understand that? So when people try to say, well, love has superseded the law of God, they don't even know what they're talking about because biblical love is the fulfilling of the law of God.

[John Weaver] Let me give you an illustration. I've given this to you in time past, but it's one that you can understand very simply. So, here's my question. If I reach my hand over in Henry's pocket, and I steal a $100 bill from him, and I say, Henry, I love you, I love you, I love you. Here's my question. Do I love him? Not biblically. Because love is the fulfilling of the law. If I love him, I keep my hand out of his pocket. Whether I ever tell him I love him or not is immaterial. Whether I ever get teary-eyed or sentimental is immaterial. Whether I ever get emotional, it's immaterial. I love him because I'm fulfilling God's law toward him. Love is the fulfilling of the law. So there are individuals who try to take this and try to say, well, love has superseded the law of God. In order to understand this passage, it is almost imperative that you take it in its entire context.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to note, first of all, who it is that is causing the problem here. Look in verse 3,"...and the scribes and the Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in an offering." Back in John 8, verse 3,"...and the scribes and the Pharisees." Now, you've got to ask yourself, who were the scribes and who were the Pharisees? Now, the scribes were supposedly the students of Scripture.

[John Weaver] They were to be the scholars of the law. Here were men who gave their entire lives studying the law in order that they might teach others. That's who the scribes were. Who were the Pharisees? The Pharisees were the most religious zealous sect of the Lamb. They were believed in absolute obedience, supposedly. However, you find as you read scripture, it was obedience to their traditions more than the Word of God. But the Pharisees would have been considered the fundamentalist of the day.

[John Weaver] Now, remember, the Sadducees were another group, but they were the liberals. The Sadducees were the ones who denied the existence of angels. They denied the bodily resurrection of the dead. But the Pharisees, of course, believed both. So the Pharisees were the fundamentalists of the day. So now you have two groups. You have the scribes who were supposedly the scholars and the students of the law, and you have the Pharisees, one of the main fundamentalist religious sects of our Lord's day, bringing this woman to our Lord.

[John Weaver] Now, let me just very quickly give you an overview of the first seven chapters before we come up to John 8. In every one of these chapters, you will find the scribes and the Pharisees mentioned. In John chapter 1 in verse 14, the scribes and the Pharisees were ignorant of John the Baptist, who was the forerunner of Jesus Christ. In fact, they sent messengers to him saying, Who aren't thou?

[John Weaver] They didn't even know who he was. Now, remember, the Old Testament had prophesied about John. So here the students of the law are ignorant concerning the forerunner of Jesus Christ. In verse 26 of chapter 1, they were ignorant of the divine presence in their midst. What did John say? There standeth one among you whom you know not. And he was referring to Christ. So the scholars and the students of the Scriptures and the leading religious leaders of his day did not even know who Jesus Christ was. When you get to John chapter 2, You have there our Lord's first miracle. How many of you know what it is? What was His first miracle?

[John Weaver] He turned water into wine. You heard the old story about the state trooper who pulled the black preacher over. He'd been weaving a little bit. And the state trooper looked in there and said, what do you have in that bottle? He said, water. He said, water? He said, let me have that. He handed him the bottle. He sniffed and he said, that's not water, that's wine. He said, praise the Lord, he done done it again.

[John Weaver] Well, sometimes it works like that, I guess. But when they lacked wine, wine in the Bible is a symbol of joy. Read the book of Psalms. He says he's given wine that maketh glad the heart of man. So when they did not have wine, it symbolized here you had a joyless nation. So you have the scribes and the Pharisees who were ignorant of the forerunner of Jesus Christ. They were ignorant of Jesus Christ. They were a joyless nation. And when you get to John chapter 3, here is Nicodemus, a ruler of the Pharisees, who came to Jesus dead in trespasses and sins. And what did Jesus Christ say to him? Verily, verily, I say to you, you must be born from above. That is, you must be born again. One of their rulers, absolutely, totally lost and dead in trespasses and in sins. When you get to John chapter four, you have how Israel were absolutely callous to the Samaritans. And you remember the Samaritans were basically half-breeds. They'd intermarried. And you remember Jesus sat on the well and asked that Samaritan woman for a drink of water.

[John Weaver] And she said, How is it thou, being a Judean, ask water of me, a woman of Samaria? For the Judeans have no dealings with the Samaritans. In fact, they call the Samaritans dogs. So here they are, a joyless nation and totally callous, indifferent to their neighbors. In chapter 5, here Israel is portrayed then as a nation of blind, impotent folk, haunt and maimed. There was the man who had been at the pool there for 38 years. When you get to chapter 6, Jesus Christ is the bread of life. But here the nation, therefore, is presented as hungry Indeed, but they are indifferent and have no desire for the true bread of life, Jesus Christ. When you get to John chapter 7, the leaders of the nation reject Christ as the living water, and they send officers out to arrest Christ. But when the officers come back, they say, Why have you not brought him? What do the officers say? No man has ever spoken like this man. And then they say, what's wrong with you?

[John Weaver] Do you believe on him? Now, the point I'm trying to make when you get to John chapter 8 now, it is the same group in verse 3, the scribes and the Pharisees that bring this woman to Jesus. The same group that caused all the heartache and all the problems and who were totally ignorant of the Word of God. Now they're the ones bringing this woman to Jesus Christ.

[John Weaver] Now, here's a principle that we must learn. We must learn that even the enemies of truth can oftentimes quote scripture and use it against us. And here these scribes and the Pharisees had no love for the truth. They had no desire for the truth. They were enemies to the truth. And yet they were trying to take the truth of God and use it to entrap Jesus Christ.

[John Weaver] If you look down to verse six, verse six will explain the whole scenario. This, they said, tempting him that they might have to accuse him.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to understand something. When the scribes and the Pharisees brought this adulterous woman to Jesus Christ, They did not bring her to Jesus Christ because they were shocked at her immorality, that they were upset and grieved and heartbroken because of her sin. They were not even grieved because the law of God had been dishonored. They were not even upset because the law of God had been broken. They used this sinful woman for one simple reason, and that was to ensnare and to entrap Jesus Christ. You're talking about using someone else's sin.

[John Weaver] That's exactly what these people were doing. So their object then was not to help the woman. Their object was to exploit her for their own evil designs. They wanted to ruin Christ. They wanted to entrap him. They wanted to make him contradict himself. and basically destroy his own testimony.

[John Weaver] Now, since we know who it was that brought this adulterous woman of Jesus Christ, let's look in verses 2 through 5, first of all, at the dilemma. Watch if you would. And early in the morning, he came again into the temple.

[John Weaver] Now, someone tell me where he is? He's in the temple. And all the people came unto him, and he sat down and taught them. What is he doing in the temple? He's teaching and preaching, so here's a public exposition, okay? And the scribes and the Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery, and when they had sent her in the midst, they said unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery in the very act.

[John Weaver] Now Moses of the Law commanded us that such should be stoned, but what sayest thou? Now, I want you to note the Bible says in verse 3, And the scribes and the woman brought unto him a woman taken in adultery. How many of you think she came voluntarily? No, they brought her. Probably dragged her in, but they brought her. And she did not come voluntarily.

[John Weaver] Now evidently, and this is another sermon in itself, but evidently the scribes and the Pharisees had what you and I would describe as police powers. Don't you remember as you read through the Bible about the officers of the temple? And I've told you in time past who those officers of the temple were. And in John chapter 7, they sent officers to arrest Jesus Christ. So undoubtedly, they had some control over what you and I would call the temple police or the temple officers. And so they went out and physically brought this woman to Jesus Christ and compel her to come and set her in the midst.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to try to get the picture in your own mind. Here, Jesus Christ is sitting in the temple teaching. And all of a sudden, here are some religious leaders barge in, dragging this woman, pull out a chair, put her in the midst of everyone, and they say, Master, here's a woman taking an adultery in the very act.

[John Weaver] Now, Moses says she's to be stoned, but what do you say? You talk about brash. You talk about arrogant. Not only were they interrupting his message and his teaching, they were demanding that he preside as a judge and demanding that he give them an answer. I don't know about you, but boy, there's something inside me that just recoils against people who are so brash and so arrogant.

[John Weaver] But yet they come in and they take this woman and said, look, she was caught in adultery in the very act. I know that you're thinking the same thing that I'm thinking. And you want to ask a question. Where was the man? Why did they just bring the woman? I mean, it takes two to commit adultery. Why did they just bring the woman? Well, I don't know the answer.

[John Weaver] There could be several different answers. Maybe the man may have been one of their own. Who knows? But I do know this. You get far more emotionalism involved when you start condemning a woman than you do a man. And so they were designing this entrapment. They're designing this scheme to basically trap Jesus Christ.

[John Weaver] Now, let me show you. They said Moses in the Law says she's to be stoned. Well, go back in your Bibles to the book of Leviticus. Old John 8. Go back to the book of Leviticus chapter 20 and verse 10. Leviticus 20, verse 10. Look what the Word of God says. Leviticus 20, verse 10. And the man that committed adultery with another man's wife, even he that committed adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. The law did demand a death penalty for adultery. Look in your Bibles to Deuteronomy 22 and verse 22. Deuteronomy 22, verse 22. God says, If a man be found lying with a woman, married to an husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that labored the woman and the woman.

[John Weaver] So shalt thou put away evil from among Israel. So, God says both the man and the woman are to be put to death. Of course, they only brought the woman.

[John Weaver] Now, here's the dilemma confronting Jesus Christ. Remember now, he's in the temple, he's teaching, it's a public situation. They barge in, they interrupt his message, they put the woman in the midst and says, now look, Moses' law says she's to be stoned, but what do you say? Because now, here are all these witnesses waiting for his answer.

[John Weaver] Now, if our Lord had said, let her go, he would have been accused, and rightly so, of violating the law of God. Because the law of God demanded that she be put to death. Moreover, what would you do with this claim of Matthew 5, verse 17? where Jesus Christ said publicly that He was come to fulfill the Law. So if Jesus Christ says, let her go, then they charge Him with violating the Law of God and violating His own Word. Now, suppose Jesus Christ said, stone her, put her to death.

[John Weaver] What is then going to be the understanding of the people? Because Jesus Christ was known as the friend of publicans and sinners. And certainly he would not be showing himself their friend if he said to stone them. Moreover, if you look in John 18 and verse 31, and this is where they were really going with it. Look in John 18 verse 31. John 18, verse 31, here's where they were really going with it.

[John Weaver] Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death. The Romans had taken away the death penalty power from the nation. So if Jesus Christ says take her out and stone her, what would have happened? They would have reported him to the Roman government. They've got him trapped, or at least they think they have him trapped, because if he says, let her go, then he's no friend of the law. If he says stone her, then he's no friend of sinners and he's in trouble with the Roman government.

[John Weaver] Now, look at the actions of our Lord. Go back to John chapter eight. Let's read verses six through nine. This they said, tempting him that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down and with his finger wrote on the ground as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone in her. And again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. And when they heard it being convicted by their own conscience, they went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even in the last, and Jesus was left alone and the woman standing in the midst." Now the Bible says in verse 6 and in verse 8 twice that Jesus Christ stooped down and wrote something on the floor of the temple.

[John Weaver] Most of us have often wondered, what did he write? You know, some have suggested maybe he began writing some names of people that they had committed adultery with. I don't know. Maybe he began listing dates. I don't know. However, you've got to remember two things, and I believe this is the answer. You've got to remember, first of all, that Jesus Christ is the High Priest. You got that?

[John Weaver] And secondly, someone tell me where this took place? In the temple.

[John Weaver] Now, what significance does that have? Well, let me show you. I'm going to give you a quote in just a moment, but hold John 8, but turn back in your Bibles to the book of Numbers, chapter 5. Numbers, chapter 5. And let's begin reading there with verse 11. Numbers 5, and let's begin reading verse 11, and we'll read through verse 31, a lengthy passage. But it's important that you understand the background before I give you this quote, okay? Numbers chapter 5, beginning with verse 11.

[John Weaver] And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying... So here then is something that the Lord Himself has ordained. The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man's wife go aside and commit a trespass against him, and a man lie with her kindly, and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, and be kept close, and she be defiled, and there

[John Weaver] be no witness against her, neither she be taken with the matter." In other words, basically she's gotten away with it. Nobody's talking, no one has seen it, no one knows about it. Watch verse 14. And the spirit of jealousy come upon him. In other words, he becomes extremely suspicious, although he has no evidence. And the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled. That is, she's actually guilty. Or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled, that is, she could be totally innocent. Then shall the man bring his wife unto the priest, and he shall bring her Offering for her the tenth part of an ephod barley meal, he shall pour no oil upon it, nor put frankincense thereon, for it is an offering of jealousy, an offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance. And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the Lord. And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, And of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle, the priest shall take and put it in the water."

[John Weaver] Notice the dust of the floor of the tabernacle. He takes it and puts it in the water. And the priest shall set the woman before the Lord and uncover the woman's head and put the offering of the memorial in her hands, which is the jealousy offering. And the priest shall cause in his hand the bitter water, or the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that caused the curse. And the priest shall charge her by an oath, and say unto the woman, If no man have lain with thee, and if thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness with another instead of thine husband, be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse." But if thou hast gone aside to another instead of thine husband, and if thou be defiled, and some man hath lain with thee beside thine husband, then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing. And the priest shall say unto the woman, The Lord make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the Lord doth make thy thigh to rot, and thy belly to swell.

[John Weaver] And this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels, to make thy belly swell, and thy thigh to rot. And the woman shall say, Amen, Amen. And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and shall blot them out with the bitter water. And he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that causeth the curse, and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her and become bitter. Then the priest shall take the jealousy offering out of the woman's hand, and shall wave the offering before the Lord, and offer it upon the altar." And the priest shall take a handful of the offering, even the memorial thereof, and burn it upon the altar, and afterward shall cause the woman to drink the water. And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall come to pass that if she be defiled, that is, if she is actually guilty, and have done trespass against her husband, that the water that caused the curse shall enter into her and become bitter, and her belly shall swell, and

[John Weaver] her thighs shall rot, And the woman shall be a curse among her people." That is, she's going to have a living death for a while, everybody will know her sin, and then she's going to die in misery. Verse 28,"'And if the woman be not defiled, but be clean, then shall she be free, and shall conceive seed.'" In other words, God will bless her and she'll have a child.

[John Weaver] This is the law of jealousies. When a wife goeth aside to another instead of her husband, and is defiled, or when the spirit of jealousy cometh upon him, and he be jealous over his wife, and shall set the woman before the Lord, and the priest shall execute upon her all this law, then shall the man be guiltless from iniquity, and the woman shall bear her iniquity." So if she is guilty, the man is guiltless. I do want you to please remember it was the scribes and the Pharisees who brought this woman to our Lord. Remember that our Lord is the high priest and that he was in the temple. And of course, you remember the temple, of course, replaced the tabernacle. Now, I want to give you a quote.

[John Weaver] It's several paragraphs long, but I want you to listen carefully because it puts this passage together numbers chapter 5 with John chapter 8 so that we can have an understanding of it. Dean Burgon, one of the scholars in times past, has said this. Here's what he said. The scribes and the Pharisees bring a woman to our Savior on a charge of adultery. The sin prevailed to such an extent among the Jews that the divine enactments concerning one so accused have long since fallen into practical oblivion."

[John Weaver] Now, let me stop there. Here's what he's saying. Adultery was so prevalent in our ward's time that no one was enforcing the law against it. Almost like it is today. You see, even today, adultery and fornication, hey, they're considered a personal private act. They're not considered condemned by God anymore, nor even condemned by the state, although most states still have laws against them. The laws are just on the books. So he's just saying it was a prevalent sin.

[John Weaver] And I'm continuing to quote, on the present occasion, our Lord is observed to revive his own ancient ordinance after a hitherto unheard of fashion, the trial by bitter water or water of conviction from Numbers chapter 5. This was a species of ordeal intended for the vindication of innocence and the conviction of guilt. So this ordeal then had either conviction or vindication of innocence. But according to the traditional belief, now listen carefully because I'm going to come back to this, but according to traditional belief, the test proved inefficacious unless the husband himself was innocent of the crime where he accused his wife. So the test proved useless unless the husband himself was innocent of the crime wherewith he charged his wife. I'm continuing to quote. Let the provisions of the law contained in Numbers chapter 5 be now considered. The accused woman, having been brought near and set before the Lord, the priest took holy water in an earthen vessel and put it to dust at the floor of the tabernacle into the water. Then with the bitter water that caused the curse in his hand, he charged the woman by oath.

[John Weaver] Next, he wrote the curses in a book and blotted it out with the bitter water, causing the woman to drink the bitter water that caused the curse. Whereupon, if she were guilty, she fell under a terrible penalty, her body testifying visibly to her sin. If she was innocent, nothing followed. And now who sees not that the Holy One dealt with His hypocritical assailants as if they had been the accused parties?

[John Weaver] Into the presence of the incarnate Jehovah verily they had been brought. And perhaps when He stooped down and wrote on the ground, It was a bitter sentence against the adulterer and the adulteress which he wrote. We have but to assume some connection between the curse which he thus traced in the dust of the floor of the tabernacle and the words which he uttered with his lips. And he may with truth be declared to have taken the dust, and put it on the water, and cause him to drink of the bitter water which causeth the curse.

[John Weaver] For when by his Holy Spirit our great high priest in his human flesh addressed these adulterers, what did he but present them with living water, that is himself, in an earthen vessel. Did he not further charge them with an oath of cursing, saying, If you have not gone aside to uncleanness, be ye free from this bitter water. That is, when he said, Whoever is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone.

[John Weaver] But if ye be defiled, on being presented with which alternative, Did they not, self-convicted, go out one by one? And what else was this but their own acquittal of the sinful woman, for whose condemnation they had shown themselves so impatient? Surely it was the water of conviction, as it is six times called, which they had been compelled to drink. Whereupon, convicted by their own conscience, as John relates, they had pronounced the other's acquittal.

[John Weaver] Finally, note that by himself declining to condemn the accused woman, Our Lord also did, in effect, blot out those curses which he had already written against her in the dust when he made the floor of the sanctuary his book. Now, what Dean Burgon is saying is basically what our Lord did in John chapter 8. It's what the priest did in Numbers chapter 5.

[John Weaver] Now, let me ask you a question, and I want you to think this through. that Don steals $100 from Al. And I go to Al and I say, Al, you know that Don stole this money from you. Yes, I know that. Well, if you were to swear a warrant against him and have him arrested, no, I'm not going to do that. Well, if you don't, I will. Well, what's going to happen when I go and swear a warrant or at least try to swear a warrant Because I believe or I think that Don stole $100 from Al. What are they going to tell me? You can't swear at a warrant. If I go and file a lawsuit, what are they going to tell me? You have no standing. Why don't I have no standing? It didn't happen to me. I hadn't been hurt. You follow what I'm saying?

[John Weaver] Now, these Pharisees and scribes, in reality, had no standing even to bring suit against this woman. Who was the victim? First of all, her husband. Was he not the victim? He should have been the one who could have come to our Lord and said, look, here's my wife. She was taken in an adultery, but he wasn't there. But now here's what the scribes and Pharisees have done. They have inserted themselves in the place of the husband. They have stolen his authority, they have stolen his right, and now they come as the victim, which they were not, and demanded that our Lord judge this woman and condemn her.

[John Weaver] Now, let me tell you, it's in the Bible as well, but it's also in our law. And for those of you who would like to understand a little more, you just look at Black's Law Dictionary, the term Clean Hands Doctrine. You know what the Clean Hands Doctrine is? Let me put it to you very simply. The Clean Hands Doctrine is simply this. If I'm going to accuse Henry of something and try to get him prosecuted for it, I better be innocent of it myself. Clean hands means that I am not a guilty party.

[John Weaver] I have not participated in the sin. Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles. Hold John 8. We're coming back there to Deuteronomy chapter 19. First of all, Deuteronomy chapter 19. And look, if you would please, at verse 15. Deuteronomy 19 and verse 15. God says, One witness shall not rise up against a man for any sin, or for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth.

[John Weaver] At the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established. And then if you look in verse 16, if a false witness rise against any man, testify against him which is done wrong.

[John Weaver] Now, God says it takes more than one to condemn an individual. You've got to have two, at least. More preferably, but at least two. And not only do you have to have at least two, they must have clean hands. Look in your Bibles to Deuteronomy 17 and verse seven. Here's why they must have clean hands. Watch carefully. By hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death and after the hands of all the people, so shall not put the evil away from among you. Now, let me show. Suppose Henry does something that deserves death, and yet I've done the same thing that he's done. But yet I prosecute him or I have him prosecuted, and I'm a witness against him. When I put my hand on his head and I testify, I mean, I pick up the first rock and I hit him in the head to kill him, and then everybody else after me. When I have condemned him, what have I in essence done? I've condemned my own self.

[John Weaver] Because I'm guilty of the very thing that he's guilty of. Now, I may have actually helped execute him, or I may have been responsible for his execution, but in reality, I've actually condemned myself.

[John Weaver] Now, go back to John 8. I want you to see this, because this is exactly what our Lord is talking about. In John chapter 8, after he stooped down and rode on the ground, Note what he says in verse 7. And by the way, I like this. I like in verse 6. Let's read it. And they said of him, this they said of him, tempted him that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down and with his finger wrote on the ground, Look, as though he heard them not. I like that. He just kind of acted like he ignored them and stooped down. and began riding on the ground and looked.

[John Weaver] So when they continued asking him, they're pressuring him now. We've got him, they think. He said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. Now let me tell you, first of all, what that does not mean. When our Lord says, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her, He is not saying that an individual has to be perfectly sinless before you can testify or condemn a guilty individual. If He was saying, He that is without sin, if you have no sin in general, how many criminals would ever be prosecuted? None. Because everybody has sin. Here's what he actually says. Now watch it. In verse 7, he that is without the sin among you. Well, what sin was he talking about? The sin of adultery. He said, you have charged this woman with adultery, which means the death penalty.

[John Weaver] All I'm demanding is what the law demands, that you come with clean hands. that you have not engaged in this sin yourself. Because if you condemn this woman, then in reality, you're condemning yourself.

[John Weaver] Now, please listen to me. These men had been plotting against Christ. Undoubtedly, they had been gathering information on Him. They had their own CIA and special police, you know, and their FBI dossiers on Christ, you know. And, you know, if you're doing that to other people, it doesn't take much to convince you that someone might be doing the same to you. I don't know what he wrote. Maybe he wrote those curses. Maybe he did list some other names. Maybe he did list some dates. I don't know.

[John Weaver] But all of a sudden they realized, hey, we're guilty of the very things that we're accusing this woman, and he knows about it. And when we condemn her, he's going to turn around and press charges against us. And they being what? Convicted of their own conscience, turned around. and walked out, one by one, beginning with the eldest, even to the youngest. They all left.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to see something. This is very important. Look, if you would, please, in verse 9. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even to the last, and Jesus was left alone and the woman standing in the midst. And when Jesus had lifted up himself and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers?

[John Weaver] Hath no man condemned thee? And she said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more.

[John Weaver] Now, people have tried to say that in John chapter 8, what our Lord has done is simply this, that he has destroyed that he has done away with the death penalty for adultery. That is not true. That is not true. Our Lord did not do away with the death penalty for adultery. What our Lord did was this. He fulfilled the law. Our Lord demanded what the law demanded.

[John Weaver] Honest witnesses with clean hands. When the witnesses left, there was no one to prosecute the woman. What does the judge do when there are no witnesses against the man? He dismisses the case. That's exactly what our Lord did. The witnesses had disappeared, so there was no civil case against her. And our Lord says, Woman, where are those non-accusers? Who's going to stand up now to accuse you? Have no man condemn me? No man, Lord.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to note in verse 11, there was evidence of a changed heart in this woman. Undoubtedly, she was guilty. Undoubtedly, she was taken in the very act. But she answered and said, No man, Lord." Now, you remember what the word Lord is in the Greek? It's the word Kyrios. It means sovereign, owner, master, boss. When an individual calls Jesus Christ Lord, what they're saying in essence, I am throwing down my weapons of rebellion.

[John Weaver] I'm repenting and turning from my sins and I'm bowing to you. You are my boss. You are my owner. You are my master. I will now live the way you tell me to live. I'll act the way you tell me that. I'll do what you tell me to do and I'll say what you tell me to say. You are my Lord. You are my boss, my owner. She said, no man, Lord, and then our Lord gave her a religious forgiveness.

[John Weaver] He said, neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more. Now, I want you to note and listen carefully. There is a difference between civil forgiveness and a religious forgiveness. I could ask this question. Was the woman out of the woods? And you could answer, not yet. Because although the Pharisees had left her, we're not told what her husband did. You see what I'm saying? He was the one that could have brought the charges against her, but he did not, or at least we're not told he did at this particular time. Now, it's important that you understand the difference between a civil forgiveness and a religious forgiveness.

[John Weaver] These two are not identical, however they are intertwined. A simple forgiveness. Let's suppose Ed steals from me and he's caught. If he's caught in the act, before he has time to dispose of the goods, he owes me twofold. If he disposes of them, He'll owe me four or fivefold depending upon my position.

[John Weaver] Now, watch this, and of course what was stolen as well. But now, if Ed wants a civil forgiveness, what must he do? He must make restitution. There is no civil forgiveness without restitution. If he wants a religious forgiveness, He still must make restitution. How do I explain that? Here's how. If I steal from Ed and say, Lord, look at this. I got a hundred dollars bill from Ed. Lord, you forgive me, please. I'm just confessing. Lord, forgive me. I'll stick a hundred dollars in my pocket and go on my way. Is that forgiveness? Is that confession? No. If I really want forgiveness, what I must do, I must give Ed back that money. I must make restitution.

[John Weaver] Now, here's a man, to put it in modern colloquialism so we'll understand it, here's a man that's robbed a bank. In this day and time, nobody has to make restitution, hardly. And so he goes to prison for seven years at the expense of the taxpayers. But after seven years, he walks out and what do people say? He's paid his debt to society. But what they're saying is he is now civilly forgiven. He still may be a thief, but he's still civilly forgiven.

[John Weaver] Now, when you come to religious forgiveness. It is possible, although these two are intertwined, it is possible that a man may be religiously forgiven and not civilly forgiven. You say, what in the world are you talking about? Well. There is a religious condemnation and there is a civil condemnation. You remember a number of years ago, there was a big uproar over this woman in Texas who had murdered, I think, not only her husband, but several other people. But then she had gotten converted and they were saying that she should now be forgiven and pardoned because of the fact that she was now a Christian and she should not have to face the death penalty. You remember that?

[John Weaver] Let me ask you a question. Can God truly save a murderer? What's the answer? Yes. Does that mean, therefore, that God's law is not to be executed against the murderer? No. You see, you may be religiously forgiven, but you still must face the penalty for your sin. So if I pull out a pistol, And I shoot Henry in front of everybody. The Lord would forgive me for that. But that does not mean that I do not face the death penalty. And when they execute me, I may be indeed converted by the grace of God, but I'm still to be executed because I'm a murderer.

[John Weaver] And the Bible says, whosoever taketh a life, he shall give his own life, forfeit his own life for it. Life for life. So you can have a religious forgiveness and not have a civil forgiveness. So you can have a legal condemnation or a civil condemnation and by the way, not have a religious condemnation or vice versa. Today in our land, a woman can have an abortion. There's no civil condemnation for that. But there is a religious condemnation for that. So here's this woman then.

[John Weaver] She acknowledges Christ as Lord. Evidently, there is indeed a real change in her life. And our Lord says, neither do I condemn thee. And look what he says. Go and sin no more. So our Lord knew that she was guilty. She needed a religious forgiveness. She also needed a civil forgiveness, but there were no witnesses. And so, therefore, there was no trial. He had no choice but to dismiss the trial.

[John Weaver] Let me ask you a question. I want you to think about this. Here's the question. What do we do today as Christians for this sin that is so prevalent in our society? It indeed not only destroys families and personal lives, But it will in essence destroy society as well. Now the question is what remedy do we have left? You and I both know that the church does not have the power to execute the death penalty. The family does not have the power to execute the death penalty. Only the state now has the power to execute the death penalty. And what do you do when you have a reprobate state or a reprobate civil government that will not honor God's law, will not recognize God's law?

[John Weaver] I get so extremely frustrated when I hear of all these cases of child rape and child abuse. I've got news for you folks. I know how to stop that stuff. I can assure you the ones that are executed will never commit those vile acts again. But you see, the reason we have such an outbreak is they know they're not going to face the death penalty. They'll go to some asylum or some prison for a year or two and then be turned right out to do it again.

[John Weaver] But what can we do? Let me show you. Here is one answer. I want you to turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 5 and let's look at the first 13 verses. Here is what the church can do, but which most churches will not do. And the reason they won't do it is manifold, but it is certainly biblical. That is what you and I would call church discipline, and let me explain this very quickly, momentarily. Let's read the first 13 verses of 1 Corinthians 5. It is reported commonly there is fornication among you, and such fornication is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. And you are puffed up and have not rather mourned that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. For I verily is absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed.

[John Weaver] In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, to deliver such an one unto Satan, for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth a whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump. As you are unleavened, for Christ our Passover sacrifice for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

[John Weaver] I wrote in you an epistle not to accompany with fornicators, yet not altogether with fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with the idolaters, for then must you needs go out of the world. Now watch, but now I have written unto you not to keep company with any man that is called a brother. Be a fornicator, or a covetous, or a idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner, with such in one know not to eat.

[John Weaver] For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? Do not you judge them that are within, but them that are without God judges. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person."

[John Weaver] Now here was a man in the Corinthian church who was living with his father's wife. Undoubtedly, This was his stepmother. He said, Paul says, that this such wickedness was so great that even the heathen were not even doing it. Leviticus 18 and verse 8 specifically condemns this as incest. So it's not just simply adultery, it is incest, and of course it is here covered under the broad term Fornication, and please remember fornication is a broad term.

[John Weaver] It covers many sexual sins and other sins as well. So here's a man then who is living with his stepmother. His father is still alive. It was his father's wife. And what does the Apostle Paul say? He says, put that wicked one out from among you. You exercise church discipline.

[John Weaver] Now, let me explain something to you. You see, in the early church they had to face this same dilemma. Do you know what term was used to describe those Christians who had been guilty of adultery but who had repented and was allowed back into the church, do you know what term was used to describe that group of people? I'll tell you. They were called the living dead. Why were they called the living dead?

[John Weaver] Well, let me show you. Murder is also a capital crime. Suppose I killed Joe. I murdered him. No one knew about it. No one ever found out about it. I was never prosecuted. I was never brought to trial. Does that mean that I'm going to escape the death penalty? No. Why? Because God is the judge, and the death penalty is still there, and I would be a walking dead man. In other words, God would execute that judgment in His own time. So the adulterers then, who had repented and were allowed back in church, were known then as the living dead because they realized that although the church had not the power to execute the death penalty, and the Roman government certainly wouldn't execute the death penalty over that, But they knew that God would.

[John Weaver] And so this is exactly what he says. You deliver such one to Satan. You put him out of the church that the body may be destroyed. And look what he says in chapter five and verse 13. But them that are without help me out, but them that are without what God judges. He said, so you execute church discipline, you put him on the outside and you say, God, Until he repents, he cannot come in, and even when he repents, it is up to you to execute the judgment that you demand. You see, folks, church discipline not only is biblical, but there are indeed specific reasons given for it in the Bible. The purity of the church is one of them.

[John Weaver] The benefit of those who have not sinned is another. For the benefit of the one who has sinned is another. So the way the early church dealt with this is, like I said, they did restore those who had repented, but they recognized that they were indeed the living dead.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to note two things today. How our Lord harmonized justice and mercy. Those two concepts are so difficult for us. You know why? Because some of us will take the attitude, justice, justice, justice. The others will take the attitude, forgive, forgive, forgive. You know, the man who wants justice many times has no mercy. The one who wants mercy many times will never demand justice. These two were balanced in our Lord. There is a time for justice and there is a time for mercy.

[John Weaver] And we must learn when and how to exercise those attributes. Here's a second thought, and this thought hit me like a ton of bricks last night. Do you realize the lawlessness cannot enforce the law. These scribes and the Pharisees, they were lawless, although they were the ones who had the law. They were lawless! You look at the mess that our judicial system is in in this country. Do you know why? Because most of our judges are absolutely lawless.

[John Weaver] They follow not the Word of God. They don't even follow the Constitution. And the reason most people are upset in this country is because there is no such thing as justice left any longer. I just read this week in an article a friend sent me. One IRS agent had failed to file and pay his taxes for five years until he finally got caught. And he said the reason he did not pay his taxes was to support his wife's spending habits.

[John Weaver] But he said that he had been a fool and he threw himself on the mercy of the court and the judge graciously gave him nine months probation. Now, let me ask you a question. If that had been you or I, do you think we would have gotten nine months probation? You see what I'm saying? If you've never read George Orwell's The Animal Farm, I encourage you to do that.

[John Weaver] Because the animals, you know, they made up all these rules. And Napoleon the pig is Sobol. Their first rule was this, all animals are equal. But when they drove the farmer out of the house, Napoleon and Snowball took over the house. The rest of the animals had to stay in the barn. But when some of the animals got discontented because Napoleon Snowball had the house, they went back to read the rules. And the rules had been changed. All animals were equal, but some were more equal than others.

[John Weaver] That's the way it is today, folks. And lawless men cannot enforce God's law. If you start to think about the ramifications of this, lawless men will either be too merciful and not give justice, or they will be too demanding and not give mercy. A godly man who knows the law of God can give forth true justice under God. And then that would still not be without error sometimes because man is not omniscient. Only God is omniscient and only God can give forth what you and I would call true justice. But in John 8, Jesus Christ did not destroy the law of God, nor did he do away the death penalty for adultery.

[John Weaver] He just simply said, there's no case because there's no witnesses. And the only thing that he could give the woman was a religious forgiveness, which she received and evidently was changed by the grace of God. I pray that those who are in prison who are there lawfully and rightly and justly. When you stop and think about it, there's very few like that today, especially since prisons are unbiblical anyhow. But those who are there, I do pray that they would get a religious forgiveness, that is, that they would indeed find Jesus Christ. But just because someone finds Jesus Christ does not mean that if they're guilty of murder, then they go free from the death penalty. We've got to learn to distinguish between a civil and a religious forgiveness.

[John Weaver] It's absolutely amazing to me today that justice and mercy are so absent in our judicial systems. And people are so frustrated because they don't understand the lawless cannot enforce the law. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your grace. Thank you for your mercy. Thank you for your truth. We do ask, Lord, that You would teach us, that You would build us up in the most holy faith, enable us, Lord, to live for Thee, to be righteous and godly. May we indeed obey the totality of Thy Word and in this wicked and ungodly and licentious and immoral age live holy, righteous, moral lives in obedience to Thy law. In thy name we ask it, amen and amen.

Christ and the Adulterous Woman

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	11815173090
Subject	Civil Government
Course	Civil Government: Magistracy, Authority, and Romans 13: Christian & Civil Government
Genre	Sermon
Date	2002-10-20
Dictation Name
Book	Book 008: Civil Government: Magistracy, Authority, and Romans 13 — Chapter 5
Source Timed Segments	100

Formatted Transcript

Opening

And let me just tell you that I am working on several different messages. Hopefully I'm going to have one prepared for next Lord's Day, and it may end up being in two different parts. And then Dr. Brissey has asked me to deal with a subject which I already know that will end up taking me two or three messages to deal with. And then there is another message I want to bring as well. I've got an awful lot of studying to do as well as preparation, so some of these are, well, you'll see when I get to preaching them, they're a little different, and so they require a little more attention.

So let's look in John chapter 8 today, and let's read the first 11 verses. John 8, beginning with verse 1.

Scripture Reading — John 8:1-11

"Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives, and early in the morning He came again unto the temple, and all the people came unto Him, and He sat down and taught them. And the scribes and the Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery, and when they had set her in the midst, they said unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery in the very act." "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 Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. And when they 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. 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. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more."

Introduction and Context of John 8

Weaver introduces the controversial nature of John 8:1-11, noting it is often misunderstood and used to promote antinomianism. He emphasizes that biblical love fulfills the law, not supersedes it.

Now, I would venture to say that most of you have never heard this passage preached on before. In fact, many individuals have never even considered this passage or its implications. Let me just tell you up front that this passage is a hotbed of controversy. Now, the reason I say it's a hotbed of controversy is because it is usually not only misunderstood, but is usually even taken out of context. There are some who even try to deny the authenticity of this passage. There are some that would even say that this passage should never even have been in the Bible to begin with, which, of course, I believe is outright blasphemy and heresy and denies the infallibility and the inspiration of the Bible. But there are many individuals who take this passage and use it to teach antinomianism. Now let me tell you, I hope you understand the term antinomianism.

The Greek word nomos is the word law. Antinomianism refers to someone who is against God's law. So an antinomian then is someone who either does not believe that God's law is valid, or at least he lives as if God's law had no effect at all upon him. And usually what people do when they come to John chapter 8, they're trying to say that here, love supersedes the law. In other words, the law is the Old Testament. Now, in the New Testament, we have love, and that which matters is we just love, love, love, love, and it doesn't matter about God's law at all. Well, I can quote this. But hold John 8 and look in your Bibles to the book of Romans chapter 13. And I'm certainly not wanting to get into an exposition of this truth this morning. I've done it in time past. But I want you to look in Romans chapter 13 and let me read to you verses 9 and 10. Watch carefully. He says,

Scripture Reading — Romans 13:9-10

"For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet."

Everybody understands this is the Ten Commandments, right? "And if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor. Therefore, love is what? The fulfilling of the law." What is biblical love? Biblical love is not sentimentalism. It's not emotionalism. It's not a funny feeling. It's not goosebumps. It's not overlooking sin. Biblical love is the fulfilling of the law of God. You understand that? So when people try to say, well, love has superseded the law of God, they don't even know what they're talking about because biblical love is the fulfilling of the law of God.

Let me give you an illustration. I've given this to you in time past, but it's one that you can understand very simply. So, here's my question. If I reach my hand over in Henry's pocket, and I steal a $100 bill from him, and I say, Henry, I love you, I love you, I love you. Here's my question. Do I love him? Not biblically. Because love is the fulfilling of the law. If I love him, I keep my hand out of his pocket. Whether I ever tell him I love him or not is immaterial. Whether I ever get teary-eyed or sentimental is immaterial. Whether I ever get emotional, it's immaterial. I love him because I'm fulfilling God's law toward him. Love is the fulfilling of the law. So there are individuals who try to take this and try to say, well, love has superseded the law of God. In order to understand this passage, it is almost imperative that you take it in its entire context.

The Accusers: Scribes and Pharisees

The scribes (scholars of the law) and Pharisees (religious fundamentalists) are identified as the ones bringing the woman. Weaver reviews their failures in John 1-7, showing their ignorance and hostility toward Christ.

Now, I want you to note, first of all, who it is that is causing the problem here. Look in verse 3, "...and the scribes and the Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery." Back in John 8, verse 3, "...and the scribes and the Pharisees." Now, you've got to ask yourself, who were the scribes and who were the Pharisees? Now, the scribes were supposedly the students of Scripture. They were to be the scholars of the law. Here were men who gave their entire lives studying the law in order that they might teach others. That's who the scribes were. Who were the Pharisees? The Pharisees were the most religious zealous sect of the land. They believed in absolute obedience, supposedly. However, you find as you read scripture, it was obedience to their traditions more than the Word of God. But the Pharisees would have been considered the fundamentalists of the day.

Now, remember, the Sadducees were another group, but they were the liberals. The Sadducees were the ones who denied the existence of angels. They denied the bodily resurrection of the dead. But the Pharisees, of course, believed both. So the Pharisees were the fundamentalists of the day. So now you have two groups. You have the scribes who were supposedly the scholars and the students of the law, and you have the Pharisees, one of the main fundamentalist religious sects of our Lord's day, bringing this woman to our Lord.

Scripture Reading — John 1:14, 26

Now, let me just very quickly give you an overview of the first seven chapters before we come up to John 8. In every one of these chapters, you will find the scribes and the Pharisees mentioned. In John chapter 1 in verse 14, the scribes and the Pharisees were ignorant of John the Baptist, who was the forerunner of Jesus Christ. In fact, they sent messengers to him saying, "Who art thou?" They didn't even know who he was. Now, remember, the Old Testament had prophesied about John. So here the students of the law are ignorant concerning the forerunner of Jesus Christ. In verse 26 of chapter 1, they were ignorant of the divine presence in their midst. What did John say? "There standeth one among you whom you know not." And he was referring to Christ. So the scholars and the students of the Scriptures and the leading religious leaders of his day did not even know who Jesus Christ was. When you get to John chapter 2, you have there our Lord's first miracle. How many of you know what it is? What was His first miracle?

He turned water into wine. You heard the old story about the state trooper who pulled the black preacher over. He'd been weaving a little bit. And the state trooper looked in there and said, "What do you have in that bottle?" He said, "Water." He said, "Water?" He said, "Let me have that." He handed him the bottle. He sniffed and he said, "That's not water, that's wine." He said, "Praise the Lord, he done done it again." Well, sometimes it works like that, I guess. But when they lacked wine, wine in the Bible is a symbol of joy. Read the book of Psalms. He says he's given wine that maketh glad the heart of man. So when they did not have wine, it symbolized here you had a joyless nation. So you have the scribes and the Pharisees who were ignorant of the forerunner of Jesus Christ. They were ignorant of Jesus Christ. They were a joyless nation. And when you get to John chapter 3, here is Nicodemus, a ruler of the Pharisees, who came to Jesus dead in trespasses and sins. And what did Jesus Christ say to him? "Verily, verily, I say to you, you must be born from above." That is, you must be born again. One of their rulers, absolutely, totally lost and dead in trespasses and in sins. When you get to John chapter four, you have how Israel were absolutely callous to the Samaritans. And you remember the Samaritans were basically half-breeds. They'd intermarried. And you remember Jesus sat on the well and asked that Samaritan woman for a drink of water.

And she said, "How is it thou, being a Judean, ask water of me, a woman of Samaria? For the Judeans have no dealings with the Samaritans." In fact, they call the Samaritans dogs. So here they are, a joyless nation and totally callous, indifferent to their neighbors. In chapter 5, here Israel is portrayed then as a nation of blind, impotent folk, halt and maimed. There was the man who had been at the pool there for 38 years. When you get to chapter 6, Jesus Christ is the bread of life. But here the nation, therefore, is presented as hungry indeed, but they are indifferent and have no desire for the true bread of life, Jesus Christ. When you get to John chapter 7, the leaders of the nation reject Christ as the living water, and they send officers out to arrest Christ. But when the officers come back, they say, "Why have you not brought him?" What do the officers say? "No man has ever spoken like this man." And then they say, "What's wrong with you?"

Scripture Reading — John 5

"Do you believe on him?" Now, the point I'm trying to make when you get to John chapter 8 now, it is the same group in verse 3, the scribes and the Pharisees that bring this woman to Jesus. The same group that caused all the heartache and all the problems and who were totally ignorant of the Word of God. Now they're the ones bringing this woman to Jesus Christ.

The Dilemma: A Trap for Jesus

The scribes and Pharisees interrupt Jesus' teaching, presenting a woman caught in adultery and demanding a verdict. Their goal is to entrap Jesus: if He says to stone her, He violates Roman law; if He says to release her, He violates Mosaic law.

Now, here's a principle that we must learn. We must learn that even the enemies of truth can oftentimes quote scripture and use it against us. And here these scribes and the Pharisees had no love for the truth. They had no desire for the truth. They were enemies to the truth. And yet they were trying to take the truth of God and use it to entrap Jesus Christ. If you look down to verse six, verse six will explain the whole scenario. "This, they said, tempting him that they might have to accuse him."

Now, I want you to understand something. When the scribes and the Pharisees brought this adulterous woman to Jesus Christ, they did not bring her to Jesus Christ because they were shocked at her immorality, that they were upset and grieved and heartbroken because of her sin. They were not even grieved because the law of God had been dishonored. They were not even upset because the law of God had been broken. They used this sinful woman for one simple reason, and that was to ensnare and to entrap Jesus Christ. You're talking about using someone else's sin. That's exactly what these people were doing. So their object then was not to help the woman. Their object was to exploit her for their own evil designs. They wanted to ruin Christ. They wanted to entrap him. They wanted to make him contradict himself and basically destroy his own testimony.

Now, since we know who it was that brought this adulterous woman to Jesus Christ, let's look in verses 2 through 5, first of all, at the dilemma. Watch if you would. "And early in the morning, he came again into the temple." Now, someone tell me where he is? He's in the temple. "And all the people came unto him, and he sat down and taught them." What is he doing in the temple? He's teaching and preaching, so here's a public exposition, okay? "And the scribes and the Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery, and when they had set her in the midst, they said unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery in the very act."

"Now Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned, but what sayest thou?" Now, I want you to note the Bible says in verse 3, "And the scribes and the Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery." How many of you think she came voluntarily? No, they brought her. Probably dragged her in, but they brought her. And she did not come voluntarily.

Now evidently, and this is another sermon in itself, but evidently the scribes and the Pharisees had what you and I would describe as police powers. Don't you remember as you read through the Bible about the officers of the temple? And I've told you in time past who those officers of the temple were. And in John chapter 7, they sent officers to arrest Jesus Christ. So undoubtedly, they had some control over what you and I would call the temple police or the temple officers. And so they went out and physically brought this woman to Jesus Christ and compelled her to come and set her in the midst.

Now, I want you to try to get the picture in your own mind. Here, Jesus Christ is sitting in the temple teaching. And all of a sudden, here are some religious leaders barge in, dragging this woman, pull out a chair, put her in the midst of everyone, and they say, "Master, here's a woman taken in adultery in the very act." "Now, Moses says she's to be stoned, but what do you say?" You talk about brash. You talk about arrogant. Not only were they interrupting his message and his teaching, they were demanding that he preside as a judge and demanding that he give them an answer. I don't know about you, but boy, there's something inside me that just recoils against people who are so brash and so arrogant.

But yet they come in and they take this woman and said, "Look, she was caught in adultery in the very act." I know that you're thinking the same thing that I'm thinking. And you want to ask a question. Where was the man? Why did they just bring the woman? I mean, it takes two to commit adultery. Why did they just bring the woman? Well, I don't know the answer.

There could be several different answers. Maybe the man may have been one of their own. Who knows? But I do know this. You get far more emotionalism involved when you start condemning a woman than you do a man. And so they were designing this entrapment. They're designing this scheme to basically trap Jesus Christ.

Now, let me show you. They said Moses in the Law says she's to be stoned. Well, go back in your Bibles to the book of Leviticus. Hold John 8. Go back to the book of Leviticus chapter 20 and verse 10. Leviticus 20, verse 10. Look what the Word of God says. Leviticus 20, verse 10.

Scripture Reading — Leviticus 20:10

"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."

The law did demand a death penalty for adultery. Look in your Bibles to Deuteronomy 22 and verse 22. Deuteronomy 22, verse 22. God says, "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."

"So shalt thou put away evil from among Israel." So, God says both the man and the woman are to be put to death. Of course, they only brought the woman. Now, here's the dilemma confronting Jesus Christ. Remember now, he's in the temple, he's teaching, it's a public situation. They barge in, they interrupt his message, they put the woman in the midst and says, "Now look, Moses' law says she's to be stoned, but what do you say?" Because now, here are all these witnesses waiting for his answer.

Scripture Reading — Matthew 5:17

Now, if our Lord had said, "Let her go," he would have been accused, and rightly so, of violating the law of God. Because the law of God demanded that she be put to death. Moreover, what would you do with this claim of Matthew 5, verse 17? where Jesus Christ said publicly that He was come to fulfill the Law. So if Jesus Christ says, "Let her go," then they charge Him with violating the Law of God and violating His own Word. Now, suppose Jesus Christ said, "Stone her, put her to death." What is then going to be the understanding of the people? Because Jesus Christ was known as the friend of publicans and sinners. And certainly he would not be showing himself their friend if he said to stone them. Moreover, if you look in John 18 and verse 31, and this is where they were really going with it. Look in John 18 verse 31. John 18, verse 31, here's where they were really going with it.

"Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death." The Romans had taken away the death penalty power from the nation. So if Jesus Christ says take her out and stone her, what would have happened? They would have reported him to the Roman government. They've got him trapped, or at least they think they have him trapped, because if he says, "Let her go," then he's no friend of the law. If he says stone her, then he's no friend of sinners and he's in trouble with the Roman government.

Jesus' Response and the Ordeal of Numbers 5

Jesus stoops and writes on the ground. Weaver, citing Dean Burgon, connects this to the trial of jealousy in Numbers 5, where a priest wrote curses in dust. Jesus acts as High Priest, applying the ordeal to the accusers, who are convicted and leave.

Now, look at the actions of our Lord. Go back to John chapter eight. Let's read verses six through nine. "This they said, tempting him that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down and with his finger wrote on the ground as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. And when they heard it being convicted by their own conscience, they 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." Now the Bible says in verse 6 and in verse 8 twice that Jesus Christ stooped down and wrote something on the floor of the temple.

Most of us have often wondered, what did he write? You know, some have suggested maybe he began writing some names of people that they had committed adultery with. I don't know. Maybe he began listing dates. I don't know. However, you've got to remember two things, and I believe this is the answer. You've got to remember, first of all, that Jesus Christ is the High Priest. You got that?

And secondly, someone tell me where this took place? In the temple. Now, what significance does that have? Well, let me show you. I'm going to give you a quote in just a moment, but hold John 8, but turn back in your Bibles to the book of Numbers, chapter 5. Numbers, chapter 5. And let's begin reading there with verse 11. Numbers 5, and let's begin reading verse 11, and we'll read through verse 31, a lengthy passage. But it's important that you understand the background before I give you this quote, okay? Numbers chapter 5, beginning with verse 11.

"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying..." So here then is something that the Lord Himself has ordained. "The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man's wife go aside and commit a trespass against him, and a man lie with her carnally, and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, and be kept close, and she be defiled, and there be no witness against her, neither she be taken with the matter." In other words, basically she's gotten away with it. Nobody's talking, no one has seen it, no one knows about it. Watch verse 14. "And the spirit of jealousy come upon him." In other words, he becomes extremely suspicious, although he has no evidence. "And the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled." That is, she's actually guilty. "Or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled," that is, she could be totally innocent. "Then shall the man bring his wife unto the priest, and he shall bring her offering for her the tenth part of an ephah of barley meal, he shall pour no oil upon it, nor put frankincense thereon, for it is an offering of jealousy, an offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance. And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the Lord. And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle, the priest shall take and put it in the water."

Notice the dust of the floor of the tabernacle. He takes it and puts it in the water. "And the priest shall set the woman before the Lord and uncover the woman's head and put the offering of the memorial in her hands, which is the jealousy offering. And the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that causeth the curse. And the priest shall charge her by an oath, and say unto the woman, If no man have lain with thee, and if thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness with another instead of thine husband, be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse. But if thou hast gone aside to another instead of thine husband, and if thou be defiled, and some man hath lain with thee beside thine husband, then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing. And the priest shall say unto the woman, The Lord make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the Lord doth make thy thigh to rot, and thy belly to swell."

"And this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels, to make thy belly swell, and thy thigh to rot. And the woman shall say, Amen, Amen. And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and shall blot them out with the bitter water. And he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that causeth the curse, and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her and become bitter. Then the priest shall take the jealousy offering out of the woman's hand, and shall wave the offering before the Lord, and offer it upon the altar. And the priest shall take a handful of the offering, even the memorial thereof, and burn it upon the altar, and afterward shall cause the woman to drink the water. And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall come to pass that if she be defiled, that is, if she is actually guilty, and have done trespass against her husband, that the water that caused the curse shall enter into her and become bitter, and her belly shall swell, and

her thigh shall rot, and the woman shall be a curse among her people." That is, she's going to have a living death for a while, everybody will know her sin, and then she's going to die in misery. Verse 28, "And if the woman be not defiled, but be clean, then shall she be free, and shall conceive seed." In other words, God will bless her and she'll have a child. "This is the law of jealousies. When a wife goeth aside to another instead of her husband, and is defiled, or when the spirit of jealousy cometh upon him, and he be jealous over his wife, and shall set the woman before the Lord, and the priest shall execute upon her all this law, then shall the man be guiltless from iniquity, and the woman shall bear her iniquity." So if she is guilty, the man is guiltless. I do want you to please remember it was the scribes and the Pharisees who brought this woman to our Lord. Remember that our Lord is the high priest and that he was in the temple. And of course, you remember the temple, of course, replaced the tabernacle. Now, I want to give you a quote.

It's several paragraphs long, but I want you to listen carefully because it puts this passage together, Numbers chapter 5 with John chapter 8, so that we can have an understanding of it. Dean Burgon, one of the scholars in times past, has said this. Here's what he said. "The scribes and the Pharisees bring a woman to our Savior on a charge of adultery. The sin prevailed to such an extent among the Jews that the divine enactments concerning one so accused have long since fallen into practical oblivion."

Now, let me stop there. Here's what he's saying. Adultery was so prevalent in our Lord's time that no one was enforcing the law against it. Almost like it is today. You see, even today, adultery and fornication, hey, they're considered a personal private act. They're not considered condemned by God anymore, nor even condemned by the state, although most states still have laws against them. The laws are just on the books. So he's just saying it was a prevalent sin.

And I'm continuing to quote, "On the present occasion, our Lord is observed to revive his own ancient ordinance after a hitherto unheard of fashion, the trial by bitter water or water of conviction from Numbers chapter 5. This was a species of ordeal intended for the vindication of innocence and the conviction of guilt." So this ordeal then had either conviction or vindication of innocence. "But according to the traditional belief," now listen carefully because I'm going to come back to this, "but according to traditional belief, the test proved inefficacious unless the husband himself was innocent of the crime where he accused his wife." So the test proved useless unless the husband himself was innocent of the crime wherewith he charged his wife. I'm continuing to quote. "Let the provisions of the law contained in Numbers chapter 5 be now considered. The accused woman, having been brought near and set before the Lord, the priest took holy water in an earthen vessel and put it to dust at the floor of the tabernacle into the water. Then with the bitter water that caused the curse in his hand, he charged the woman by oath.

Next, he wrote the curses in a book and blotted it out with the bitter water, causing the woman to drink the bitter water that caused the curse. Whereupon, if she were guilty, she fell under a terrible penalty, her body testifying visibly to her sin. If she was innocent, nothing followed. And now who sees not that the Holy One dealt with His hypocritical assailants as if they had been the accused parties? Into the presence of the incarnate Jehovah verily they had been brought. And perhaps when He stooped down and wrote on the ground, it was a bitter sentence against the adulterer and the adulteress which he wrote. We have but to assume some connection between the curse which he thus traced in the dust of the floor of the tabernacle and the words which he uttered with his lips. And he may with truth be declared to have taken the dust, and put it on the water, and cause him to drink of the bitter water which causeth the curse.

For when by his Holy Spirit our great high priest in his human flesh addressed these adulterers, what did he but present them with living water, that is himself, in an earthen vessel. Did he not further charge them with an oath of cursing, saying, 'If you have not gone aside to uncleanness, be ye free from this bitter water.' That is, when he said, 'Whoever is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone.' But if ye be defiled, on being presented with which alternative, did they not, self-convicted, go out one by one? And what else was this but their own acquittal of the sinful woman, for whose condemnation they had shown themselves so impatient? Surely it was the water of conviction, as it is six times called, which they had been compelled to drink. Whereupon, convicted by their own conscience, as John relates, they had pronounced the other's acquittal.

Finally, note that by himself declining to condemn the accused woman, our Lord also did, in effect, blot out those curses which he had already written against her in the dust when he made the floor of the sanctuary his book." Now, what Dean Burgon is saying is basically what our Lord did in John chapter 8. It's what the priest did in Numbers chapter 5. Now, let me ask you a question, and I want you to think this through. Suppose Don steals $100 from Al. And I go to Al and I say, "Al, you know that Don stole this money from you." "Yes, I know that." "Well, if you were to swear a warrant against him and have him arrested..." "No, I'm not going to do that." "Well, if you don't, I will." Well, what's going to happen when I go and swear a warrant or at least try to swear a warrant because I believe or I think that Don stole $100 from Al? What are they going to tell me? "You can't swear out a warrant." If I go and file a lawsuit, what are they going to tell me? "You have no standing." Why don't I have no standing? It didn't happen to me. I haven't been hurt. You follow what I'm saying?

The Clean Hands Doctrine

Jesus' statement 'He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone' refers to the specific sin of adultery. The law required witnesses with clean hands (Deut. 17:7; 19:15-16). The accusers, being guilty themselves, had no standing.

Now, these Pharisees and scribes, in reality, had no standing even to bring suit against this woman. Who was the victim? First of all, her husband. Was he not the victim? He should have been the one who could have come to our Lord and said, "Look, here's my wife. She was taken in adultery," but he wasn't there. But now here's what the scribes and Pharisees have done. They have inserted themselves in the place of the husband. They have stolen his authority, they have stolen his right, and now they come as the victim, which they were not, and demanded that our Lord judge this woman and condemn her.

Now, let me tell you, it's in the Bible as well, but it's also in our law. And for those of you who would like to understand a little more, you just look at Black's Law Dictionary, the term Clean Hands Doctrine. You know what the Clean Hands Doctrine is? Let me put it to you very simply. The Clean Hands Doctrine is simply this. If I'm going to accuse Henry of something and try to get him prosecuted for it, I better be innocent of it myself. Clean hands means that I am not a guilty party.

I have not participated in the sin. Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles. Hold John 8. We're coming back there to Deuteronomy chapter 19. First of all, Deuteronomy chapter 19. And look, if you would please, at verse 15. Deuteronomy 19 and verse 15. God says, "One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth."

"At the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established." And then if you look in verse 16, "If a false witness rise against any man, testify against him that which is wrong." Now, God says it takes more than one to condemn an individual. You've got to have two, at least. More preferably, but at least two. And not only do you have to have at least two, they must have clean hands. Look in your Bibles to Deuteronomy 17 and verse seven. Here's why they must have clean hands. Watch carefully.

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 17:7

"The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death and after the hands of all the people, so shalt thou put the evil away from among you."

Now, let me show. Suppose Henry does something that deserves death, and yet I've done the same thing that he's done. But yet I prosecute him or I have him prosecuted, and I'm a witness against him. When I put my hand on his head and I testify, I mean, I pick up the first rock and I hit him in the head to kill him, and then everybody else after me. When I have condemned him, what have I in essence done? I've condemned my own self.

Because I'm guilty of the very thing that he's guilty of. Now, I may have actually helped execute him, or I may have been responsible for his execution, but in reality, I've actually condemned myself. Now, go back to John 8. I want you to see this, because this is exactly what our Lord is talking about. In John chapter 8, after he stooped down and wrote on the ground, note what he says in verse 7. And by the way, I like this. I like in verse 6. Let's read it. "And they said of him, this they said of him, tempting him that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not." I like that. He just kind of acted like he ignored them and stooped down and began writing on the ground and looked.

"So when they continued asking him," they're pressuring him now. We've got him, they think. "He said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." Now let me tell you, first of all, what that does not mean. When our Lord says, "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her," He is not saying that an individual has to be perfectly sinless before you can testify or condemn a guilty individual. If He was saying, "He that is without sin," if you have no sin in general, how many criminals would ever be prosecuted? None. Because everybody has sin. Here's what he actually says. Now watch it. In verse 7, "He that is without the sin among you." Well, what sin was he talking about? The sin of adultery. He said, "You have charged this woman with adultery, which means the death penalty."

All I'm demanding is what the law demands, that you come with clean hands. that you have not engaged in this sin yourself. Because if you condemn this woman, then in reality, you're condemning yourself. Now, please listen to me. These men had been plotting against Christ. Undoubtedly, they had been gathering information on Him. They had their own CIA and special police, you know, and their FBI dossiers on Christ, you know. And, you know, if you're doing that to other people, it doesn't take much to convince you that someone might be doing the same to you. I don't know what he wrote. Maybe he wrote those curses. Maybe he did list some other names. Maybe he did list some dates. I don't know.

But all of a sudden they realized, "Hey, we're guilty of the very things that we're accusing this woman, and he knows about it. And when we condemn her, he's going to turn around and press charges against us." And they being what? Convicted of their own conscience, turned around and walked out, one by one, beginning with the eldest, even to the youngest. They all left.

Civil vs. Religious Forgiveness

With no accusers, the civil case is dismissed. Jesus grants religious forgiveness, evidenced by the woman calling Him 'Lord.' Weaver explains that civil forgiveness requires restitution, while religious forgiveness does not negate civil penalties.

Now, I want you to see something. This is very important. Look, if you would, please, in verse 9. "And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even to the last, and Jesus was left alone and the woman standing in the midst. And 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? And she said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more."

Now, people have tried to say that in John chapter 8, what our Lord has done is simply this, that he has destroyed, that he has done away with the death penalty for adultery. That is not true. That is not true. Our Lord did not do away with the death penalty for adultery. What our Lord did was this. He fulfilled the law. Our Lord demanded what the law demanded.

Honest witnesses with clean hands. When the witnesses left, there was no one to prosecute the woman. What does the judge do when there are no witnesses against the man? He dismisses the case. That's exactly what our Lord did. The witnesses had disappeared, so there was no civil case against her. And our Lord says, "Woman, where are those thine accusers? Who's going to stand up now to accuse you? Hath no man condemned thee?" "No man, Lord."

Now, I want you to note in verse 11, there was evidence of a changed heart in this woman. Undoubtedly, she was guilty. Undoubtedly, she was taken in the very act. But she answered and said, "No man, Lord." Now, you remember what the word Lord is in the Greek? It's the word Kyrios. It means sovereign, owner, master, boss. When an individual calls Jesus Christ Lord, what they're saying in essence, "I am throwing down my weapons of rebellion."

"I'm repenting and turning from my sins and I'm bowing to you. You are my boss. You are my owner. You are my master. I will now live the way you tell me to live. I'll act the way you tell me to act. I'll do what you tell me to do and I'll say what you tell me to say. You are my Lord. You are my boss, my owner." She said, "No man, Lord," and then our Lord gave her a religious forgiveness.

He said, "Neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more." Now, I want you to note and listen carefully. There is a difference between civil forgiveness and a religious forgiveness. I could ask this question. Was the woman out of the woods? And you could answer, not yet. Because although the Pharisees had left her, we're not told what her husband did. You see what I'm saying? He was the one that could have brought the charges against her, but he did not, or at least we're not told he did at this particular time. Now, it's important that you understand the difference between a civil forgiveness and a religious forgiveness.

These two are not identical, however they are intertwined. A simple forgiveness. Let's suppose Ed steals from me and he's caught. If he's caught in the act, before he has time to dispose of the goods, he owes me twofold. If he disposes of them, he'll owe me four or fivefold depending upon my position.

Now, watch this, and of course what was stolen as well. But now, if Ed wants a civil forgiveness, what must he do? He must make restitution. There is no civil forgiveness without restitution. If he wants a religious forgiveness, he still must make restitution. How do I explain that? Here's how. If I steal from Ed and say, "Lord, look at this. I got a hundred dollar bill from Ed. Lord, you forgive me, please. I'm just confessing. Lord, forgive me." I'll stick a hundred dollars in my pocket and go on my way. Is that forgiveness? Is that confession? No. If I really want forgiveness, what I must do, I must give Ed back that money. I must make restitution.

Now, here's a man, to put it in modern colloquialism so we'll understand it, here's a man that's robbed a bank. In this day and time, nobody has to make restitution, hardly. And so he goes to prison for seven years at the expense of the taxpayers. But after seven years, he walks out and what do people say? He's paid his debt to society. But what they're saying is he is now civilly forgiven. He still may be a thief, but he's still civilly forgiven.

Now, when you come to religious forgiveness. It is possible, although these two are intertwined, it is possible that a man may be religiously forgiven and not civilly forgiven. You say, what in the world are you talking about? Well. There is a religious condemnation and there is a civil condemnation. You remember a number of years ago, there was a big uproar over this woman in Texas who had murdered, I think, not only her husband, but several other people. But then she had gotten converted and they were saying that she should now be forgiven and pardoned because of the fact that she was now a Christian and she should not have to face the death penalty. You remember that?

Let me ask you a question. Can God truly save a murderer? What's the answer? Yes. Does that mean, therefore, that God's law is not to be executed against the murderer? No. You see, you may be religiously forgiven, but you still must face the penalty for your sin. So if I pull out a pistol, and I shoot Henry in front of everybody. The Lord would forgive me for that. But that does not mean that I do not face the death penalty. And when they execute me, I may be indeed converted by the grace of God, but I'm still to be executed because I'm a murderer.

And the Bible says, whosoever taketh a life, he shall give his own life, forfeit his own life for it. Life for life. So you can have a religious forgiveness and not have a civil forgiveness. So you can have a legal condemnation or a civil condemnation and by the way, not have a religious condemnation or vice versa. Today in our land, a woman can have an abortion. There's no civil condemnation for that. But there is a religious condemnation for that. So here's this woman then.

Application: Church Discipline and Lawless Judges

Weaver applies the passage to church discipline (1 Cor. 5), noting the early church called repentant adulterers 'the living dead.' He laments that lawless men cannot enforce God's law, leading to injustice in society.

She acknowledges Christ as Lord. Evidently, there is indeed a real change in her life. And our Lord says, "Neither do I condemn thee." And look what he says. "Go and sin no more." So our Lord knew that she was guilty. She needed a religious forgiveness. She also needed a civil forgiveness, but there were no witnesses. And so, therefore, there was no trial. He had no choice but to dismiss the trial.

Let me ask you a question. I want you to think about this. Here's the question. What do we do today as Christians for this sin that is so prevalent in our society? It indeed not only destroys families and personal lives, but it will in essence destroy society as well. Now the question is what remedy do we have left? You and I both know that the church does not have the power to execute the death penalty. The family does not have the power to execute the death penalty. Only the state now has the power to execute the death penalty. And what do you do when you have a reprobate state or a reprobate civil government that will not honor God's law, will not recognize God's law?

I get so extremely frustrated when I hear of all these cases of child rape and child abuse. I've got news for you folks. I know how to stop that stuff. I can assure you the ones that are executed will never commit those vile acts again. But you see, the reason we have such an outbreak is they know they're not going to face the death penalty. They'll go to some asylum or some prison for a year or two and then be turned right out to do it again.

But what can we do? Let me show you. Here is one answer. I want you to turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 5 and let's look at the first 13 verses. Here is what the church can do, but which most churches will not do. And the reason they won't do it is manifold, but it is certainly biblical. That is what you and I would call church discipline, and let me explain this very quickly, momentarily. Let's read the first 13 verses of 1 Corinthians 5.

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 5:1-13

"It is reported commonly there is fornication among you, and such fornication is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. And you are puffed up and have not rather mourned that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. For I verily as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed."

"In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, to deliver such an one unto Satan, for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth a whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump. As you are unleavened, for Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." "I wrote unto you in an epistle not to accompany with fornicators, yet not altogether with fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with the idolaters, for then must you needs go out of the world. Now watch, but now I have written unto you not to keep company with any man that is called a brother. Be a fornicator, or a covetous, or a idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner, with such an one know not to eat."

"For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? Do not you judge them that are within, but them that are without God judges. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person." Now here was a man in the Corinthian church who was living with his father's wife. Undoubtedly, this was his stepmother. He said, Paul says, that this such wickedness was so great that even the heathen were not even doing it. Leviticus 18 and verse 8 specifically condemns this as incest. So it's not just simply adultery, it is incest, and of course it is here covered under the broad term fornication, and please remember fornication is a broad term.

It covers many sexual sins and other sins as well. So here's a man then who is living with his stepmother. His father is still alive. It was his father's wife. And what does the Apostle Paul say? He says, "Put that wicked one out from among you." You exercise church discipline.

Now, let me explain something to you. You see, in the early church they had to face this same dilemma. Do you know what term was used to describe those Christians who had been guilty of adultery but who had repented and was allowed back into the church, do you know what term was used to describe that group of people? I'll tell you. They were called the living dead. Why were they called the living dead? Well, let me show you. Murder is also a capital crime. Suppose I killed Joe. I murdered him. No one knew about it. No one ever found out about it. I was never prosecuted. I was never brought to trial. Does that mean that I'm going to escape the death penalty? No. Why? Because God is the judge, and the death penalty is still there, and I would be a walking dead man. In other words, God would execute that judgment in His own time. So the adulterers then, who had repented and were allowed back in church, were known then as the living dead because they realized that although the church had not the power to execute the death penalty, and the Roman government certainly wouldn't execute the death penalty over that, but they knew that God would.

And so this is exactly what he says. You deliver such one to Satan. You put him out of the church that the body may be destroyed. And look what he says in chapter five and verse 13. "But them that are without"—help me out—"but them that are without God judges." He said, so you execute church discipline, you put him on the outside and you say, "God, until he repents, he cannot come in, and even when he repents, it is up to you to execute the judgment that you demand." You see, folks, church discipline not only is biblical, but there are indeed specific reasons given for it in the Bible. The purity of the church is one of them. The benefit of those who have not sinned is another. For the benefit of the one who has sinned is another. So the way the early church dealt with this is, like I said, they did restore those who had repented, but they recognized that they were indeed the living dead.

Now, I want you to note two things today. How our Lord harmonized justice and mercy. Those two concepts are so difficult for us. You know why? Because some of us will take the attitude, justice, justice, justice. The others will take the attitude, forgive, forgive, forgive. You know, the man who wants justice many times has no mercy. The one who wants mercy many times will never demand justice. These two were balanced in our Lord. There is a time for justice and there is a time for mercy.

And we must learn when and how to exercise those attributes. Here's a second thought, and this thought hit me like a ton of bricks last night. Do you realize that lawlessness cannot enforce the law. These scribes and the Pharisees, they were lawless, although they were the ones who had the law. They were lawless! You look at the mess that our judicial system is in in this country. Do you know why? Because most of our judges are absolutely lawless.

They follow not the Word of God. They don't even follow the Constitution. And the reason most people are upset in this country is because there is no such thing as justice left any longer. I just read this week in an article a friend sent me. One IRS agent had failed to file and pay his taxes for five years until he finally got caught. And he said the reason he did not pay his taxes was to support his wife's spending habits.

But he said that he had been a fool and he threw himself on the mercy of the court and the judge graciously gave him nine months probation. Now, let me ask you a question. If that had been you or I, do you think we would have gotten nine months probation? You see what I'm saying? If you've never read George Orwell's The Animal Farm, I encourage you to do that. Because the animals, you know, they made up all these rules. And Napoleon the pig is Snowball. Their first rule was this, all animals are equal. But when they drove the farmer out of the house, Napoleon and Snowball took over the house. The rest of the animals had to stay in the barn. But when some of the animals got discontented because Napoleon and Snowball had the house, they went back to read the rules. And the rules had been changed. All animals were equal, but some were more equal than others.

That's the way it is today, folks. And lawless men cannot enforce God's law. If you start to think about the ramifications of this, lawless men will either be too merciful and not give justice, or they will be too demanding and not give mercy. A godly man who knows the law of God can give forth true justice under God. And then that would still not be without error sometimes because man is not omniscient. Only God is omniscient and only God can give forth what you and I would call true justice. But in John 8, Jesus Christ did not destroy the law of God, nor did he do away the death penalty for adultery.

Conclusion: Harmonizing Justice and Mercy

Jesus perfectly balanced justice and mercy. The passage does not abolish the death penalty but demonstrates that without lawful witnesses, no civil condemnation can occur. Believers must distinguish civil and religious forgiveness.

He just simply said, there's no case because there's no witnesses. And the only thing that he could give the woman was a religious forgiveness, which she received and evidently was changed by the grace of God. I pray that those who are in prison who are there lawfully and rightly and justly. When you stop and think about it, there's very few like that today, especially since prisons are unbiblical anyhow. But those who are there, I do pray that they would get a religious forgiveness, that is, that they would indeed find Jesus Christ. But just because someone finds Jesus Christ does not mean that if they're guilty of murder, then they go free from the death penalty. We've got to learn to distinguish between a civil and a religious forgiveness.

It's absolutely amazing to me today that justice and mercy are so absent in our judicial systems. And people are so frustrated because they don't understand the lawless cannot enforce the law. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your grace. Thank you for your mercy. Thank you for your truth. We do ask, Lord, that You would teach us, that You would build us up in the most holy faith, enable us, Lord, to live for Thee, to be righteous and godly. May we indeed obey the totality of Thy Word and in this wicked and ungodly and licentious and immoral age live holy, righteous, moral lives in obedience to Thy law. In thy name we ask it, amen and amen.

Study Guide

Major Themes

The Law and Love Are Not Opposed

Summary: Biblical love is the fulfilling of the law, not a replacement for it. Antinomianism misuses John 8 to claim love supersedes God's law.

Evidence: Weaver states: 'Biblical love is the fulfilling of the law of God.' He cites Romans 13:9-10 and gives the illustration of stealing from Henry.

Hypocrisy of the Religious Leaders

Summary: The scribes and Pharisees, though experts in the law, were lawless and sought to trap Jesus rather than uphold justice. Their own guilt disqualified them as accusers.

Evidence: Weaver traces their failures in John 1-7 and notes they brought the woman 'tempting him that they might have to accuse him' (v. 6).

Jesus as the Fulfillment of the Law

Summary: Jesus did not abolish the death penalty for adultery but upheld the law's requirement for witnesses with clean hands. His actions mirrored the priestly ordeal of Numbers 5.

Evidence: Weaver quotes Dean Burgon's interpretation linking Jesus' writing on the ground to Numbers 5 and states: 'Our Lord demanded what the law demanded.'

Distinction Between Civil and Religious Forgiveness

Summary: Civil forgiveness requires restitution and legal process; religious forgiveness is granted by God upon repentance but does not remove civil penalties.

Evidence: Weaver explains: 'There is no civil forgiveness without restitution.' He uses examples of theft and murder to illustrate the distinction.

Church Discipline as a Remedy

Summary: When the state fails to enforce God's law, the church must exercise discipline, putting unrepentant sinners out of the fellowship and leaving ultimate judgment to God.

Evidence: Weaver expounds 1 Corinthians 5, noting the early church called repentant adulterers 'the living dead' because they recognized God would execute judgment.

Lawless Men Cannot Enforce the Law

Summary: Judges and leaders who are themselves lawless cannot administer true justice; they will either be overly merciful or overly harsh.

Evidence: Weaver states: 'Lawless men cannot enforce God's law.' He cites the IRS agent example and references Orwell's Animal Farm.

Key Arguments

The trap was based on a false dilemma

Summary: The scribes and Pharisees thought they had Jesus trapped between violating Mosaic law or Roman law, but Jesus exposed their own guilt, nullifying their case.

Evidence: Weaver explains: 'If our Lord had said, Let her go, he would have been accused... of violating the law of God... If Jesus Christ said, Stone her... he's in trouble with the Roman government.'

Jesus' writing on the ground invoked Numbers 5

Summary: By stooping to write on the ground, Jesus enacted the priestly ritual of the jealousy ordeal, turning the accusation back on the accusers.

Evidence: Weaver quotes Dean Burgon: 'Our Lord is observed to revive his own ancient ordinance after a hitherto unheard of fashion, the trial by bitter water... from Numbers chapter 5.'

'Without sin' refers to the specific sin of adultery

Summary: Jesus' condition 'He that is without sin among you' does not require sinless perfection but freedom from the same sin of adultery, in line with the clean hands doctrine.

Evidence: Weaver states: 'He is not saying that an individual has to be perfectly sinless... Here's what he actually says... He that is without the sin among you... the sin of adultery.'

The accusers' departure proved their guilt

Summary: The scribes and Pharisees left because they were convicted by their own conscience, knowing they were guilty of the same sin and that Jesus could expose them.

Evidence: Weaver says: 'They realized, Hey, we're guilty of the very things that we're accusing this woman, and he knows about it.'

No civil case remained without witnesses

Summary: Once the accusers left, there were no witnesses to prosecute the woman, so Jesus, acting as judge, had to dismiss the civil case.

Evidence: Weaver explains: 'When the witnesses left, there was no one to prosecute the woman. What does the judge do when there are no witnesses against the man? He dismisses the case.'

Religious forgiveness does not negate civil penalties

Summary: A person can be forgiven by God and still face the death penalty or other civil consequences for their crime.

Evidence: Weaver uses the example of a murderer: 'The Lord would forgive me for that. But that does not mean that I do not face the death penalty.'

Church discipline is the biblical response to unrepentant sin

Summary: When the state fails to execute justice, the church must put unrepentant sinners out of the fellowship, delivering them to Satan for the destruction of the flesh.

Evidence: Weaver reads 1 Corinthians 5 and states: 'Put that wicked one out from among you. You exercise church discipline.'

Lawless judges produce injustice

Summary: Because many judges are lawless, they either fail to punish the guilty or punish without mercy, leading to societal frustration.

Evidence: Weaver says: 'Lawless men cannot enforce God's law... most of our judges are absolutely lawless.'

Scripture References

John 8:1-11

Context: The primary passage of the sermon, describing the woman caught in adultery and Jesus' response.

Romans 13:9-10

Context: Used to show that love is the fulfilling of the law, not a replacement for it.

John 1:14, 26

Context: The scribes and Pharisees were ignorant of John the Baptist and of Christ's divine presence.

John 2

Context: Jesus' first miracle of turning water into wine; the nation was joyless.

John 3

Context: Nicodemus, a Pharisee, came to Jesus dead in sins and needed to be born again.

John 4

Context: The Jews were callous toward the Samaritans, showing their lack of love.

John 5

Context: Israel portrayed as blind, impotent, halt, and maimed; the man at the pool for 38 years.

John 6

Context: Jesus is the bread of life, but the nation was indifferent to the true bread.

John 7

Context: Leaders rejected Christ as living water and sent officers to arrest Him.

Leviticus 20:10

Context: The law demanded the death penalty for both the adulterer and adulteress.

Deuteronomy 22:22

Context: Both the man and woman committing adultery were to be put to death.

Matthew 5:17

Context: Jesus came to fulfill the law, not destroy it; referenced in the dilemma.

John 18:31

Context: The Jews lacked authority to execute the death penalty under Roman rule.

Numbers 5:11-31

Context: The ordeal of jealousy, which Weaver argues Jesus enacted in John 8.

Deuteronomy 19:15-16

Context: Requirement for two or three witnesses to establish a matter.

Deuteronomy 17:7

Context: The hands of the witnesses were to be first in executing the death penalty, implying clean hands.

1 Corinthians 5:1-13

Context: Church discipline for a man living in incest; putting the wicked person out of the church.

Leviticus 18:8

Context: Specifically condemns the incestuous relationship mentioned in 1 Corinthians 5.

Historical References

Dean Burgon's interpretation of John 8

Context: Weaver quotes Dean Burgon, a scholar, who connected Jesus' writing on the ground to the ordeal of Numbers 5.

Early church term 'the living dead'

Context: Repentant adulterers restored to the church were called 'the living dead' because they recognized God would still execute judgment.

George Orwell's Animal Farm

Context: Used as an illustration of lawless rulers changing rules to favor themselves: 'All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.'

IRS agent case

Context: An IRS agent failed to pay taxes for five years and received only nine months probation, illustrating unequal justice.

Texas woman murderer case

Context: A woman who murdered several people claimed conversion and sought pardon; Weaver uses it to illustrate civil vs. religious forgiveness.

Important Quotes

Biblical love is not sentimentalism. It's not emotionalism. It's not a funny feeling. It's not goosebumps. It's not overlooking sin. Biblical love is the fulfilling of the law of God.

Significance: Defines biblical love in contrast to antinomian misuse of John 8, grounding the sermon's hermeneutic.

He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.

Significance: The key verse of the passage; Weaver argues it refers to the specific sin of adultery, not sinless perfection.

Our Lord did not do away with the death penalty for adultery. What our Lord did was this. He fulfilled the law. Our Lord demanded what the law demanded.

Significance: Central thesis: Jesus upheld the law's requirement for clean-hands witnesses rather than abolishing the penalty.

There is no civil forgiveness without restitution.

Significance: Key distinction between civil and religious forgiveness, essential to the sermon's application.

Lawless men cannot enforce God's law.

Significance: Summarizes the problem of unjust judges and the need for godly leadership.

Neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more.

Significance: Jesus' words of religious forgiveness, coupled with a call to repentance.

Discussion Questions

How does Romans 13:9-10 redefine our understanding of love in relation to God's law?

Context: Weaver argues that biblical love is the fulfilling of the law, not a replacement for it.

In what ways do modern Christians resemble the scribes and Pharisees in using others' sins to trap or accuse?

Context: The scribes and Pharisees exploited the woman's sin to entrap Jesus, not out of concern for God's law.

What does the clean hands doctrine (Deut. 17:7) teach us about our own qualifications to confront sin in others?

Context: Weaver explains that witnesses had to be innocent of the same crime to execute judgment.

How should the church balance justice and mercy when dealing with unrepentant sin in its midst?

Context: Weaver discusses church discipline from 1 Corinthians 5 and the concept of the 'living dead.'

What are the practical implications of distinguishing between civil and religious forgiveness in our legal system?

Context: Weaver uses examples of murder and theft to show that religious forgiveness does not remove civil penalties.

Why is it dangerous for lawless individuals to hold positions of authority in the church or state?

Context: Weaver states that lawless men cannot enforce God's law and will either be too merciful or too harsh.

Applications

Uphold God's law as the standard of love

Summary: Believers must reject antinomianism and understand that true love fulfills God's commandments, not ignores them.

Evidence: Weaver says: 'Biblical love is the fulfilling of the law of God.'

Examine your own life before accusing others

Summary: Before confronting someone else's sin, ensure you are not guilty of the same sin, in keeping with the clean hands doctrine.

Evidence: Weaver explains: 'If I'm going to accuse Henry of something... I better be innocent of it myself.'

Practice church discipline for unrepentant sin

Summary: Churches must obey 1 Corinthians 5 by putting unrepentant sinners out of the fellowship to maintain purity and encourage repentance.

Evidence: Weaver states: 'Put that wicked one out from among you. You exercise church discipline.'

Distinguish civil and religious forgiveness

Summary: Recognize that a person can be forgiven by God yet still face civil penalties; conversion does not erase legal consequences.

Evidence: Weaver says: 'Just because someone finds Jesus Christ does not mean that if they're guilty of murder, then they go free from the death penalty.'

Pray for godly judges and leaders

Summary: Since lawless men cannot enforce the law, believers should pray for and support leaders who fear God and uphold justice.

Evidence: Weaver laments: 'Most of our judges are absolutely lawless.'

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-06T03:21:29Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T16:16:09Z

Clean Transcript

Christ and the Adulterous Woman

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

And let me just tell you that I am working on several different messages. Hopefully I'm going to have one prepared for next Lord's Day, and it may end up being in two different parts. And then Dr. Brissey has asked me to deal with a subject which I already know that will end up taking me two or three messages to deal with. And then there is another message I want to bring as well. I've got an awful lot of studying to do as well as preparation, so some of these are, well, you'll see when I get to preaching them, they're a little different, and so they require a little more attention.
#1 | 0:07 to 0:47 | cleaned
So let's look in John chapter 8 today, and let's read the first 11 verses. John 8, beginning with verse 1. "Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives, and early in the morning He came again unto the temple, and all the people came unto Him, and He sat down and taught them. And the scribes and the Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery, and when they had set her in the midst, they said unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery in the very act."
#2 | 0:48 to 1:15 | cleaned
"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 Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. And when they 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. When Jesus had lifted up himself and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers?"
#3 | 1:16 to 1:57 | cleaned
"Hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more."
#4 | 1:57 to 2:06 | cleaned
Now, I would venture to say that most of you have never heard this passage preached on before. In fact, many individuals have never even considered this passage or its implications. Let me just tell you up front that this passage is a hotbed of controversy. Now, the reason I say it's a hotbed of controversy is because it is usually not only misunderstood, but is usually even taken out of context. There are some who even try to deny the authenticity of this passage. There are some that would even say that this passage should never even have been in the Bible to begin with, which, of course, I believe is outright blasphemy and heresy and denies the infallibility and the inspiration of the Bible. But there are many individuals who take this passage and use it to teach antinomianism. Now let me tell you, I hope you understand the term antinomianism.
#5 | 2:07 to 3:08 | cleaned
The Greek word nomos is the word law. Antinomianism refers to someone who is against God's law. So an antinomian then is someone who either does not believe that God's law is valid, or at least he lives as if God's law had no effect at all upon him. And usually what people do when they come to John chapter 8, they're trying to say that here, love supersedes the law. In other words, the law is the Old Testament. Now, in the New Testament, we have love, and that which matters is we just love, love, love, love, and it doesn't matter about God's law at all.
#6 | 3:08 to 3:51 | cleaned
Well, I can quote this. But hold John 8 and look in your Bibles to the book of Romans chapter 13. And I'm certainly not wanting to get into an exposition of this truth this morning. I've done it in time past. But I want you to look in Romans chapter 13 and let me read to you verses 9 and 10. Watch carefully. He says, "For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet."
#7 | 3:51 to 4:22 | cleaned
Everybody understands this is the Ten Commandments, right? "And if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor. Therefore, love is what? The fulfilling of the law." What is biblical love? Biblical love is not sentimentalism. It's not emotionalism. It's not a funny feeling. It's not goosebumps. It's not overlooking sin. Biblical love is the fulfilling of the law of God. You understand that? So when people try to say, well, love has superseded the law of God, they don't even know what they're talking about because biblical love is the fulfilling of the law of God.
#8 | 4:22 to 5:06 | cleaned
Let me give you an illustration. I've given this to you in time past, but it's one that you can understand very simply. So, here's my question. If I reach my hand over in Henry's pocket, and I steal a $100 bill from him, and I say, Henry, I love you, I love you, I love you. Here's my question. Do I love him? Not biblically. Because love is the fulfilling of the law. If I love him, I keep my hand out of his pocket. Whether I ever tell him I love him or not is immaterial. Whether I ever get teary-eyed or sentimental is immaterial. Whether I ever get emotional, it's immaterial. I love him because I'm fulfilling God's law toward him. Love is the fulfilling of the law. So there are individuals who try to take this and try to say, well, love has superseded the law of God. In order to understand this passage, it is almost imperative that you take it in its entire context.
#9 | 5:06 to 6:00 | cleaned
Now, I want you to note, first of all, who it is that is causing the problem here. Look in verse 3, "...and the scribes and the Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery." Back in John 8, verse 3, "...and the scribes and the Pharisees." Now, you've got to ask yourself, who were the scribes and who were the Pharisees? Now, the scribes were supposedly the students of Scripture.
#10 | 6:00 to 6:28 | cleaned
They were to be the scholars of the law. Here were men who gave their entire lives studying the law in order that they might teach others. That's who the scribes were. Who were the Pharisees? The Pharisees were the most religious zealous sect of the land. They believed in absolute obedience, supposedly. However, you find as you read scripture, it was obedience to their traditions more than the Word of God. But the Pharisees would have been considered the fundamentalists of the day.
#11 | 6:29 to 7:07 | cleaned
Now, remember, the Sadducees were another group, but they were the liberals. The Sadducees were the ones who denied the existence of angels. They denied the bodily resurrection of the dead. But the Pharisees, of course, believed both. So the Pharisees were the fundamentalists of the day. So now you have two groups. You have the scribes who were supposedly the scholars and the students of the law, and you have the Pharisees, one of the main fundamentalist religious sects of our Lord's day, bringing this woman to our Lord.
#12 | 7:07 to 7:38 | cleaned
Now, let me just very quickly give you an overview of the first seven chapters before we come up to John 8. In every one of these chapters, you will find the scribes and the Pharisees mentioned. In John chapter 1 in verse 14, the scribes and the Pharisees were ignorant of John the Baptist, who was the forerunner of Jesus Christ. In fact, they sent messengers to him saying, "Who art thou?"
#13 | 7:38 to 8:08 | cleaned
They didn't even know who he was. Now, remember, the Old Testament had prophesied about John. So here the students of the law are ignorant concerning the forerunner of Jesus Christ. In verse 26 of chapter 1, they were ignorant of the divine presence in their midst. What did John say? "There standeth one among you whom you know not." And he was referring to Christ. So the scholars and the students of the Scriptures and the leading religious leaders of his day did not even know who Jesus Christ was. When you get to John chapter 2, you have there our Lord's first miracle. How many of you know what it is? What was His first miracle?
#14 | 8:10 to 8:53 | cleaned
He turned water into wine. You heard the old story about the state trooper who pulled the black preacher over. He'd been weaving a little bit. And the state trooper looked in there and said, "What do you have in that bottle?" He said, "Water." He said, "Water?" He said, "Let me have that." He handed him the bottle. He sniffed and he said, "That's not water, that's wine." He said, "Praise the Lord, he done done it again."
#15 | 8:54 to 9:23 | cleaned
Well, sometimes it works like that, I guess. But when they lacked wine, wine in the Bible is a symbol of joy. Read the book of Psalms. He says he's given wine that maketh glad the heart of man. So when they did not have wine, it symbolized here you had a joyless nation. So you have the scribes and the Pharisees who were ignorant of the forerunner of Jesus Christ. They were ignorant of Jesus Christ. They were a joyless nation. And when you get to John chapter 3, here is Nicodemus, a ruler of the Pharisees, who came to Jesus dead in trespasses and sins. And what did Jesus Christ say to him? "Verily, verily, I say to you, you must be born from above." That is, you must be born again. One of their rulers, absolutely, totally lost and dead in trespasses and in sins. When you get to John chapter four, you have how Israel were absolutely callous to the Samaritans. And you remember the Samaritans were basically half-breeds. They'd intermarried. And you remember Jesus sat on the well and asked that Samaritan woman for a drink of water.
#16 | 9:24 to 10:38 | cleaned
And she said, "How is it thou, being a Judean, ask water of me, a woman of Samaria? For the Judeans have no dealings with the Samaritans." In fact, they call the Samaritans dogs. So here they are, a joyless nation and totally callous, indifferent to their neighbors. In chapter 5, here Israel is portrayed then as a nation of blind, impotent folk, halt and maimed. There was the man who had been at the pool there for 38 years. When you get to chapter 6, Jesus Christ is the bread of life. But here the nation, therefore, is presented as hungry indeed, but they are indifferent and have no desire for the true bread of life, Jesus Christ. When you get to John chapter 7, the leaders of the nation reject Christ as the living water, and they send officers out to arrest Christ. But when the officers come back, they say, "Why have you not brought him?" What do the officers say? "No man has ever spoken like this man." And then they say, "What's wrong with you?"
#17 | 10:38 to 11:44 | cleaned
"Do you believe on him?" Now, the point I'm trying to make when you get to John chapter 8 now, it is the same group in verse 3, the scribes and the Pharisees that bring this woman to Jesus. The same group that caused all the heartache and all the problems and who were totally ignorant of the Word of God. Now they're the ones bringing this woman to Jesus Christ.
#18 | 11:44 to 12:12 | cleaned
Now, here's a principle that we must learn. We must learn that even the enemies of truth can oftentimes quote scripture and use it against us. And here these scribes and the Pharisees had no love for the truth. They had no desire for the truth. They were enemies to the truth. And yet they were trying to take the truth of God and use it to entrap Jesus Christ.
#19 | 12:12 to 12:43 | cleaned
If you look down to verse six, verse six will explain the whole scenario. "This, they said, tempting him that they might have to accuse him."
#20 | 12:43 to 12:55 | cleaned
Now, I want you to understand something. When the scribes and the Pharisees brought this adulterous woman to Jesus Christ, they did not bring her to Jesus Christ because they were shocked at her immorality, that they were upset and grieved and heartbroken because of her sin. They were not even grieved because the law of God had been dishonored. They were not even upset because the law of God had been broken. They used this sinful woman for one simple reason, and that was to ensnare and to entrap Jesus Christ. You're talking about using someone else's sin.
#21 | 12:55 to 13:37 | cleaned
That's exactly what these people were doing. So their object then was not to help the woman. Their object was to exploit her for their own evil designs. They wanted to ruin Christ. They wanted to entrap him. They wanted to make him contradict himself and basically destroy his own testimony.
#22 | 13:38 to 14:01 | cleaned
Now, since we know who it was that brought this adulterous woman to Jesus Christ, let's look in verses 2 through 5, first of all, at the dilemma. Watch if you would. "And early in the morning, he came again into the temple."
#23 | 14:01 to 14:15 | cleaned
Now, someone tell me where he is? He's in the temple. "And all the people came unto him, and he sat down and taught them." What is he doing in the temple? He's teaching and preaching, so here's a public exposition, okay? "And the scribes and the Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery, and when they had set her in the midst, they said unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery in the very act."
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"Now Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned, but what sayest thou?" Now, I want you to note the Bible says in verse 3, "And the scribes and the Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery." How many of you think she came voluntarily? No, they brought her. Probably dragged her in, but they brought her. And she did not come voluntarily.
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Now evidently, and this is another sermon in itself, but evidently the scribes and the Pharisees had what you and I would describe as police powers. Don't you remember as you read through the Bible about the officers of the temple? And I've told you in time past who those officers of the temple were. And in John chapter 7, they sent officers to arrest Jesus Christ. So undoubtedly, they had some control over what you and I would call the temple police or the temple officers. And so they went out and physically brought this woman to Jesus Christ and compelled her to come and set her in the midst.
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Now, I want you to try to get the picture in your own mind. Here, Jesus Christ is sitting in the temple teaching. And all of a sudden, here are some religious leaders barge in, dragging this woman, pull out a chair, put her in the midst of everyone, and they say, "Master, here's a woman taken in adultery in the very act."
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"Now, Moses says she's to be stoned, but what do you say?" You talk about brash. You talk about arrogant. Not only were they interrupting his message and his teaching, they were demanding that he preside as a judge and demanding that he give them an answer. I don't know about you, but boy, there's something inside me that just recoils against people who are so brash and so arrogant.
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But yet they come in and they take this woman and said, "Look, she was caught in adultery in the very act." I know that you're thinking the same thing that I'm thinking. And you want to ask a question. Where was the man? Why did they just bring the woman? I mean, it takes two to commit adultery. Why did they just bring the woman? Well, I don't know the answer.
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There could be several different answers. Maybe the man may have been one of their own. Who knows? But I do know this. You get far more emotionalism involved when you start condemning a woman than you do a man. And so they were designing this entrapment. They're designing this scheme to basically trap Jesus Christ.
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Now, let me show you. They said Moses in the Law says she's to be stoned. Well, go back in your Bibles to the book of Leviticus. Hold John 8. Go back to the book of Leviticus chapter 20 and verse 10. Leviticus 20, verse 10. Look what the Word of God says. Leviticus 20, verse 10. "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." The law did demand a death penalty for adultery. Look in your Bibles to Deuteronomy 22 and verse 22. Deuteronomy 22, verse 22. God says, "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."
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"So shalt thou put away evil from among Israel." So, God says both the man and the woman are to be put to death. Of course, they only brought the woman.
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Now, here's the dilemma confronting Jesus Christ. Remember now, he's in the temple, he's teaching, it's a public situation. They barge in, they interrupt his message, they put the woman in the midst and says, "Now look, Moses' law says she's to be stoned, but what do you say?" Because now, here are all these witnesses waiting for his answer.
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Now, if our Lord had said, "Let her go," he would have been accused, and rightly so, of violating the law of God. Because the law of God demanded that she be put to death. Moreover, what would you do with this claim of Matthew 5, verse 17? where Jesus Christ said publicly that He was come to fulfill the Law. So if Jesus Christ says, "Let her go," then they charge Him with violating the Law of God and violating His own Word. Now, suppose Jesus Christ said, "Stone her, put her to death."
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What is then going to be the understanding of the people? Because Jesus Christ was known as the friend of publicans and sinners. And certainly he would not be showing himself their friend if he said to stone them. Moreover, if you look in John 18 and verse 31, and this is where they were really going with it. Look in John 18 verse 31. John 18, verse 31, here's where they were really going with it.
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"Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death." The Romans had taken away the death penalty power from the nation. So if Jesus Christ says take her out and stone her, what would have happened? They would have reported him to the Roman government. They've got him trapped, or at least they think they have him trapped, because if he says, "Let her go," then he's no friend of the law. If he says stone her, then he's no friend of sinners and he's in trouble with the Roman government.
#36 | 21:03 to 21:41 | cleaned
Now, look at the actions of our Lord. Go back to John chapter eight. Let's read verses six through nine. "This they said, tempting him that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down and with his finger wrote on the ground as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. And when they heard it being convicted by their own conscience, they 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." Now the Bible says in verse 6 and in verse 8 twice that Jesus Christ stooped down and wrote something on the floor of the temple.
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Most of us have often wondered, what did he write? You know, some have suggested maybe he began writing some names of people that they had committed adultery with. I don't know. Maybe he began listing dates. I don't know. However, you've got to remember two things, and I believe this is the answer. You've got to remember, first of all, that Jesus Christ is the High Priest. You got that?
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And secondly, someone tell me where this took place? In the temple.
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Now, what significance does that have? Well, let me show you. I'm going to give you a quote in just a moment, but hold John 8, but turn back in your Bibles to the book of Numbers, chapter 5. Numbers, chapter 5. And let's begin reading there with verse 11. Numbers 5, and let's begin reading verse 11, and we'll read through verse 31, a lengthy passage. But it's important that you understand the background before I give you this quote, okay? Numbers chapter 5, beginning with verse 11.
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"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying..." So here then is something that the Lord Himself has ordained. "The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man's wife go aside and commit a trespass against him, and a man lie with her carnally, and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, and be kept close, and she be defiled, and there
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be no witness against her, neither she be taken with the matter." In other words, basically she's gotten away with it. Nobody's talking, no one has seen it, no one knows about it. Watch verse 14. "And the spirit of jealousy come upon him." In other words, he becomes extremely suspicious, although he has no evidence. "And the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled." That is, she's actually guilty. "Or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled," that is, she could be totally innocent. "Then shall the man bring his wife unto the priest, and he shall bring her offering for her the tenth part of an ephah of barley meal, he shall pour no oil upon it, nor put frankincense thereon, for it is an offering of jealousy, an offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance. And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the Lord. And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle, the priest shall take and put it in the water."
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Notice the dust of the floor of the tabernacle. He takes it and puts it in the water. "And the priest shall set the woman before the Lord and uncover the woman's head and put the offering of the memorial in her hands, which is the jealousy offering. And the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that causeth the curse. And the priest shall charge her by an oath, and say unto the woman, If no man have lain with thee, and if thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness with another instead of thine husband, be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse. But if thou hast gone aside to another instead of thine husband, and if thou be defiled, and some man hath lain with thee beside thine husband, then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing. And the priest shall say unto the woman, The Lord make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the Lord doth make thy thigh to rot, and thy belly to swell."
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"And this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels, to make thy belly swell, and thy thigh to rot. And the woman shall say, Amen, Amen. And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and shall blot them out with the bitter water. And he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that causeth the curse, and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her and become bitter. Then the priest shall take the jealousy offering out of the woman's hand, and shall wave the offering before the Lord, and offer it upon the altar. And the priest shall take a handful of the offering, even the memorial thereof, and burn it upon the altar, and afterward shall cause the woman to drink the water. And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall come to pass that if she be defiled, that is, if she is actually guilty, and have done trespass against her husband, that the water that caused the curse shall enter into her and become bitter, and her belly shall swell, and
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her thigh shall rot, and the woman shall be a curse among her people." That is, she's going to have a living death for a while, everybody will know her sin, and then she's going to die in misery. Verse 28, "And if the woman be not defiled, but be clean, then shall she be free, and shall conceive seed." In other words, God will bless her and she'll have a child.
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"This is the law of jealousies. When a wife goeth aside to another instead of her husband, and is defiled, or when the spirit of jealousy cometh upon him, and he be jealous over his wife, and shall set the woman before the Lord, and the priest shall execute upon her all this law, then shall the man be guiltless from iniquity, and the woman shall bear her iniquity." So if she is guilty, the man is guiltless. I do want you to please remember it was the scribes and the Pharisees who brought this woman to our Lord. Remember that our Lord is the high priest and that he was in the temple. And of course, you remember the temple, of course, replaced the tabernacle. Now, I want to give you a quote.
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It's several paragraphs long, but I want you to listen carefully because it puts this passage together, Numbers chapter 5 with John chapter 8, so that we can have an understanding of it. Dean Burgon, one of the scholars in times past, has said this. Here's what he said. "The scribes and the Pharisees bring a woman to our Savior on a charge of adultery. The sin prevailed to such an extent among the Jews that the divine enactments concerning one so accused have long since fallen into practical oblivion."
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Now, let me stop there. Here's what he's saying. Adultery was so prevalent in our Lord's time that no one was enforcing the law against it. Almost like it is today. You see, even today, adultery and fornication, hey, they're considered a personal private act. They're not considered condemned by God anymore, nor even condemned by the state, although most states still have laws against them. The laws are just on the books. So he's just saying it was a prevalent sin.
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And I'm continuing to quote, "On the present occasion, our Lord is observed to revive his own ancient ordinance after a hitherto unheard of fashion, the trial by bitter water or water of conviction from Numbers chapter 5. This was a species of ordeal intended for the vindication of innocence and the conviction of guilt." So this ordeal then had either conviction or vindication of innocence. "But according to the traditional belief," now listen carefully because I'm going to come back to this, "but according to traditional belief, the test proved inefficacious unless the husband himself was innocent of the crime where he accused his wife." So the test proved useless unless the husband himself was innocent of the crime wherewith he charged his wife. I'm continuing to quote. "Let the provisions of the law contained in Numbers chapter 5 be now considered. The accused woman, having been brought near and set before the Lord, the priest took holy water in an earthen vessel and put it to dust at the floor of the tabernacle into the water. Then with the bitter water that caused the curse in his hand, he charged the woman by oath.
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Next, he wrote the curses in a book and blotted it out with the bitter water, causing the woman to drink the bitter water that caused the curse. Whereupon, if she were guilty, she fell under a terrible penalty, her body testifying visibly to her sin. If she was innocent, nothing followed. And now who sees not that the Holy One dealt with His hypocritical assailants as if they had been the accused parties?
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Into the presence of the incarnate Jehovah verily they had been brought. And perhaps when He stooped down and wrote on the ground, it was a bitter sentence against the adulterer and the adulteress which he wrote. We have but to assume some connection between the curse which he thus traced in the dust of the floor of the tabernacle and the words which he uttered with his lips. And he may with truth be declared to have taken the dust, and put it on the water, and cause him to drink of the bitter water which causeth the curse.
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For when by his Holy Spirit our great high priest in his human flesh addressed these adulterers, what did he but present them with living water, that is himself, in an earthen vessel. Did he not further charge them with an oath of cursing, saying, 'If you have not gone aside to uncleanness, be ye free from this bitter water.' That is, when he said, 'Whoever is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone.'
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But if ye be defiled, on being presented with which alternative, did they not, self-convicted, go out one by one? And what else was this but their own acquittal of the sinful woman, for whose condemnation they had shown themselves so impatient? Surely it was the water of conviction, as it is six times called, which they had been compelled to drink. Whereupon, convicted by their own conscience, as John relates, they had pronounced the other's acquittal.
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Finally, note that by himself declining to condemn the accused woman, our Lord also did, in effect, blot out those curses which he had already written against her in the dust when he made the floor of the sanctuary his book." Now, what Dean Burgon is saying is basically what our Lord did in John chapter 8. It's what the priest did in Numbers chapter 5.
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Now, let me ask you a question, and I want you to think this through. Suppose Don steals $100 from Al. And I go to Al and I say, "Al, you know that Don stole this money from you." "Yes, I know that." "Well, if you were to swear a warrant against him and have him arrested..." "No, I'm not going to do that." "Well, if you don't, I will." Well, what's going to happen when I go and swear a warrant or at least try to swear a warrant because I believe or I think that Don stole $100 from Al? What are they going to tell me? "You can't swear out a warrant." If I go and file a lawsuit, what are they going to tell me? "You have no standing." Why don't I have no standing? It didn't happen to me. I haven't been hurt. You follow what I'm saying?
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Now, these Pharisees and scribes, in reality, had no standing even to bring suit against this woman. Who was the victim? First of all, her husband. Was he not the victim? He should have been the one who could have come to our Lord and said, "Look, here's my wife. She was taken in adultery," but he wasn't there. But now here's what the scribes and Pharisees have done. They have inserted themselves in the place of the husband. They have stolen his authority, they have stolen his right, and now they come as the victim, which they were not, and demanded that our Lord judge this woman and condemn her.
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Now, let me tell you, it's in the Bible as well, but it's also in our law. And for those of you who would like to understand a little more, you just look at Black's Law Dictionary, the term Clean Hands Doctrine. You know what the Clean Hands Doctrine is? Let me put it to you very simply. The Clean Hands Doctrine is simply this. If I'm going to accuse Henry of something and try to get him prosecuted for it, I better be innocent of it myself. Clean hands means that I am not a guilty party.
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I have not participated in the sin. Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles. Hold John 8. We're coming back there to Deuteronomy chapter 19. First of all, Deuteronomy chapter 19. And look, if you would please, at verse 15. Deuteronomy 19 and verse 15. God says, "One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth."
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"At the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established." And then if you look in verse 16, "If a false witness rise against any man, testify against him that which is wrong."
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Now, God says it takes more than one to condemn an individual. You've got to have two, at least. More preferably, but at least two. And not only do you have to have at least two, they must have clean hands. Look in your Bibles to Deuteronomy 17 and verse seven. Here's why they must have clean hands. Watch carefully. "The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death and after the hands of all the people, so shalt thou put the evil away from among you." Now, let me show. Suppose Henry does something that deserves death, and yet I've done the same thing that he's done. But yet I prosecute him or I have him prosecuted, and I'm a witness against him. When I put my hand on his head and I testify, I mean, I pick up the first rock and I hit him in the head to kill him, and then everybody else after me. When I have condemned him, what have I in essence done? I've condemned my own self.
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Because I'm guilty of the very thing that he's guilty of. Now, I may have actually helped execute him, or I may have been responsible for his execution, but in reality, I've actually condemned myself.
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Now, go back to John 8. I want you to see this, because this is exactly what our Lord is talking about. In John chapter 8, after he stooped down and wrote on the ground, note what he says in verse 7. And by the way, I like this. I like in verse 6. Let's read it. "And they said of him, this they said of him, tempting him that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not." I like that. He just kind of acted like he ignored them and stooped down and began writing on the ground and looked.
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"So when they continued asking him," they're pressuring him now. We've got him, they think. "He said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." Now let me tell you, first of all, what that does not mean. When our Lord says, "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her," He is not saying that an individual has to be perfectly sinless before you can testify or condemn a guilty individual. If He was saying, "He that is without sin," if you have no sin in general, how many criminals would ever be prosecuted? None. Because everybody has sin. Here's what he actually says. Now watch it. In verse 7, "He that is without the sin among you." Well, what sin was he talking about? The sin of adultery. He said, "You have charged this woman with adultery, which means the death penalty."
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All I'm demanding is what the law demands, that you come with clean hands. that you have not engaged in this sin yourself. Because if you condemn this woman, then in reality, you're condemning yourself.
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Now, please listen to me. These men had been plotting against Christ. Undoubtedly, they had been gathering information on Him. They had their own CIA and special police, you know, and their FBI dossiers on Christ, you know. And, you know, if you're doing that to other people, it doesn't take much to convince you that someone might be doing the same to you. I don't know what he wrote. Maybe he wrote those curses. Maybe he did list some other names. Maybe he did list some dates. I don't know.
#65 | 40:16 to 40:57 | cleaned
But all of a sudden they realized, "Hey, we're guilty of the very things that we're accusing this woman, and he knows about it. And when we condemn her, he's going to turn around and press charges against us." And they being what? Convicted of their own conscience, turned around and walked out, one by one, beginning with the eldest, even to the youngest. They all left.
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Now, I want you to see something. This is very important. Look, if you would, please, in verse 9. "And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even to the last, and Jesus was left alone and the woman standing in the midst. And when Jesus had lifted up himself and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers?"
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"Hath no man condemned thee? And she said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more."
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Now, people have tried to say that in John chapter 8, what our Lord has done is simply this, that he has destroyed, that he has done away with the death penalty for adultery. That is not true. That is not true. Our Lord did not do away with the death penalty for adultery. What our Lord did was this. He fulfilled the law. Our Lord demanded what the law demanded.
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Honest witnesses with clean hands. When the witnesses left, there was no one to prosecute the woman. What does the judge do when there are no witnesses against the man? He dismisses the case. That's exactly what our Lord did. The witnesses had disappeared, so there was no civil case against her. And our Lord says, "Woman, where are those thine accusers? Who's going to stand up now to accuse you? Hath no man condemned thee?" "No man, Lord."
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Now, I want you to note in verse 11, there was evidence of a changed heart in this woman. Undoubtedly, she was guilty. Undoubtedly, she was taken in the very act. But she answered and said, "No man, Lord." Now, you remember what the word Lord is in the Greek? It's the word Kyrios. It means sovereign, owner, master, boss. When an individual calls Jesus Christ Lord, what they're saying in essence, "I am throwing down my weapons of rebellion."
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"I'm repenting and turning from my sins and I'm bowing to you. You are my boss. You are my owner. You are my master. I will now live the way you tell me to live. I'll act the way you tell me to act. I'll do what you tell me to do and I'll say what you tell me to say. You are my Lord. You are my boss, my owner." She said, "No man, Lord," and then our Lord gave her a religious forgiveness.
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He said, "Neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more." Now, I want you to note and listen carefully. There is a difference between civil forgiveness and a religious forgiveness. I could ask this question. Was the woman out of the woods? And you could answer, not yet. Because although the Pharisees had left her, we're not told what her husband did. You see what I'm saying? He was the one that could have brought the charges against her, but he did not, or at least we're not told he did at this particular time. Now, it's important that you understand the difference between a civil forgiveness and a religious forgiveness.
#73 | 44:34 to 45:31 | cleaned
These two are not identical, however they are intertwined. A simple forgiveness. Let's suppose Ed steals from me and he's caught. If he's caught in the act, before he has time to dispose of the goods, he owes me twofold. If he disposes of them, he'll owe me four or fivefold depending upon my position.
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Now, watch this, and of course what was stolen as well. But now, if Ed wants a civil forgiveness, what must he do? He must make restitution. There is no civil forgiveness without restitution. If he wants a religious forgiveness, he still must make restitution. How do I explain that? Here's how. If I steal from Ed and say, "Lord, look at this. I got a hundred dollar bill from Ed. Lord, you forgive me, please. I'm just confessing. Lord, forgive me." I'll stick a hundred dollars in my pocket and go on my way. Is that forgiveness? Is that confession? No. If I really want forgiveness, what I must do, I must give Ed back that money. I must make restitution.
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Now, here's a man, to put it in modern colloquialism so we'll understand it, here's a man that's robbed a bank. In this day and time, nobody has to make restitution, hardly. And so he goes to prison for seven years at the expense of the taxpayers. But after seven years, he walks out and what do people say? He's paid his debt to society. But what they're saying is he is now civilly forgiven. He still may be a thief, but he's still civilly forgiven.
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Now, when you come to religious forgiveness. It is possible, although these two are intertwined, it is possible that a man may be religiously forgiven and not civilly forgiven. You say, what in the world are you talking about? Well. There is a religious condemnation and there is a civil condemnation. You remember a number of years ago, there was a big uproar over this woman in Texas who had murdered, I think, not only her husband, but several other people. But then she had gotten converted and they were saying that she should now be forgiven and pardoned because of the fact that she was now a Christian and she should not have to face the death penalty. You remember that?
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Let me ask you a question. Can God truly save a murderer? What's the answer? Yes. Does that mean, therefore, that God's law is not to be executed against the murderer? No. You see, you may be religiously forgiven, but you still must face the penalty for your sin. So if I pull out a pistol, and I shoot Henry in front of everybody. The Lord would forgive me for that. But that does not mean that I do not face the death penalty. And when they execute me, I may be indeed converted by the grace of God, but I'm still to be executed because I'm a murderer.
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And the Bible says, whosoever taketh a life, he shall give his own life, forfeit his own life for it. Life for life. So you can have a religious forgiveness and not have a civil forgiveness. So you can have a legal condemnation or a civil condemnation and by the way, not have a religious condemnation or vice versa. Today in our land, a woman can have an abortion. There's no civil condemnation for that. But there is a religious condemnation for that. So here's this woman then.
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She acknowledges Christ as Lord. Evidently, there is indeed a real change in her life. And our Lord says, "Neither do I condemn thee." And look what he says. "Go and sin no more." So our Lord knew that she was guilty. She needed a religious forgiveness. She also needed a civil forgiveness, but there were no witnesses. And so, therefore, there was no trial. He had no choice but to dismiss the trial.
#80 | 49:58 to 50:26 | cleaned
Let me ask you a question. I want you to think about this. Here's the question. What do we do today as Christians for this sin that is so prevalent in our society? It indeed not only destroys families and personal lives, but it will in essence destroy society as well. Now the question is what remedy do we have left? You and I both know that the church does not have the power to execute the death penalty. The family does not have the power to execute the death penalty. Only the state now has the power to execute the death penalty. And what do you do when you have a reprobate state or a reprobate civil government that will not honor God's law, will not recognize God's law?
#81 | 50:27 to 51:31 | cleaned
I get so extremely frustrated when I hear of all these cases of child rape and child abuse. I've got news for you folks. I know how to stop that stuff. I can assure you the ones that are executed will never commit those vile acts again. But you see, the reason we have such an outbreak is they know they're not going to face the death penalty. They'll go to some asylum or some prison for a year or two and then be turned right out to do it again.
#82 | 51:34 to 52:15 | cleaned
But what can we do? Let me show you. Here is one answer. I want you to turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 5 and let's look at the first 13 verses. Here is what the church can do, but which most churches will not do. And the reason they won't do it is manifold, but it is certainly biblical. That is what you and I would call church discipline, and let me explain this very quickly, momentarily. Let's read the first 13 verses of 1 Corinthians 5. "It is reported commonly there is fornication among you, and such fornication is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. And you are puffed up and have not rather mourned that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. For I verily as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed."
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"In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, to deliver such an one unto Satan, for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth a whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump. As you are unleavened, for Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."
#84 | 53:15 to 53:47 | cleaned
"I wrote unto you in an epistle not to accompany with fornicators, yet not altogether with fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with the idolaters, for then must you needs go out of the world. Now watch, but now I have written unto you not to keep company with any man that is called a brother. Be a fornicator, or a covetous, or a idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner, with such an one know not to eat."
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"For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? Do not you judge them that are within, but them that are without God judges. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person."
#86 | 54:11 to 54:22 | cleaned
Now here was a man in the Corinthian church who was living with his father's wife. Undoubtedly, this was his stepmother. He said, Paul says, that this such wickedness was so great that even the heathen were not even doing it. Leviticus 18 and verse 8 specifically condemns this as incest. So it's not just simply adultery, it is incest, and of course it is here covered under the broad term fornication, and please remember fornication is a broad term.
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It covers many sexual sins and other sins as well. So here's a man then who is living with his stepmother. His father is still alive. It was his father's wife. And what does the Apostle Paul say? He says, "Put that wicked one out from among you." You exercise church discipline.
#88 | 55:04 to 55:34 | cleaned
Now, let me explain something to you. You see, in the early church they had to face this same dilemma. Do you know what term was used to describe those Christians who had been guilty of adultery but who had repented and was allowed back into the church, do you know what term was used to describe that group of people? I'll tell you. They were called the living dead. Why were they called the living dead?
#89 | 55:34 to 56:24 | cleaned
Well, let me show you. Murder is also a capital crime. Suppose I killed Joe. I murdered him. No one knew about it. No one ever found out about it. I was never prosecuted. I was never brought to trial. Does that mean that I'm going to escape the death penalty? No. Why? Because God is the judge, and the death penalty is still there, and I would be a walking dead man. In other words, God would execute that judgment in His own time. So the adulterers then, who had repented and were allowed back in church, were known then as the living dead because they realized that although the church had not the power to execute the death penalty, and the Roman government certainly wouldn't execute the death penalty over that, but they knew that God would.
#90 | 56:26 to 57:21 | cleaned
And so this is exactly what he says. You deliver such one to Satan. You put him out of the church that the body may be destroyed. And look what he says in chapter five and verse 13. "But them that are without"—help me out—"but them that are without God judges." He said, so you execute church discipline, you put him on the outside and you say, "God, until he repents, he cannot come in, and even when he repents, it is up to you to execute the judgment that you demand." You see, folks, church discipline not only is biblical, but there are indeed specific reasons given for it in the Bible. The purity of the church is one of them.
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The benefit of those who have not sinned is another. For the benefit of the one who has sinned is another. So the way the early church dealt with this is, like I said, they did restore those who had repented, but they recognized that they were indeed the living dead.
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Now, I want you to note two things today. How our Lord harmonized justice and mercy. Those two concepts are so difficult for us. You know why? Because some of us will take the attitude, justice, justice, justice. The others will take the attitude, forgive, forgive, forgive. You know, the man who wants justice many times has no mercy. The one who wants mercy many times will never demand justice. These two were balanced in our Lord. There is a time for justice and there is a time for mercy.
#93 | 58:35 to 59:26 | cleaned
And we must learn when and how to exercise those attributes. Here's a second thought, and this thought hit me like a ton of bricks last night. Do you realize that lawlessness cannot enforce the law. These scribes and the Pharisees, they were lawless, although they were the ones who had the law. They were lawless! You look at the mess that our judicial system is in in this country. Do you know why? Because most of our judges are absolutely lawless.
#94 | 59:29 to 1:00:16 | cleaned
They follow not the Word of God. They don't even follow the Constitution. And the reason most people are upset in this country is because there is no such thing as justice left any longer. I just read this week in an article a friend sent me. One IRS agent had failed to file and pay his taxes for five years until he finally got caught. And he said the reason he did not pay his taxes was to support his wife's spending habits.
#95 | 1:00:21 to 1:01:00 | cleaned
But he said that he had been a fool and he threw himself on the mercy of the court and the judge graciously gave him nine months probation. Now, let me ask you a question. If that had been you or I, do you think we would have gotten nine months probation? You see what I'm saying? If you've never read George Orwell's The Animal Farm, I encourage you to do that.
#96 | 1:01:06 to 1:01:32 | cleaned
Because the animals, you know, they made up all these rules. And Napoleon the pig is Snowball. Their first rule was this, all animals are equal. But when they drove the farmer out of the house, Napoleon and Snowball took over the house. The rest of the animals had to stay in the barn. But when some of the animals got discontented because Napoleon and Snowball had the house, they went back to read the rules. And the rules had been changed. All animals were equal, but some were more equal than others.
#97 | 1:01:34 to 1:02:08 | cleaned
That's the way it is today, folks. And lawless men cannot enforce God's law. If you start to think about the ramifications of this, lawless men will either be too merciful and not give justice, or they will be too demanding and not give mercy. A godly man who knows the law of God can give forth true justice under God. And then that would still not be without error sometimes because man is not omniscient. Only God is omniscient and only God can give forth what you and I would call true justice. But in John 8, Jesus Christ did not destroy the law of God, nor did he do away the death penalty for adultery.
#98 | 1:02:13 to 1:03:19 | cleaned
He just simply said, there's no case because there's no witnesses. And the only thing that he could give the woman was a religious forgiveness, which she received and evidently was changed by the grace of God. I pray that those who are in prison who are there lawfully and rightly and justly. When you stop and think about it, there's very few like that today, especially since prisons are unbiblical anyhow. But those who are there, I do pray that they would get a religious forgiveness, that is, that they would indeed find Jesus Christ. But just because someone finds Jesus Christ does not mean that if they're guilty of murder, then they go free from the death penalty. We've got to learn to distinguish between a civil and a religious forgiveness.
#99 | 1:03:20 to 1:04:24 | cleaned
It's absolutely amazing to me today that justice and mercy are so absent in our judicial systems. And people are so frustrated because they don't understand the lawless cannot enforce the law. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your grace. Thank you for your mercy. Thank you for your truth. We do ask, Lord, that You would teach us, that You would build us up in the most holy faith, enable us, Lord, to live for Thee, to be righteous and godly. May we indeed obey the totality of Thy Word and in this wicked and ungodly and licentious and immoral age live holy, righteous, moral lives in obedience to Thy law. In thy name we ask it, amen and amen.
#100 | 1:04:25 to 1:05:39 | cleaned

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-06T03:21:29Z

Christ and the Adulterous Woman

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

John Weaver expounds John 8:1-11, arguing that Jesus did not abolish the death penalty for adultery but upheld the law by requiring clean-hands witnesses. The scribes and Pharisees, themselves lawless, attempted to trap Jesus, but He exposed their hypocrisy by referencing the ordeal of Numbers 5. When the accusers departed, no civil case remained, and Jesus granted the woman religious forgiveness, calling her to sin no more. Weaver distinguishes civil and religious forgiveness and applies the passage to church discipline and the failure of lawless men to administer justice.

Opening

So let's look in John chapter 8 today, and let's read the first 11 verses. John 8, beginning with verse 1.

Scripture Reading — John 8:1-11

"Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives, and early in the morning He came again unto the temple, and all the people came unto Him, and He sat down and taught them. And the scribes and the Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery, and when they had set her in the midst, they said unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery in the very act." "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 Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. And when they 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. 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. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more."

Introduction and Context of John 8

Weaver introduces the controversial nature of John 8:1-11, noting it is often misunderstood and used to promote antinomianism. He emphasizes that biblical love fulfills the law, not supersedes it.

Scripture Reading — Romans 13:9-10

"For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet."

The Accusers: Scribes and Pharisees

Scripture Reading — John 1:14, 26

Now, let me just very quickly give you an overview of the first seven chapters before we come up to John 8. In every one of these chapters, you will find the scribes and the Pharisees mentioned. In John chapter 1 in verse 14, the scribes and the Pharisees were ignorant of John the Baptist, who was the forerunner of Jesus Christ. In fact, they sent messengers to him saying, "Who art thou?" They didn't even know who he was. Now, remember, the Old Testament had prophesied about John. So here the students of the law are ignorant concerning the forerunner of Jesus Christ. In verse 26 of chapter 1, they were ignorant of the divine presence in their midst. What did John say? "There standeth one among you whom you know not." And he was referring to Christ. So the scholars and the students of the Scriptures and the leading religious leaders of his day did not even know who Jesus Christ was. When you get to John chapter 2, you have there our Lord's first miracle. How many of you know what it is? What was His first miracle?

Scripture Reading — John 5

"Do you believe on him?" Now, the point I'm trying to make when you get to John chapter 8 now, it is the same group in verse 3, the scribes and the Pharisees that bring this woman to Jesus. The same group that caused all the heartache and all the problems and who were totally ignorant of the Word of God. Now they're the ones bringing this woman to Jesus Christ.

The Dilemma: A Trap for Jesus

Scripture Reading — Leviticus 20:10

"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."

Scripture Reading — Matthew 5:17

Now, if our Lord had said, "Let her go," he would have been accused, and rightly so, of violating the law of God. Because the law of God demanded that she be put to death. Moreover, what would you do with this claim of Matthew 5, verse 17? where Jesus Christ said publicly that He was come to fulfill the Law. So if Jesus Christ says, "Let her go," then they charge Him with violating the Law of God and violating His own Word. Now, suppose Jesus Christ said, "Stone her, put her to death." What is then going to be the understanding of the people? Because Jesus Christ was known as the friend of publicans and sinners. And certainly he would not be showing himself their friend if he said to stone them. Moreover, if you look in John 18 and verse 31, and this is where they were really going with it. Look in John 18 verse 31. John 18, verse 31, here's where they were really going with it.

Jesus' Response and the Ordeal of Numbers 5

The Clean Hands Doctrine

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 17:7

"The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death and after the hands of all the people, so shalt thou put the evil away from among you."

Civil vs. Religious Forgiveness

Application: Church Discipline and Lawless Judges

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 5:1-13

"It is reported commonly there is fornication among you, and such fornication is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. And you are puffed up and have not rather mourned that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. For I verily as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed."

Conclusion: Harmonizing Justice and Mercy

Christ and the Adulterous Woman

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	11815173090
Subject	Civil Government
Course	Civil Government: Magistracy, Authority, and Romans 13: Christian & Civil Government
Genre	Sermon
Date	2002-10-20
Dictation Name
Book	Book 008: Civil Government: Magistracy, Authority, and Romans 13 — Chapter 5
Source Timed Segments	100

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction and Context of John 8: Weaver introduces the controversial nature of John 8:1-11, noting it is often misunderstood and used to promote antinomianism. He emphasizes that biblical love fulfills the law, not supersedes it.
The Accusers: Scribes and Pharisees: The scribes (scholars of the law) and Pharisees (religious fundamentalists) are identified as the ones bringing the woman. Weaver reviews their failures in John 1-7, showing their ignorance and hostility toward Christ.
The Dilemma: A Trap for Jesus: The scribes and Pharisees interrupt Jesus' teaching, presenting a woman caught in adultery and demanding a verdict. Their goal is to entrap Jesus: if He says to stone her, He violates Roman law; if He says to release her, He violates Mosaic law.
Jesus' Response and the Ordeal of Numbers 5: Jesus stoops and writes on the ground. Weaver, citing Dean Burgon, connects this to the trial of jealousy in Numbers 5, where a priest wrote curses in dust. Jesus acts as High Priest, applying the ordeal to the accusers, who are convicted and leave.
The Clean Hands Doctrine: Jesus' statement 'He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone' refers to the specific sin of adultery. The law required witnesses with clean hands (Deut. 17:7; 19:15-16). The accusers, being guilty themselves, had no standing.
Civil vs. Religious Forgiveness: With no accusers, the civil case is dismissed. Jesus grants religious forgiveness, evidenced by the woman calling Him 'Lord.' Weaver explains that civil forgiveness requires restitution, while religious forgiveness does not negate civil penalties.
Application: Church Discipline and Lawless Judges: Weaver applies the passage to church discipline (1 Cor. 5), noting the early church called repentant adulterers 'the living dead.' He laments that lawless men cannot enforce God's law, leading to injustice in society.
Conclusion: Harmonizing Justice and Mercy: Jesus perfectly balanced justice and mercy. The passage does not abolish the death penalty but demonstrates that without lawful witnesses, no civil condemnation can occur. Believers must distinguish civil and religious forgiveness.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

The trap was based on a false dilemma

The scribes and Pharisees thought they had Jesus trapped between violating Mosaic law or Roman law, but Jesus exposed their own guilt, nullifying their case.

Weaver explains: 'If our Lord had said, Let her go, he would have been accused... of violating the law of God... If Jesus Christ said, Stone her... he's in trouble with the Roman government.'

Jesus' writing on the ground invoked Numbers 5

By stooping to write on the ground, Jesus enacted the priestly ritual of the jealousy ordeal, turning the accusation back on the accusers.

Weaver quotes Dean Burgon: 'Our Lord is observed to revive his own ancient ordinance after a hitherto unheard of fashion, the trial by bitter water... from Numbers chapter 5.'

'Without sin' refers to the specific sin of adultery

Jesus' condition 'He that is without sin among you' does not require sinless perfection but freedom from the same sin of adultery, in line with the clean hands doctrine.

Weaver states: 'He is not saying that an individual has to be perfectly sinless... Here's what he actually says... He that is without the sin among you... the sin of adultery.'

The accusers' departure proved their guilt

The scribes and Pharisees left because they were convicted by their own conscience, knowing they were guilty of the same sin and that Jesus could expose them.

Weaver says: 'They realized, Hey, we're guilty of the very things that we're accusing this woman, and he knows about it.'

No civil case remained without witnesses

Once the accusers left, there were no witnesses to prosecute the woman, so Jesus, acting as judge, had to dismiss the civil case.

Weaver explains: 'When the witnesses left, there was no one to prosecute the woman. What does the judge do when there are no witnesses against the man? He dismisses the case.'

Religious forgiveness does not negate civil penalties

A person can be forgiven by God and still face the death penalty or other civil consequences for their crime.

Weaver uses the example of a murderer: 'The Lord would forgive me for that. But that does not mean that I do not face the death penalty.'

Church discipline is the biblical response to unrepentant sin

When the state fails to execute justice, the church must put unrepentant sinners out of the fellowship, delivering them to Satan for the destruction of the flesh.

Weaver reads 1 Corinthians 5 and states: 'Put that wicked one out from among you. You exercise church discipline.'

Lawless judges produce injustice

Because many judges are lawless, they either fail to punish the guilty or punish without mercy, leading to societal frustration.

Weaver says: 'Lawless men cannot enforce God's law... most of our judges are absolutely lawless.'

Scripture References

John 8:1-11: The primary passage of the sermon, describing the woman caught in adultery and Jesus' response.
Romans 13:9-10: Used to show that love is the fulfilling of the law, not a replacement for it.
John 1:14, 26: The scribes and Pharisees were ignorant of John the Baptist and of Christ's divine presence.
John 2: Jesus' first miracle of turning water into wine; the nation was joyless.
John 3: Nicodemus, a Pharisee, came to Jesus dead in sins and needed to be born again.
John 4: The Jews were callous toward the Samaritans, showing their lack of love.
John 5: Israel portrayed as blind, impotent, halt, and maimed; the man at the pool for 38 years.
John 6: Jesus is the bread of life, but the nation was indifferent to the true bread.
John 7: Leaders rejected Christ as living water and sent officers to arrest Him.
Leviticus 20:10: The law demanded the death penalty for both the adulterer and adulteress.
Deuteronomy 22:22: Both the man and woman committing adultery were to be put to death.
Matthew 5:17: Jesus came to fulfill the law, not destroy it; referenced in the dilemma.
John 18:31: The Jews lacked authority to execute the death penalty under Roman rule.
Numbers 5:11-31: The ordeal of jealousy, which Weaver argues Jesus enacted in John 8.
Deuteronomy 19:15-16: Requirement for two or three witnesses to establish a matter.
Deuteronomy 17:7: The hands of the witnesses were to be first in executing the death penalty, implying clean hands.
1 Corinthians 5:1-13: Church discipline for a man living in incest; putting the wicked person out of the church.
Leviticus 18:8: Specifically condemns the incestuous relationship mentioned in 1 Corinthians 5.

Historical References

Dean Burgon's interpretation of John 8: Weaver quotes Dean Burgon, a scholar, who connected Jesus' writing on the ground to the ordeal of Numbers 5.
Early church term 'the living dead': Repentant adulterers restored to the church were called 'the living dead' because they recognized God would still execute judgment.
George Orwell's Animal Farm: Used as an illustration of lawless rulers changing rules to favor themselves: 'All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.'
IRS agent case: An IRS agent failed to pay taxes for five years and received only nine months probation, illustrating unequal justice.
Texas woman murderer case: A woman who murdered several people claimed conversion and sought pardon; Weaver uses it to illustrate civil vs. religious forgiveness.

Important Quotes

Biblical love is not sentimentalism. It's not emotionalism. It's not a funny feeling. It's not goosebumps. It's not overlooking sin. Biblical love is the fulfilling of the law of God.

Defines biblical love in contrast to antinomian misuse of John 8, grounding the sermon's hermeneutic.

He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.

The key verse of the passage; Weaver argues it refers to the specific sin of adultery, not sinless perfection.

Our Lord did not do away with the death penalty for adultery. What our Lord did was this. He fulfilled the law. Our Lord demanded what the law demanded.

Central thesis: Jesus upheld the law's requirement for clean-hands witnesses rather than abolishing the penalty.

There is no civil forgiveness without restitution.

Key distinction between civil and religious forgiveness, essential to the sermon's application.

Lawless men cannot enforce God's law.

Summarizes the problem of unjust judges and the need for godly leadership.

Neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more.

Jesus' words of religious forgiveness, coupled with a call to repentance.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

How does Romans 13:9-10 redefine our understanding of love in relation to God's law?

[Context]

Weaver argues that biblical love is the fulfilling of the law, not a replacement for it.

[Question]

In what ways do modern Christians resemble the scribes and Pharisees in using others' sins to trap or accuse?

[Context]

The scribes and Pharisees exploited the woman's sin to entrap Jesus, not out of concern for God's law.

[Question]

What does the clean hands doctrine (Deut. 17:7) teach us about our own qualifications to confront sin in others?

[Context]

Weaver explains that witnesses had to be innocent of the same crime to execute judgment.

[Question]

How should the church balance justice and mercy when dealing with unrepentant sin in its midst?

[Context]

Weaver discusses church discipline from 1 Corinthians 5 and the concept of the 'living dead.'

[Question]

What are the practical implications of distinguishing between civil and religious forgiveness in our legal system?

[Context]

Weaver uses examples of murder and theft to show that religious forgiveness does not remove civil penalties.

[Question]

Why is it dangerous for lawless individuals to hold positions of authority in the church or state?

[Context]

Weaver states that lawless men cannot enforce God's law and will either be too merciful or too harsh.

Applications

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