 So today, let's begin reading here in John's gospel in chapter seven I'll read verses 53 in chapter seven and verse one in chapter eight And then I'm going to be moving into really looking at verses two through eleven, but verses 53 and verse one are really introductory comments that I'll be making to lay the Foundation for the study that we'll be looking at today found in verses two through eleven So beginning at verse 53 in John 7 and reading at verse 1 in John chapter 8 John writes everyone went to his own house but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives and So when you look in chapter 7, which we're not going to do but were you to look into chapter 7? You see that the Lord Jesus Christ has been ministering. He's been ministering all day And so at the end of the chapter the day is now concluding and evening has come and the people that he's been ministering to are now beginning to disperse notice how it says in verse 53 everyone went to his own house and So people were going to their own houses, but verse one Jesus went to the Mount of Olives so on the Mount of Olives is a place there that's called the Gardener Gethsemane and This garden was more than likely owned by one of Jesus's followers See the Jews didn't have gardens in the city They had them in outside of the city because it was not lawful for them or not permissible for them To to use fertilizer and things like that within the framework of the city so they would have their gardens outside and so people would own private gardens and They had this particular garden there in this region called the Mount of Olives The garden was called the garden of Gethsemane again more than likely owned by one of Jesus's disciples and His disciple would offer him the use of the garden whenever he had need now by this time It is a place that Jesus often went to if you were to look at John 18 verses went into its mention there How that in verse 2 Jesus often met there with his disciples so this particular garden is a garden that Jesus went to often and So it was owned more than likely by one of his disciples and Jesus would stay there when he was in Jerusalem on occasion Now what the contrast is when it says in verse 53 everyone went to his own house He goes on to say but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives While others returned to the comfort of their homes Jesus walked to a garden This is because he had no place of his own no home of his own So he would use that which was offered to him in Matthew 8 verses 19 and 20 It reads a certain scribe came to him and said teacher. I will follow you wherever you go Jesus said to him foxes have holes birds of the air have nests But the son of man has nowhere to lay his head And so Jesus lived a life that was set apart He didn't own things of his own, but he relied on the on the giving of those who followed him This kind of life that he lived though gave him a deep personal and physical understanding if you will of the needs that human Beings have and Jesus as you read your scriptures Is a person is a man who went through everything and Every kind of thing that you and I go through it you read your Bible And you see that there are things he experienced that gives him insight and understanding to us From a human level physical experiential insight He suffered for example with fatigue. He got tired just like everybody else in John 4 verse 6 It says that Jake Jacob's well was there Jesus therefore being worried from his journey sat thus by the well was about the six hours So Jesus experienced physical Fatigue he went through grief. He went through rejection. I say at 53 verse 3 says he's despised and rejected by man A man of sorrows acquainted with grief. We hit as it were our faces from him. He was despised We did not esteem him. So Jesus went through fatigue. He experienced grief. He knew what rejection was like He suffered through loneliness John 16 verse 32. He said the hour is coming Yes has now come that you will be scattered each to his own and will leave me alone Yet I'm not alone because the father's with me So he went through those things and he knew the pain of betrayal Psalm 41 verse 9 even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted who ate my bread Has lifted up his heel against me. And so I'm saying all of that to lay a foundation Jesus Christ Understands us. He's gone through what we have gone through it gave him a deep personal understanding of our needs and Though he owned everything he created all things He didn't demand that people care for his needs in second Corinthians 9 verse 7 Paul said it like this He said leap let each one of let each one give as he purposes in his heart not grudgingly or of necessity For God loves a cheerful giver And so he used that which was freely offered to him With that said that's beginning to give us kind of an insight into where he is Jesus went to the Mount of Olives and he spent the night there now early in the morning verse 2 He came again into the temple and all the people came to him and he sat down and taught them Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to him a woman caught in adultery when they had set her in the midst They said to him teacher this woman was caught in adultery in the very act now Moses in the law Commanded us that such should be stoned, but what do you say this? They said testing him that they might have something of which to accuse him But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with his finger as though he did not hear So when they continued asking him he raised himself up and said to them He who is without sin among you let him throw a stone at her first and again He stooped down and wrote on the ground Then those who heard it being convicted by their conscience went out one by one beginning with the oldest even to the last Jesus was left alone and the woman standing in the midst when Jesus had raised himself up and saw no one but the woman He said to her woman. Where are those accusers of yours as no one condemned you? She said no one Lord and Jesus said to her I do and he stoned her. No, he didn't say that Yeah Jesus said to her neither do I condemn you go and sin No more I want to look at that with you today. I don't condemn you go and sin no more The next day it says in verse 2 early in the morning Jesus is out at the temple It's a daybreak and he's beginning to teach the people and those who were hungry for His teaching came to him to learn and the words that Jesus Christ spoke Were so profound that people were willing to get up early and to make the trek to that temple Just to be there with him as he shared Now there were reasons why they would come and listen to him his way of teaching had an authority That was unlike any other rabbi on one occasion in Matthew chapter 7 verse 29 Matthew says that he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes You see when Jesus would teach the word of God, he didn't quote other rabbis He didn't quote the the teachers in the past as as the rabbis during that day would you see the rabbis of Jesus time when they Were teaching would say as Rabbi Shama I have said or as as Rabbi Hillel has said or whatever Rabbi Gamaliel has said they would quote other rabbis They would quote the writings but not Jesus Jesus would say you have heard it said of those of old but I say unto you and when Jesus would speak like that They said this man has authority. He doesn't speak like the other people. He doesn't teach quoting others He is the authority. He taught them Matthew says as one having authority not as the scribes And when he taught people would be gripped by the things that he had to say no one ever spoke words like this man earlier in chapter 7 They had sent some some officers to arrest Christ and they had come back But they hadn't arrested Jesus and the Pharisees were upset and it says in John 7 45 The officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees who said to them why why have you not brought him and the officers answered? No man ever spoke like this man So when Jesus would speak people would be spellbound They would get up early to go hear him to hear the gracious words that proceeded out of his mouth They wanted to hear this man with his incredible heavenly wisdom that he would give to them They got up early in the morning. They went to the temple. He showed up They were there waiting for him so that as he would share the words that would proceed from him would feed their hungry souls I can still remember in the early days of my Christian faith when we were going to church We'd go to Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa. These are the days before there was a church Building as we have today. This is before there was a tent that was put on in a bean field This was down the street in a small chapel and the chapel was built to hold maybe 300 people But you had to get there early for the evening service Because you wouldn't have a seat and there were times that there were 100 200 people sitting on the floor 300 people seated in the in the chairs and 200 of us scattered in the floor Then they had to open up the wall and they had to put glass walls there They put speakers for us to be able to if we came in late And you know what late was late was if the service of seven o'clock late was being there at seven That was late because you actually stood in line to get into church And that's what would happen with Christ when Jesus would speak his authority and his profound words and and the Graciousness in the way that he spoke in love and and and the power of the Spirit were all there And so the people would show up and they went early and this is early in the morning at day break It's six six thirty in the morning or so and they're they're waiting for him as he's teaching and he's sharing with them Speaking with that authority speaking with that eloquence gripping those people as he speaks Isaiah gave a prophecy related to Messiah It's found in Isaiah 50 verse 4 and it says the Lord God has given me the tongue of the learned That I should know how to speak a word in season to him who's weary. He awakens me morning by morning He awakens my ear to hear as the learned And so the words of life that he poured out attracted them They came to hear they would listen and they wanted to know there were times that they would stay with him for days at a time You remember when he he multiplied the fish in the loaves He did that after he'd been there with them for so long that the he said I don't want him to leave this place because they may faint along the way We need to feed them they would be there to listen to him because the words of life that poured out of him were worth listening to and So these words of life are what they've come for and it says again in verse 2 early in the morning He came again into the temple all the people came to him He sat down and taught them when a rabbi was speaking words of That were heavy he would be seated as he taught and so it would show reverence for the word of God and the Importance of it and so as he was speaking he was giving them lessons But at this moment he's about to give them a visible lesson a visible lesson about God He's going to reveal to them something He's going to reveal to them in a very practical way that that God is loving that God is gracious that God is forgiving And that God is merciful and And the way this lesson is going to come about is is in the way that he he tashes He treats a woman a woman who was caught in the act of sin He's not going to minimize her sin by the way, but he will amplify the power of forgiveness You see the way he's going to deal with this woman is going to reveal God and it's also the way we today Who are representatives of the kingdom of God? It's a way we are also to treat others who have entered into sin He's not minimizing her sin, but he is amplifying the power of forgiveness The church is the body of Christ and the world is to see Jesus as we live out His word by his spirit in their presence When they look at us They're to see a representation of what God and his grace and forgiveness Actually produces in a person's life We're supposed to be used by God to reveal to the world What the invisible God is like in the Old Testament the scripture taught that that they were not to make a graven image There were no idols to be produced by the Jews because we worship the invisible God in the New Testament God said this is what I am like by taking upon himself human form and dwelling amongst men So that they may behold him filled with grace and truth So they might wonder at the gracious words that came from him and the church Who's been born again into the family of God is intended to reveal that to a world that doesn't see God And so that's one of the reasons why our lives being transformed Are such evidence that God is real our light so shines before men that they they behold our good works And then they glorify our father who is in heaven So the church is supposed to teach the world What God is like Now there are members of the church who who who Present God as kind of like a tolerant grandfather So he looks down upon earth and he sees the sins of men anything that a professing believer does is just fine with him Well when they teach like that it gives a rise to a lack of convictions and no personal holiness But on the other hand there are those who present him as mean and overbearing is a tyrant filled with anger And if you step out of line he'll deal with you severely And that's produced angry professing believers who teach that God's always mad about something The result of both camps is people reject God because of his professing followers And that has led to more antagonism Open antagonism towards God as well as those who say they represent him Perhaps some of you may have read or heard this last week or so There was a minnesota state university associate professor by the name of eric sprankel Who suggested that the virgin mary did not consent to being impregnated by God and thus God violated her Yeah, this professor wrote this is a tweet Tweet what an odd word, but anyway, this is a tweet We used to have a bird called tweety bird, but anyway the virgin birth story Is about an all-knowing all-powerful deity impregnating a human teen There is no definition of consent that would include that scenario. Happy holidays He also wrote the biblical god regularly punished disobedience The power difference between deity versus mortal And the potential for violence for saying no Negates her yes So this just came out. I think was last week now Richard Dawkins some of you have heard him perhaps you've heard of him or read His writings Richard Dawkins is a well-known atheist. He wrote a book called the god dilution It was published in 2006 and this is what Dawkins wrote Dawkins said the god of the old testament Is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction Jealous and proud of it a petty unjust unforgiving control freak a vindictive blood thirsty ethnic cleanser a misogynistic homophobic racist Infanticidal genocidal Phyllicidal meaning he killed his own child his own child Pestilential megalomaniacal Sadomasochistic capriciously malevolent bully And so that's what Richard Dawkins says about god And that's what eric sprankel says about god atheists. And that's what many people think about god that is megalomaniac that he's He's he hates everybody's homophobic, etc So the question has to be asked is it true is this what the bible teaches about god Is what they're saying about god true Well in this incident before us We're going to see jesus teach them about god in a very practical way And he's going to teach them about the mercy of god And he's going to teach about the abundant forgiveness found in him You see in the old testament book of daniel in chapter nine verse nine Daniel said to the lord our god Belong mercy and forgiveness Though we have rebelled against him When you read the writings of of john the apostle The apostle john wrote the gospel of john First second and third john as well as the book of revelation And when you read his writings You'll discover that that john gave us what are called three definitive statements about god John 4 24 he said god is spirit And those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth In first john 1 5 he said god is light And in him is no darkness at all In first john chapter 4 verse 8 he writes he he who does not love does not know god for god is love So he said god is spirit god is light god is love and what we're going to see with jesus He's going to teach him about truth and light and he's going to show them what love is He's going to reveal to the people what god is like Because because god is a god who hide it himself therefore he needs to be revealed And jesus is going to reveal his father to these people And so it says again he sat down and taught them verse 3 The scribes and Pharisees brought to him a woman caught in adultery and when they had set her in the midst They said to him teacher this woman was caught in adultery in the very act And so jesus is teaching very similar to what i'm doing now He's seated his audience is listening he's sharing about the lord And then suddenly there's a disruption Suddenly there's these people coming in and you can imagine it's very loud What's going on is very distracting and they're entering into that portion of the temple that outer court where jesus is teaching And as they come in they're disrupting everything and they come and they bring this woman It says in verse 3 that they brought to him a woman caught in adultery and they set her in the midst And said teacher this woman was caught in adultery in the very act And so as jesus is teaching this disruption takes place And the scribes and Pharisees have come with a woman when you read your bible and it says scribes The scribes are the the legal experts. They were the they were legal experts in the law of moses They were students of the law of moses and they were teachers of the law They were the phd's the theological trained people the Pharisees The Pharisees speak of a religious group. It's like a denomination of Pharisee the word Pharisee means the separated one And they were known as the hyper legalistic overly outwardly righteous people of the day There were a small amount of them. They're only had about 6 000 Pharisees They were centering most of their activities around jesuslam But they had a tremendous amount of influence and so the legal experts the religious people come and they're dragging this woman Before the lord jesus christ notice verse 3 says they brought a woman to him that they had caught in the act of adultery Now just the day before these leaders had tried to have jesus arrested that they were foiled But their failure didn't deter them. They continued trying to find a way to accuse him Now this is taking place during the feast of tabernacles And so that's a religious group and there are a lot of people who are present But notice how john says they brought to him this woman. He uses the word brought He says they brought that word brought means to compel to seize forcefully. It speaks of them dragging her It's not as if she was just walking calmly in other words They had her probably one arm one had one arm the other had the other and they're dragging this woman as she's coming in Before the lord she's not coming on her own free will she's being dragged when they speak to her to him about it About her in verse 3 it says it says they brought to him a woman caught that word caught means to grasp eagerly They grabbed her in the very act of sexual intercourse And when it says they set her that means they they forced her to stand still in front of everybody So this woman is dragged in Forced to stand as they shout out the accusation Jesus is teaching about god and what god is like and what god wants to do in people's lives And then they begin to accuse her. She was caught in adultery in the very act Now when they say that That means that there were at least two people who had seen her in the act of sexual intercourse If they did not have eyewitness, they could not make this accusation You see adultery and that's what they're accusing her of is a capital offense It required witnesses to determine if it was true In deuteronomy 1915 It reads a single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he's committed On the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be Confirmed and so they caught her these at least two in the physical act of intimacy And they bring her in charged with adultery And adultery is a grievous sin. It is prohibited by the seventh commandment Exodus 20 verse 14. You shall not commit adultery In jewish thinking it was one of the three gravest sins along with murder and idolatry A liberal commentator by the name of william barkley said Every jew must die before he will commit idolatry murder or adultery It's sexual intercourse With a married person other than your spouse It was recognized As a great moral crime Bringing destruction to man's relationship with god And man's relationship with others Because adultery destroys families The framework of society Throughout the scriptures from the old to the new it is a serious sin and god warns against it Hebrews 13 14 for example marriage is honorable among all and the marriage bed undefiled But fornicators and adulterers god will judge It's a very serious sin in the eyes of god And so they're bringing this test case to jesus and notice in verse five how they say moses in the law commanded us That such should be stoned. But what do you say? So they introduced their case by appealing to scripture Moses says they should be stoned to death So they're appealing to scripture. There's a philosopher by the name of pascal who said this He said men never do evil so completely And cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction And so they were speaking moses said Such should be stoned to death Now verse six makes it very clear They said this testing him That they might have something of which to accuse them And so basically they put him in what would be called the horns of a dilemma Moses said this what do you say if he says Well seeing that moses says that she should be put to death Then I say she needs to be put to death now if he says that Then they'd have an accusation to lodge with the romans because the jews Didn't have the right to conduct capital punishment without the authority of rom According to john 1831 when they had brought the the Pharisees had brought jesus before paunch's pilot It says pilot said to them you take him judge him according to your law But the jews therefore said to him it's not lawful for us to put any man to death We don't have the freedom to do that So if jesus said well then stoner then they could say he's violating roman law But if he says let her go then he breaks the law of moses as they understand it he'd be a heretic He's disregarding the law of moses and so they could say he does not value the word of god And so what you see is their concept of authority as well as their concept of scripture Authority is wielded with severity. It's used like a hammer The scripture is used to harm people And not only that but you see what they think about people She's just a test case She's not even a real person Notice how it says that again in verse five moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned. What do you say? Such should be stoned. They don't even see her as a woman. They don't see her as a person They see her as a thing They see her as this kind or this sort They don't care about it. You see the way they they feel about people because they humiliate her in public They accused her in public and they condemned her in public what they're doing is setting a trap and they want to spring this trap on him Someone said when the wicked go about to make a snare for good men They make a snare for themselves And that's what's about to take place So as this is taking place here notice verse six where it says But jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with his fingers though. He didn't hear So when they continued asking him he raised himself up and said to them He who is without sin among you let him throw a stone at her first And again, he stooped down wrote on the ground And so jesus acts as if he's not even listening to them He stooped down and writes on the ground So his initial response seems to be ignoring them You see he knew more of what she was like than her accusers ever could They knew her actions But he knew her reasons jesus knew her story And what it was that resulted in her involving herself in this kind of sin By ignoring them. He's given him time to think You're demanding the death of a person The taking of a human life is never a light decision But as he's there not responding initially verse seven says well, they continued asking So by his lack of response, perhaps they thought that they had caught him. So they're pressing him But when they continued asking him he raised himself up and that's when he said if you're without sin throw a stone at her In his answer he reminds them that they're not appointed and recognized judges They were citizens who didn't have the legal right to make this kind of demand. They weren't judges They couldn't determine punishment What they were doing was assuming the right to make this judgment. So seeing that you're not a judge Jesus speaks of the qualifications to judge. He says only those who have not committed serious sin like this sin should put her to death As this is taking place, let's look at it a little bit and ask ourselves some questions Had any of these men ever lusted after a woman? Had any of these men ever committed sexual sin themselves? and if so Would they be willing If they hadn't ever done any of that would they be willing to put her to death? Or if they had would they be willing are they sinless themselves? Listen, if you're appealing to the law of moses, you need to remember what the law requires In deuteronomy 17 verse 7 it says the hands of the witnesses must be first in putting him to death Are you ready to take that stone and cast it at her? And as he's asking and they're thinking Again at verse 8 he stooped down and once again he wrote on the ground This is the only time recorded in the new testament by the way that Jesus is recorded as Writing anything. It's the only time that you ever see him writing It reminds us of the ten commandments When you look in Exodus chapter 32 and other passages that speak of this You'll see that when moses was given the commands He was given two tablets Two sets The first four commands related to man's obligation to god the next commands Related to man's obligation to man And the two tablets you see man's relationship with god as It informs his relationships with other people And then these law and prophets are all wrapped up in this one command. Thou shall love your neighbor as yourself So I find it interesting that is recorded that he he wrote And the question is being asked now What is he writing? He wrote twice. What is he writing? Because he's stooping down And he's writing it may be that in the time that he's taking to do this He's showing a bit of mercy to her accusers giving them time to think And there are a lot of a lot of people who wonder what is it that he could have been writing? Well, obviously when scripture is silent, we really don't know We don't want to impose on scripture that which we don't know It has been wondered out loud though whether or not he might be writing the command that they're appealing to It's a possibility of course Leviticus chapter 20 verse 10 Could be that command, but here's what the command says The man who commits adultery with another man's wife He who commits adultery with his neighbor's wife The adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death Where's the man? If you want to appeal to scripture And you want to put a woman to death And you're asking me to judge And you quoted moses saying such should be stoned Then here's my question to you Where's the man? Because the law if you want to appeal to it isn't just against the woman The law was against sin Sin Committed by a man and a woman And we all know and it hasn't changed a whole lot and here in the 21st century That women And men very often don't pay the same penalty The man Sleeps with the woman and goes off with his buddies does whatever he wants Doesn't think anything about it Whatever But the woman pays the price Always has Probably always will It's a woman who worries about getting the venereal disease It's the woman who concerns herself whether or not her honor has been lost It's the woman who has to face her parents when she comes home if she's still living at home It's the woman who may get pregnant And the man he just goes off and does whatever he wants And I'm not talking down on men. I'm simply saying that's a fact That's what happens guys don't pay anything close to what the woman pays when it comes to intimacy like this And so here's the woman standing there and who knows how she's dressed. It says she was caught in the very act I wonder if they gave her the the time to to at least be dressed. We don't know It's not that they would take her out nude I'm certainly didn't but perhaps she may have just had enough time to grab a rover something She's there with the shame you can't imagine. I can't imagine Just think about it if if if that happened here in this room right now If those doors burst open in the back and somebody was being dragged here up the aisle and everybody would be Be seated in and shocked disbelief and there's and they said liquor you talk about a god of love Well, this one here. It just was What do you say? And how would she feel because very often we don't really even think about how that young lady would have felt How did she feel? You know, one of the things that I I have grown to To grown over the years in this is is to have a love and a compassion for those who've been caught in sin like this I can't imagine the shame she would have felt But I also have gone so far as to begin to think what was her life like because during the time Of christ the idea was that a that a woman would one day She would she would be betrothed to a man The man would pay a dowry for her because he'd valued her He would give her a great wedding She would she would be loved. She would have babies She'd be a woman of of respect in her community Those were the things that they aspired to they wanted to be a great wife and a great mama They wanted that And and many women to this day still do We still see little girls who who no matter what we try and say oh They'll decide whether a boy or a girl later. Oh, no, they don't there's something deep within them That the little girl will play with a doll and play house and and and and we we've seen that Raising our daughters. We have granddaughters. We've seen that where they want to get married one day I have little granddaughters who're talking already about one day when I get married and I'm saying no, you're not Not getting married. No, you're not, you know, oh, it's going to be my baby Nobody's going to marry you but you know that that's already in their heart to be a mama to be a wife and this this young lady guys What makes her any different What would make her any different That all of the young ladies that and little girls she grew up with and we we have to put Ourselves in that place for just a moment to to try and understand where compassion comes from I mean something happened in her life something hurt her deeply Something that made her willing to do what she was doing And we could talk about sin nature and how we have a propensity to do that Which we desire and to violate god's law because we have sin that's wrapped up within us. Of course, that's all true There are circumstances that lead to choices that lead to lifestyles And this young lady made a series of choices in a small arena of friends and acquaintances to the degree That she ended up in the temple More than likely half dressed in front of a jewish rabbi and a crowd being accused by religious leaders Of being a whore that should be put to death moses Commanded us it is this suggestion. He commanded us in the law that such should be stoned. What do you say? We don't care about this woman It's not this woman we're worried about We were watching her because she had a reputation. That's how we were able to burst in on her while she was in the very act It was a sat up And we were able to take her and we caught her and we are eyewitnesses and the law says she must be put to death What do you say? And this woman had no dignity She was not being cared for or loved in any way shape or form She was a victim of what these men were doing It's interesting how it says in verse nine After he had said if you have no sin be the first to cast a stone at her and he's right in on the ground It's interesting how verse nine says those who heard it being convicted by their conscience Went out one by one beginning with the oldest even to the last And jesus was left alone in the woman standing in the midst From the oldest to the last why the oldest at last because the older we get the more sins we've committed There's no center like an old center So when you're younger and i've seen this would be true in my own life as a younger man I was much more rigid As I grew older I grew more merciful Because the longer you live the more you understand that bad decisions are made Bad decisions are made and sometimes they weren't made because you wanted to sometimes they were made because Circumstances gave you permission to and you yielded to the temptation rather than praying and seeking the lord You made your mistakes and your sins and you know it as you grow older You eventually get to the point where you like that man who was standing next to that south righteous man That jesus speaks of when he said he just kept pounding on his chest saying be merciful to me I'm a sinner you get to that point in life after a while where you realize You're not as good as you think you are you're not as good as you thought you were when you were a kid As you grew older you had greater opportunity And so you can almost see these guys with with with these heavy stones in their hand And one by one you can almost hear those stones as they release them and they start hitting the ground Until there's the younger ones who are still standing there because the younger ones Don't think they're that bad But the olders were older were convicted by their conscience From the oldest even to the last Time and failure is supposed to combine to produce self-awareness Time and failure self-awareness Should produce humility Because I know that i'm a failure So what's going on here? Well jesus is working within the law without accusers. There's no punishment In john 8 17 it's written in your law that the testimony of two men is true And so what he's doing is he's frustrating their plans Job 512 says he frustrates the devices of the crafty so that their hands cannot carry out their plans And that's what he's doing And now it says in verse 9 second portion that jesus was left alone in the woman standing in the midst It is not said that all the people went out but only her accusers So jesus is teaching us how to act in the face of sin How do you act? You act with an offer of grace to the sinner What is my attitude to be like towards them? well Gracious Because it says in verse 10 when jesus had raised himself up Saw no one but the woman He said to her woman Where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you? No one lord And so jesus said to her neither do I condemn you Go and continue in sin No, he didn't say that He said go in sin no more Go in sin no more How did he respond? Grace Is there anyone here accusing you? I could almost say I'm he was he was 33 years old, but as an older man I would probably have said is no one accusing you baby Because I call the younger women that I work with baby because I like my my daughters And I see them that way. I actually have told them because I have young some young staff members And I'll say you don't mind me calling you that do you I said I'm not some lecherous old guy Going ahead, baby, you know, I I just call my my daughter's that I call my granddaughter's that I it's just an endearment Is that okay? Oh, yeah, that's okay. Okay fine. I just don't want you to think I'm weird You know, but I can hear the tone of christ. I guess that's what I'm trying to say That's no one accused you Where are your accusers? Have you ever heard that? I have I have Where are your accusers? I've got plenty of them, but I don't accuse you What's that do to you? I don't accuse you No Go and sin no more. He's not giving her permission to stay in sin. He's not saying go back to your lover He didn't say that See, this is one of the areas the church needs to grow in You're not giving someone permission to continue in sin. You're giving them grace so they can be free from it And that's what jesus is doing here He didn't teach that adultery was was acceptable. It's not it's a grievous sin It destroys families and there's eternal punishment because of it No, he wasn't giving permission to sin. He's giving her freedom from its power And that's what grace does It sets you free from sin's power Sin shall not have dominion over me Because i've been set free by the blood and power of jesus christ, you see That's how it works in the christian life and that's what we offer other people He offered her grace. He offered her forgiveness go. He says sin no more Don't continue in sin any longer And what is he doing? He's getting he's setting this woman free The one whom jesus sets free the sense that's free is free indeed He's setting her free, but he's also modeling god in front of the witnesses who are there He's showing them the god that we worship isn't this brutal tyrant who violates weak human beings will He's a god who loves who draws us According to jeremiah 31 3 The lord has appeared of old to me saying yes, I have loved you with a everlasting love therefore with loving kindness have I drawn you Jesus in luke 1910 said the son of man has come to seek and save that which was lost What do you teach in us lord? to be compassionate to be understanding But to walk in a holy way If any man be in christ, he's a new creation all things are passed away behold all things have become new You don't go back to the vomit. You don't go back to the mud You go into the light you walk with christ your life is changed by the grace of god christmas So many people say no it's about family Getting together eating a little too much maybe drinking a little more than you should That's christmas No, it's not Christmas is god with us God's showing us what the invisible god is like A god of love and mercy who is willing to take upon himself human flesh that he might pay the penalty that I owed I have sinned and fallen short of the glory of god But god took upon himself my sin and he set me free That's Merry christmas That's why we say merry christmas because the baby who was placed In a manger who was also placed on a cross And then he was placed in a tomb But on the third day he rose from the dead And he ascended into heaven and he sends the spirit to dwell within those who love him He transforms our lives through the grace mercy Compassion and forgiveness of god and so when jesus was there And these people were saying tell us what god is like he showed him God is full of mercy and compassion filled with grace and love and he forgives And he does not condemn and he sets you free to live for him so that you not only walk on this earth But you can leap and praise god in heaven He walked not only on earthly streets, but one day you'll be walking on streets of gold And you'll be thanking the lamb who ever lives for the salvation and mercy He showed to you because of his goodness to man That's the god that we serve not an angry vindictive god But a righteous loving father who gave his son so that i might know him That is the god that i praise that is the god of my mercy We need to remember that we need to remember that Every day