 Yes, good morning once again and we'll begin with the word of prayer, alright? Maybe we can have one of the students pray for us. If we could have Charles pray for us please. Alright, can you hear me? Oh yes. Alright, let's breathe and pray. Even further we thank for this one for morning to say thank you for bringing us together again. We thank you that you have programmed this to happen. Before the time was made, you knew it and that you would be meeting for this important topic about the book of John. And as we study the book of John O Lord, yes, he stayed with you. He knew you. He was speaking from the true evidence. He touched you. He stayed with you and Lord we pray that through that we'll be able to stay with you in the spiritual realm and be able to understand you fully and be able to even give that information to the people that you have given us that we are shepherding. We thank you that we are here. We pray for connections, that the internet will be stable and that the gadgets will be fully charged and we'll learn exactly what you wanted us to get for the growth of your name and the good of your people. For in Jesus name we print believe. Amen. Amen. Thank you so much Charles. We'll begin. So we have now covered in our study of John up to John chapter 7. So we would now be moving into John chapters 8 and 9 today. Our goal is to finish these two. So we would actually begin with John chapter 7 verse 53 because if you were to see in most of your Bibles, John chapter 7 ends with verse 52 and then when they begin chapter 8, they tend to put the last verse of the previous chapter here with John chapter 8 and some Bibles will even put this first portion of chapter 8 in brackets and then there would be a footnote down below with an explanation about why they have placed that particular portion in brackets. So we are dealing with that controversial passage right now. So John chapter 7 verse 53 up to John chapter 8 verse 11 which would be the passage of the woman who was accused of adultery and who was brought before Jesus for judgment. So this is the passage that we are dealing with and as it is explained in the footnote of some of our Bibles and also as it is explained in many commentaries, this particular passage, they say is not present in many of the very early Greek manuscripts which have been found. So some people wonder whether this is really inspired scripture or whether this is just something that was added later on. So there's a slight doubt regarding whether this should be accepted as a historical event that really took place or not because the most ancient manuscripts that we have available to us today, many of them do not mention this particular passage and there are some later manuscripts where it is mentioned but again they too use brackets or asteric marks to kind of indicate that there is some level of doubt regarding this passage. Also there are some manuscripts where we have this particular passage being included somewhere else in the Gospels. So there's one manuscript where we have this particular passage of the Lady caught in adultery. It's mentioned after Luke chapter 21 and in other manuscripts it's mentioned after John chapter 21 or maybe John chapter 7 in one manuscript. So these are all things which raise a doubt regarding the historicity of this particular passage. Now what should we conclude? Should we take this as an incident that really took place or should we dismiss it as something that somebody just came up with a story that someone came up with thinking it would sound nice because there were many other writings about Jesus time and these were written even later in the second century and even beyond that. So should we take it as that kind of a story or should we accept it as a historical reality? Now nobody really knows because there's no evidence so we cannot 100% say that this did take place but at the same time we cannot deny and say no no no we know for sure that this is a false passage. We cannot say that either. So my personal opinion regarding this in this passage we don't see Jesus saying or doing anything which is contrary to the things which he says and does in the rest of the Gospels. So it is quite possible that this passage is accurate. He stays in character, the words that he speaks, the actions that he does is very much in line with the way we see him operating in all of the other Gospels. So yes it is quite likely that this passage is historically accurate and this is an incident which actually took place. On the other hand if someone says how can we really accept this because the earliest manuscripts do not mention it if someone were to say that. Again it's not really a loss because the things that Jesus says and does in this passage he says and does those things even in other passages which have historical backing. For instance here he turns the tables on the leaders, the scribes who have come to trap him. He turns the tables very successfully upon them. He shows mercy to a person who has been living an immoral life and he gives her a second chance. We see him doing that in other Bible passages as well. We see him as a God who reaches out to the sinful and tells them not to live in sin any longer but to change their ways. So we see him doing that in other passages as well. Even if someone says no no we should not look at this passage at all. It is not such a great loss because the things that he says and does in this particular passage he has said those things, he has done those things even in other passages. So we would probably have to leave it at that because nobody has any clear proof regarding this particular passage. This one thing that some people say, they say that the writing style of this particular passage seems to be a little different from the rest of this book of John. For instance they talk about how when they accuse the people who want to trap Jesus, the leaders who want to trap Jesus, when they come over here to meet him, they address him as teacher. So they say in the book of John it is always the disciples who address Jesus as teacher and Nicodemus who had begun to believe in him and who was hoping for confirmation that he is really the Messiah. When he comes he too addresses Jesus as teacher but in the book of John nobody else ever addresses Jesus as teacher so they say maybe to somebody else who wrote this particular portion. So these are all just technicalities that they bring up but most scholars accept the fact that this is scripturally accurate and inspired simply because even in the later manuscripts where they were not sure whether to include it or not they did include it and put an asterisk mark or a bracket or something over there to indicate that there is some slight doubt regarding it but they did not want to just do away with it because they felt that this is a true passage. They did not want people to miss out on the teaching which can emerge from this passage. They were very reluctant to just discard it. So we see it preserved, we see this particular passage preserved in so many manuscripts in spite of the fact that they are putting a bracket over there. So when they felt so strongly that this probably is true maybe it's quite alright for us to accept it as a historical accurate passage. So coming to the passage itself we will just quickly go through the verses and see what we can learn. So if we could have maybe one person read out for us John chapter 7 verse 53 up to John chapter 8 verse 6. Yeah I think that would be good. 753 up to 86. Before we get into the passage as such I'm so sorry it's just that I forgot last time to mention this and I did not want to repeat the mistake again because once we start with the passage everything else just goes out of my mind. This is regarding the assessments. The first assessment will be posted next week. So just kind of keep an eye. Those of you who are on the e-platform and who will be looking at this video later you would get a notification in your e-platform saying that assessment one has been posted which would be multiple choice questions. So you will get a notification. The same for those of us who are right now in the Google Classroom. I will be putting it in the stream page. Notification saying that now the assessment one has been posted and you will get about two weeks to do it. So that would be more than enough time. So no hassles. It will not be difficult at all and you just have to take the correct answer. So sometime either this weekend or next week depending on how things go for me with my schedule I will be posting it. So without fail if not over the weekend at least by next week midweek it will be there. So you can take a look at the assessment one and just stick the correct answer as it's all just multiple choice. So with that out of the way and you are another thing that I really wanted to say many of you have posted wishes for Teachers Day in the stream page. Thank you so much. I really appreciate that. Thank you. So yes, let's get back into John. If someone could read out this passage for us please. John chapter 7 verse 53 to chapter 8 of verse 6. And everyone went to his own house. But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Now early in the morning he came again into the temple. Now all the people came to him and he sat down and taught them. And the scribes and the Pharisees brought to him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst they set him teacher. This woman was caught in adultery in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stored. But what do you say? These they said testing him that they might have something of which to accuse him. But Jesus stood down and wrote on the ground with his finger as though he did not hear. All right. Okay. So it says very clearly in verse 6. They were using this question as a trap in order to have a basis for accusing him. So most probably they were hoping that things would go in a particular way where Jesus would probably want to show mercy. They have seen Jesus track record. He's been very friendly with people who have still not got their act together even though they have been living in sin. He has been reaching out to them in love and he has been giving them a second chance rather than just speaking judgment upon them immediately. He has advised them to go forth and sin no more and he has given them another chance to repent and turn to God. So there's a chance that even here in this particular case, he will probably want to show mercy to the lady caught in adultery. And if he does that, if he takes that route, they want to be able to accuse him and say, which means you're not following the law of Moses. You who consider yourself a teacher of the law, you are not following the law of Moses. They can take that line of accusation. On the other hand, he says, yeah, we need to respect the law of Moses and obey it. So let's go ahead and stone her. If he were to take that route, then they would be able to get him into trouble with the Roman government. Because the Romans had not given Jews the permission to execute people except in one or two cases where there's very serious temple violation. So the Roman government has allowed them that little bit of leniency where when it comes to very serious temple violations, like someone actually going into the holy of holies or something really atrocious like that, then you are allowed to give a death sentence. The Jews, the Jewish leaders are allowed to give a death sentence in such a case. But generally, no, they are not allowed to kill anyone on religious grounds. So if Jesus says, let us go ahead and fulfill the law of Moses by stoning her, then they can use that as an accusation and get him into trouble with the Roman law. So this is the trap which they set for him. And one point which people generally make regarding this particular story, they point out that it is only the lady who was brought. Whereas the man who participated in the adultery, he's not brought over there. He's just allowed to just leave, escape judgment. So most probably they did not bring him because like it says very clearly in verse six, this was meant to be a trap. Which means they would have requested the man to participate in this conspiracy. And if he's brought over there and if he opens his mouth, then their entire game would be up. So because it's something which they have generated a conspiracy which they have set up, they do not want the man over there. They do not want Jesus cross questioning him and exposing the truth. So they do not produce the man. The man is just allowed to escape and leave. On the other hand, the lady of course is produced because she's the pawn that they are using to capture him if in case they are able to capture him. So we see that and the verse six is interesting because we see what Jesus' response is to this trap which has been laid out for him. So it says in the last part of verse six, but Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. So what is Jesus' response? His response is literally zero. He doesn't even bother addressing their question. He just continues doing whatever it is that he was doing. Now there are a lot of explanations given for this and everyone has a right to their own opinion simply because again we do not know what he wrote. If we knew what he was writing, then we could maybe say something specific. But then as it's not revealed over here in this passage as to what exactly he was writing on the ground, we will have to come up with our own conclusions. So this is my opinion regarding this. I believe that at dawn it says in verse one, at verse two it says, at dawn he appeared again in the temple courts where all the people gathered around him and he sat down to teach them. So Jesus came over there to teach the people and the people were eager to hear and so they have come and they have gathered around him. And so the teaching session begins and then when the teaching session is going on, these people come to lay their trap. So I believe that Jesus was just continuing to do what he was doing. He was writing on the ground something that he wanted them to see, something that he wanted to teach. For instance, I mean when I was a child and my father would teach me mathematics, he would not just explain with words, he would take paper and pen and start writing down all those digits over there and then show me how to do my multiplication and my division and all of that. So we demonstrate, we write it out so that people see what is being written and they learn. So Jesus had come over there to teach and I think he was in the process of writing down on the ground so that people would read what he is saying and so that he can explain those things better to them. For the simple reason that back then they did not have white boards, they did not have PowerPoint presentations. So and using a papyrus to write down and explain what I've been a highly expensive thing because those papyrus roles were very, very expensive and Jesus was not a rich person. So he would have just written down on the ground, maybe that particular portion of whatever words he is teaching them and then they would be able to read it and memorize it. The people who have come there to learn would read those words and memorize it. So I think here Jesus is just deliberately ignoring these people and the question that they have come up with, they ask their question and it says, but Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger completely ignoring them and they don't know what to do. So they go on pestering him. Verse 7 says, when they kept on questioning him, then he straightens up and then he says one sentence to them. So we see that. So maybe we can have someone read out verses 7 and 8 please. Verse 7 and 8. 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 stood down and wrote on the ground. So Jesus does not have anything much to say on this issue. He just has one sentence to say and then he again stoops down and continues with his work. So he knows the intentions of their heart and so it's a very clever sentence that he comes up with. So he says, anyone who is without sin, which actually is an unfortunate translation, it doesn't really bring out the word which is used over there. Because the word that is used over there is whoever is blameless, whoever is without fault, let him throw the first stone. So for us to understand what on earth is Jesus talking about, a person who is blameless, a person who is without fault, he should throw the first stone. What on earth is Jesus talking about? It's just basically telling them what they already know from the Old Testament scriptures. These people who have come over here to lay the trap would have done their reading up on the Old Testament scriptures on what are the exact laws regarding adultery and what are the procedures regarding punishment. So I'm sure they've done their homework and come and they're well aware of what scriptures Jesus is referring to. So we who are not that familiar with these things would have to take a look at that. We could have one person read out Deuteronomy chapter 19 verses 16 to 18, please. Deuteronomy 19 verses 16 to 18, where it talks about the kind of witnesses who should be bringing an accusation. Deuteronomy 19 verses 16 to 18 says, if a false witness rises against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing, then both men in the controversy shall stand before the law, before the priests and the judges who serve in those days. And the judges shall make careful inquiry and indeed if the witness is a false witness who has testified falsely against his brother. So here it's talking about how there should be no false testimony involved. So you should have blameless witnesses bringing charges. So if they are saying that they have witnessed this sinful crime and they want to bring charges against the accused, they should be a true witness, they should not be a false witness. And so Jesus says, let anyone, any of you who is blameless, who is a genuine true witness, let that person start off the proceedings by throwing the first stone. Now it's ironic because I mean Jesus knows what kind of witnesses they are. This is something that they have planned beforehand. So they are not genuinely coming over here out of concern for the righteousness of God. This is a trap which they have set. So he knows what kind of witnesses they all are. They are witnesses who have schemed and conspired against him and now they are over here. Now Jesus is not saying that this lady has not participated in the adulteries, very much aware of the fact that she has committed a sin. So he is not saying that they are bringing a false story. He is talking about what kind of witnesses are they on the inside, with what motive have they come over there. So he says, anyone who is blameless, who is genuinely a true witness, let him begin the proceedings. So now you see he's turned the tables. Now they wanted him to say something or do something. Now he is saying, okay fine, you go ahead and you do what needs to be done now. So now the people who are standing over there ready to see how Jesus responds, they are in a tight spot. They are in the same tight spot into which they wanted to put Jesus. Now if they actually begin to stone her, they could get themselves into a lot of trouble with the Romans. On the other hand, if they say, no it's okay, let's leave it, then that same accusation can be made against them saying, oh they are disobeying and ignoring the law of Moses. So now it's their turn to act. Jesus has said now the ball is in your court, you go ahead. The first or the one who is the most genuine witness, start the proceedings, get going. And now they do not know what to do. And so we see the response in verse 9. If we can have one person read out verse 9 please. Could I have someone read out verse 9 please? Verse 9, then 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 and the woman standing in the midst. I really don't think the original wording had the words whose conscience was touched or something like that. That probably is the English translation trying to bring out, trying to explain the passage because it just says those who heard, they began to go away one at a time. So that portion about their conscience is being pricked. I mean we can just look it up in Bible Hub. I think most of you are familiar with that. It's a free software. You just go to Bible Hub and you type in your scripture and you ask for the original Greek and it would show up there. And I'm pretty sure there's no word about conscience or anything like that mentioned in the original. Just basically those who heard began to go away one at a time. And the older ones are the first ones to leave because I'm assuming the older ones, the elders would be the ones who would have mainly come up with the whole scheme. So now they realize that their scheme has flopped. So they leave the scene and then the rest of them, well with the leaders gone, what do you do? So they also leave. So I'm assuming that's basically how the story ends and then Jesus is left standing there alone with the woman. Now if Shai has raised a hand, please go ahead brother. Yes Ma, thank you. I don't know if this would be a diversion, but you mentioned that at this time when this story happened, it was unlawful for the Jews to stone anyone. I'm also just fast-forwarding to Stephen. What happened? Why then did they stone Stephen? If the Roman Empire was still in charge at that time? So I just wanted to get clarity on that or was it that that was a greater punishment and you were allowed to do that or what was just the difference? Just for clarity. I really do not know at all. This is just me making assumptions. When Jesus rose from the dead and all this talk began to go around that he has risen from the dead after three days and it created quite a stir and we have all these secular writings where you have secular historians recording this later on maybe about 50 years, 60 years, even 100 years later in their historical records where they talk about how the followers of this Christus is the term that they use, the Greek name. The followers of this Christus have started off with this myth about how their leader was raised from the dead and they are creating havoc everywhere and so for all of these secular historians the way they write their writings they regard these Christians as troublemakers who are creating confusion and disruption. So a lot happened after the resurrection. The entire nation of Israel was shaken up and for the Romans this was like a very they did not really know how to deal with the situation and so you have Jews rising up in certain places and beginning to attack the Christians saying you liars look at the fake stories that you are coming up with and then the Romans would have to quickly go over there and bring calm to the whole situation so a lot was happening and things were rather volatile so in that scenario is when Stephen's stoning happens so at that time there was a lot of communication between the emperor and the officers, the Roman officials stationed over here in Israel where we have I mean I am not prepared for this so I don't really remember the details you have one emperor who responds and says don't go too far, don't get too strict with all these riots be lenient, be considerate is the letter which one emperor sends to the official stationed over here on the other hand you have another emperor who writes saying I am glad that you are taking strict measures if they need to be killed go ahead and kill them so a lot of confusion is happening civil unrest is going on over here in this nation suddenly and the Romans don't know how to control the situation and the officials, the top officials are desperately sending letters to the top management in Rome asking for advice on what to do, how to proceed and the emperor is sending back letters saying let's do that so in that kind of scenario Stephen's stoning happens where things have already started getting out of control but before that in Jesus' times things were still calm, quiet the unrest began with Jesus coming up to them things were very much under control and things were peaceful with Jesus coming of course the unrest has already begun because you have people saying Messiah we have to accept what he says and then there are others who are kind of getting and they are saying no, no, no how can he be the Messiah and so already there is a little bit of unrest going on but things are still quite under control as far as the Roman admin and the Roman law and order is concerned so they would have been more careful about picking up stones and stoning someone but after the resurrection things got really difficult because the Jewish leaders can literally feel their hold slipping away I mean they were in power they were in a very good position where nobody could say anything to them and things were going really well but now you have this Christians rising up and a lot of people are now believing in what they are preaching about the gospel and people are turning to Jesus and the Jews are just losing their power, their position and so they began to really stir up the crowds trying to cause unrest trying to cause this riots and all of that and so they were desperate they were no longer thinking about how will the Romans react right now their immediate thing is let's do whatever it takes to get back into power and stay in power and just subdu this Christians because many of them are not very influential maybe we can just subdu them and finish them off so a rather long explanation sorry but I am just thinking stoning when things were peaceful would have had much greater implications and I would have been afraid to take the step but after the resurrection when things got really hot at that time they would not have been that careful about whom they are stoning, why they are stoning which is why Pope Paul gets beaten up and he'll treat it so many times and the law really doesn't do much to help him so there was a lot of civil unrest after the resurrection Thank you so much Pastor and I just wanted to add that I kind of as you were talking support what you were saying because even the resurrection of Jesus Christ the report of the Romans was actually falsified alongside with the Jewish leaders so there must have been a good cooperation between the Romans and the Jewish leaders in actually taking out of the Christians just taking them off the same so yes thank you so much for the explanation I just support what you were saying Thank you Thank you So yeah it's true they both had a common goal the Romans wanted peace they wanted things back to normal and of course the Jews definitely wanted things going back to normal so that they can hold on to their power and continue as they were earlier Alright So you finally have the last two verses 10 and 11 where Jesus says Has no one condemned you? No one sir she said Then neither do I condemn you Jesus declared Go now and leave your life of sin so he does not condemn her he does not judge her and speak judgment upon her immediately just like in the Old Testament and just like in all the earlier passages which we saw in the other gospels we see that Jesus is willing to give a second chance to people to repent so why does he not condemn her because he is giving her a chance to repent he is definitely not saying that he supports what she is doing no he is not supporting her sinful behavior he is just giving her a second chance to change her ways and so he advises her Go now and leave your life of sin Yes Did someone wanted to raise a question because they just heard a voice Alright we will go ahead Oh yes we will come to the passage was 12 onwards if you see in the previous chapter we were looking at the Feast of Tabernacles where you had the water being poured out on the altar every day during the Feast as a reminder of how God provided them with water in the wilderness and Jesus rises up and says I am the living waters Yes Moses once upon a time interceded on your behalf and water was given to you in a miraculous way but that was just physical water I on the other hand can give you eternal waters and Jesus declares that I am the living waters Now here that same story is continuing because this incident of the woman in adultery has been kind of trust in over here and it's not exactly the right place which is why some manuscripts try to put it at the end of the Gospel of John because at least over there it doesn't clash with the timeline with the storyline here in verse 12 onwards you have the Feast of Tabernacles thing going on it's continuing and so now the water part Jesus has referred to now we come to the light part where it talks about the light and if we could have one person read out verse 12 we can have the light of life Yes so the Feast of Tabernacles had a lot of very lovely ceremonies attached to it one of them of course was the pouring out of the water onto the altar each day as a reminder the other was this setting up of these large what do you call them lamps is it I mean lamps doesn't really explain it they call them in the modern English you know the lamp with those seven stems which they would light up now these were not exactly normal lamps which you can place on a table these were 75 feet in height four of them with all the lights lit up I mean the candles would have been lit up and so they would be rather high in height and probably each candle would not just be a candle but in a real flame a very large flame so this would really brighten up the entire temple area so this is something that they would light up those four large huge candles would be lit up and this would be a reminder to the people of how in during the wilderness journey the Lord had led them as a pillar of light so this was supposed to be a reminder of that so now here Jesus is saying yes at that time when your ancestors came out of Egypt the Lord led you through a pillar of light but now I myself have come as the light of the world so whoever follows me will never walk in darkness back then in the wilderness they were kept from stumbling they were kept from going in the wrong direction by that pillar of fire which was there to light up the way and now Jesus is saying I am doing the same thing for you I can do the same thing for you if you will believe in me and follow me so he says those who follow me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life he will give them the correct direction to go in with them from stumbling and falling he will expose the wrong things which are there inside them so that they can correct them and rectify them so he will be their light if they choose to follow him and it is also interesting one point which was there in your textbook about the connection between the word and the light so it says in your textbook since Jesus is the word it makes perfect sense that he is also the light because in John 11 Jesus is established as the word he was the word and he was with God and he was God so Jesus is the word and the Old Testament clearly explains to us what the word does this whole light aspect that the word has because in Psalm 119 verse 105 it talks about how your word God's word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path so and also in Psalm 43.3 it talks about how the Psalm is just crying out and saying send out your light and your truth so the light and the truth the light and the word they go together it is through the word that God lights up the path for us and he keeps us from stumbling so in that sense the word and the light go together so now here Jesus is declaring and saying I am that light I am that word which can light up your life and keep you from stumbling therefore follow me and of course the Pharisees do not want to do that and so they begin their arguments once again okay we are kind of running out of time if one of us could read out verses 13 and 14 please verse 13 and 14 so the Pharisees said to him you are bearing witness about yourself your testimony is not true Jesus answered even if I do bear witness about myself my testimony is true for I know where I came from and where I am going but you do not know where I come from or where I am going yes so they say the accusation which the Pharisees make is you are saying that you are the light that you are equal to the pillar let lit up the path for us back then but this is just your testimony these are just your words you do not have anyone else backing backing up what you are saying and earlier when kind of an accusation was indicated at that time in chapter 5 Jesus says you know I do have 3 witnesses who can testify that what I am saying is true over here he does not refer immediately to those witnesses he just says even if there were no witnesses I have every right to declare this by myself because of where I am from because of who I am you know so he says I know where I came from and I know where I am going because I am from heaven not from the earth so because I am from heaven I have superior knowledge to you I know more than you people who have only a human limited mind but because I am from heaven I know things and I can say things which go beyond the requirements of needing a witness and all of that so he says that he says I can give my own testimony because I am not from here I am from heaven and I know all things but then after that he again you know refers to the father as a witness so he does use that argument as well later that would be verses 15 to 18 if we could just have someone very quickly read out those verses 15 to 18 we will comment on that and then we will take 15 to 18 world you judge according to the flesh I judge no one yet even if I do judge my judgment is true for it is not I alone would judge but I and the father who sent me in your law it is written that the testimony of two people is true I am the one who bears witness about myself and the father who sent me bears witness about me yes so Jesus says over here the in your law in verse 17 in your law it says that if two witnesses are saying something then it is accepted as true and over here it is not just two human witnesses who are saying something the father is saying this about me that what I am saying is true and I myself who have come from heaven I am giving my witness so if two human witnesses are adequate then two divine witnesses are most definitely adequate and you should accept what I am saying as true and moreover he points out in verse 16 okay verse 15 he says you judge by human standards I pass judgment on no one but if I do judge my decisions are true because I am not alone I stand with the father who sent me he is saying no I never do any judging on my own I always depend on the father and do it in line with what he I know wants done and so he is saying my judgment and my testimony and my witness is always accurate because I do it in line with what the father wants I am not acting on my own so in this way Jesus supports his argument that he has a right to declare that he is the light of the world so maybe we can go for our break and then resume you know the verses after that so let's take a quick break thank you