This week’s suggested reading: John 8
This week’s question to ponder: Think of a time when you personally deserved judgment, but you received grace. Then ask yourself, how might I show grace to someone who “deserves” judgment?
John 8 begins with a section of Scripture that wasn’t in John’s original manuscript. John 7:53-8:11 started showing up in the manuscripts closer to the 4th and 5th centuries. Why? Most likely this section was a story about Jesus that got passed down through oral tradition, eventually added to the written manuscripts. That said, it’s a powerful display of Jesus’ grace and truth. So let’s dig in.
Beware. God's law is love.
Picture the scene. Jesus is teaching in the temple when the religious leaders bring a woman, who was “caught in the very act of committing adultery,” to the center of the room. They make her stand there in front of everyone as they ask Jesus if they should stone her like the law of Moses commanded. “This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him.” (John 8:6)
But Jesus doesn’t answer their question. He doesn’t say, “Yes, you should stone her. That’s what the law says, so let’s do it.” Instead, he bends down and writes something in the dirt. Then they keep questioning him until he replies, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” (John 8:7b)
He then bends down and writes in the dirt again. We don’t know what he wrote but it must have been something pretty powerful. Then they go away, leaving Jesus and the woman. Jesus asks her, “‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.'” (John 8:10-11)
Lemme tell you. Humans love to be right. We looooooove to be right. We all love a good “I told you so” moment, even if we keep it inside ourselves. It just feels good to our pride. And these religious leaders loved to be right. They essentially held up the law and pointed, “See! Shame on her! According to the law she deserves to die!”
But remember, Jesus didn’t come to condemn. (See the post for John 3) We’re already condemned apart from Jesus because we can’t possibly obey God’s holy law perfectly. We just can’t. So we’re already condemned before a holy God – me, you, our neighbors, our pastors, this woman, the Pharisees, and everyone else who has ever lived on the planet. That’s why we need an intervention.
Jesus came to fulfill the law, not destroy it. He came to redeem us from the consequences of our sins. He literally came on a rescue mission for mankind. The law reveals our sin. Jesus came to pay the price for our sin by dying in our place. It’s miraculous. So when we use “the law” as a means to shame others or prove ourselves right, we’re truly missing the point.
“13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 15 But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.” (Galatians 5:13-15)
People like to hold up laws and shout, “See! She’s wrong! Now kill her!” People especially like it if they feel it’s justified by God. But if you and I call ourselves Jesus followers, we must take this as a warning. We must be careful that we do not hold up the letter of the law in efforts to condemn another, while missing the purpose and spirit of the law. Because the spirit of God’s law is love.
It's possible to deceive ourselves into thinking we know God, when we don't.
The remainder of chapter 8 details a conversation between Jesus and the Jews in the temple. And bottom line, many could not see Jesus for who he was. They claimed to be God’s children, evidenced by their fervor to uphold the law and all of the religious things they did. Yet Jesus exposed what was actually happening in their hearts.
“Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God, and now I am here. I did not come on my own, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot accept my word. You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is from God hears the words of God. The reason you do not hear them is that you are not from God.'” Ouch.
Jesus boldly addressed those who claimed to be children of God yet didn’t believe Jesus’ words. And in this text, Jesus goes so far as to say that their father was actually the devil, the father of lies. This had to have been highly highly offensive to their religiosity.
Here’s the thing. The “father of lies” still works in the world today. He still deceives and leads astray. The bible describes him as a “lion seeking whom he can devour” with lies. (See 1 Peter 5:8) And just because we say we follow Jesus, doesn’t make us immune to his lies. In fact, it may even make us more of a target.
That’s why it’s vital that we spend time with Jesus. It’s vital that we sit with his words and look closely at his actions. It’s vital that we prayerfully sift our thinking through the teachings of Christ to see if (and when) we too are believing lies. Because the warning remains: we as humans can be deceived into thinking we know God when we don’t. And y’all, that’s truly sobering.
In Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus says, “21 Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”
Just because we do a bunch of things “in his name” doesn’t mean we know him. Just because people that lead us do a bunch of things “in his name” doesn’t mean they know him. The invitation from Jesus is simple: believe in Me and you will be saved. And the fruit that will grow in our lives from believing in him is love.
