NO. 66 THE PARABLE OF THE WOMAN OF ADULTERY

TEXT: JOHN 8: 1- 11 1 Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.

2 And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.

3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,

4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.

5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?

6 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.

7 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.

8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.

9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last; and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

10 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?

11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.” (KJV)

Today I am going to give a message entitled “THE PARABLE OF THE WOMAN OF ADULTERY.”

The text passage of the woman of adultery is the story of forgiving our sins. The woman who is forced to stand among the scribes and Pharisees and is about to be stoned according to the law of Moses is not irrelevant to us. This is exactly our concern and deals with the problem how we can escape from the punishments as we are sinners and are duly destined to the death penalty.

We have here some strange description. That is, the Lord writes something on the ground. Strange to say, we do not know what He writes or why He writes.

But we know that this writing on the ground occupies the important meaning in the story.

For the Lord is writing the letters on the ground in the midst of the continuation of asking by the scribes and Pharisees.

So we know that it is the great point to understand the theme of the story that the Lord writes with His finger on the ground. What then does God like to tell us through this story? We are going to see it.

Though the story seems easy to understand, we may miss what the Lord likes to teach us unless we seek His wisdom because it is also written by His wisdom.

As God says that He uses parables in the Bible, many parables and riddles are written in it.

When we read the parables hidden in many stories with the wisdom of God, only then we can have understand them rightly. We see that we should not have the private interpretation or interpret the text only by itself. So if we refer to the other passages, we can interpret the text correctly.

When we refer to the other passages concerning the text, we know one thing. The Lord Jesus writes something on the ground with His finger, not fingers. And we find no other verse but the one in chapter 8 of John in the whole of the New Testament that He writes with His finger.

We now see the Old Testament. Then we find one verse where He writes with His finger. It is none other than the verse where God writes the Ten Commandments on the tables of stones.

EXODUS 31: 18 And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stones, written with the finger of God. (KJV)

Accordingly we know that the two passages are interrelated. And there must be some thing that the Lord who writes the Bible would like to say to us through these.

The Bible tells that God hides Himself and He does so actually. Yet He makes Himself not only hidden but also revealed to those who truly seek Him. For that reason we have to seek Him.

The Bible tells us that the Lord Jesus is God Himself not in the open but in the hidden way so that He will make Himself known only to those who seek and hear Him. There is other verse similar to this, which is the verse in chapter 18 of John where He says of Himself to the people who try to catch Him, “I am he.” This saying is the same as that in chapter 3 of Exodus where God says to Moses concerning His name, “I AM THAT I AM.”

On that ground the Lord Jesus tells of Himself who He is in the hidden way. He has suggested that He is God Himself using the name of God given to the people of Israel.

It is expressed not in the open way but as in the pattern as hidden in the words. The pattern is that He reveals Himself to those who truly seek Him but hides to others who do not.

Consequently this is one of the principles of the Bible that He is found to those who truly seek Him and is not know to others who do not.

The same principle is applied in the text of the woman of adultery. So the hint is given to those who truly seek Him. It is the “finger.”

The Lord declares of Himself who He is with His saying, “I am he” in chapter 18 of John. The band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees may intend to catch Him. But He says that He is the same One who says of Himself, “I AM THAT I AM,” to Moses when He is asked of His name in the past. And He says that here is the One who has delivered all the Israelites from Egypt.

And He says of Himself in the text, too, with the expression of “finger.” He says that He is no other than the One who has given the law to Moses in the past.

We come back to the text now.

“And the scribes and Pharisees brought him a woman taken in adultery; and 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: what sayest thou?”

The question is about how Jesus can save her who is clearly commanded to be stoned to death according to the law of Moses.

“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 they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.”

They continue asking Him at first with the firm belief that they are qualified of the judgment. But later they go out of the place one by one. They notice that they have sins and so are not qualified of casting stones to the woman. Why do they realize their sins though they at first try to judge her? What happens then during the time? Jesus says at that time, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” And then He stoops down and writes on the ground.

For this reason I think that what He writes on the ground is the law. For the law offers conviction of sin to people.

“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.”

We become guilty only when we have the accusers. But at this moment there is no one who judges the woman as guilty. She is delivered from the judgment.

His word to her, “Neither do I condemn thee,” is the very grave one. The One who gives the law to Moses declares the forgiveness of sin. Therefore the forgiveness of our sins is perfect. And we have been forgiven our sins by His blood that is paid for us.

Let’s do the will of the Lord all the time.

End.