On His Judgment
John 8:1-11 presents the story of the woman who was taken in adultery by the Pharisees to give them a reason to accuse Him of not following the laws in judging her or to show Him as a leader with no mercy if He let her off the hook. He taught at the temple, as He frequently did, and He drew a crowd of eager listeners. This, of course, threatened the established order of things and gave the leaders a reason to want Jesus to be looked on unfavorably. Always remember this. In your life, Satan is going to want to destroy anything you are doing that is successful in drawing people to God. Christ was doing this, and Satan used the pride and haughty spirits of the Pharisees to try to stop His good work.
The scribes and Pharisees brought a woman who was caught in the act of adultery. According to the law, both parties should have been brought. I don't know if the man in question was too big and tough for them to manhandle before Jesus, too important to be coerced to join in their schemes, or what. But the scribes and Pharisees started off on the wrong foot by only bringing the woman to Jesus. They knew that by the law the parties would have to be stoned if guilty, and being caught in the act made it clear the parties were guilty. Perhaps friendship got in the way or some other reason, but regardless, they were wrong. They shouldn't have been looking in windows to catch them either, but that's another sermon.
So when they asked Jesus what He thought, they expected an answer that they could use against Him in some way. The Holy Spirit prompted Jesus to write with His finger in the dirt on the ground instead of verbally answering them. Listening to the Holy Spirit is something we all need to do a better job of. When people are trying to trap you, being silent is sometimes the hardest thing you can do. There's an inherent need to fill the quiet that is tough to stop.
Nobody knows what He wrote on the ground. Maybe He wrote the name of the man who should have been there. Maybe He wrote names, places, or dates that would have meant something to those around Him. Perhaps He wrote scripture. Maybe he just doodled. But His only verbal answer to them was that whoever thought themselves sinless should be the first to cast a stone. And then He wrote some more. "What did Jesus write?" might be one of the top 1,000 questions people ask when they get to heaven. Maybe we'll just get a FAQ to read through...
But having said that, He waited. The Bible doesn't say that what He wrote made a difference in pricking their consciences. But the Holy Spirit began to work on the accuser's hearts, and pretty soon the oldest decided he wasn't going to cast a stone at the lady. Then another decided he too wasn't worthy to cast a stone. That continued until only the woman was left with Jesus. Also left unsaid was what all the people who were listening to Jesus teach thought as the oldest on down slowly shook their heads and walked away from the woman.
When Jesus stood up and saw everyone else had left, He asked her where her accusers were... She replied that no man was left to accuse her. I suspect the Holy Spirit was working on her heart at the same time as the accusers, and possibly she was also very aware that Jesus was the Messiah and with His connections to God, He could certainly accuse her if He chose.
But Jesus showed mercy, and told her He wouldn't accuse her either. But, just to be clear that He knew she was in the wrong, He told her to "Go and sin no more." As we struggle with life's ups and downs, we need to keep this story in mind. God sees everything that we do. He knows our motivations, just like He knew the motivation of the scribes and Pharisees who were accusing the guilty woman. But His nature is to love us. He wants us to turn from sin and turn to a life that is acceptable to the Father. He would say the same to us, perhaps frequently... "Go and sin no more."
Nothing more is said of the woman. We don't know whether or not she took His advice. Hopefully she passed on Jesus words to whoever she was involved with, as they needed to straighten up as well. If you're caught up in adultery, put an end to it. And that doesn't mean get a divorce so you can take up with the new flavor of the month. Pray that God will fix whatever is broken in you or you spouse. Separate for a time if you need to do so for safety purposes. But remember that God's view of divorce is not the currently popular view. Figure out how to honor your wedding vows again. Find the love you once had. Learn to forgive. Cheating on your spouse isn't the answer. Figure out how both of you have changed over time and figure out what needs to happen to become the person the other loves again. With God, all things are possible.
On His Witness
After all the woman leaves, and He resumes teaching, I think He pivots from the example they had all just seen to a teaching moment. In John 8:12-19 He touches on light and on issues of judgment. First, He declares Himself to be the light of the world, and says that those who are following in His path won't be in darkness, but will have light of life. This can be taken two ways. In the first, to follow Christ means that you won't be living a life of sin. You will literally be light inside instead of dark. But additionally, it means that Christ can light up all that is around you so that there is no darkness to ensnare you. He can also reveal all the hidden stuff with the light of the Holy Spirit.
In possible defense of those fellow Pharisees who had just been put in their place, the Pharisees who were still among those listening to Jesus told everybody else nearby that all the things that Jesus was saying didn't matter because He didn't have any other people backing Him up. The Pharisees all backed each other up in their joint understanding of the law. If you listened to them, you were getting the benefit of generations of teachers who had all studied everything carefully and wouldn't lead them astray. They should just come to the synagogue instead of listening to random people on the street!
I would suggest that it would be wise to examine all you hear on a youtube street corner and all you read on a Christian website just as carefully. Hopefully, like Christ, the places the Holy Spirit prompts you to investigate will back up what they say with scripture. If what you read is consistent with God's Holy Word, then you are on generally safe ground. But always remember that Satan can quote God's word verbatim if he wants to as well. And he can also change it subtly to deceive and will do so whenever he can. Study the word and read. Draw close to the Holy Spirit as you read and listen to His prompting. The Holy Spirit will never lead you astray.
Christ goes on to say that it was essentially not His time to judge men on the earth, but that if He were to judge, His judgment would be completely fair, unbiased, and true, because of the fullness of the Holy Spirit that was in Him. Even though the words of one person weren't enough to condemn or judge under the law, Jesus life was backed up by the Father Himself, so there were two bearing witness of everything Jesus said and did. The Pharisees assumed He was speaking of Joseph, and wanted to know where Joseph was if He was claiming his father as a witness. Jesus rightly declared that they didn't know Him or the Father, because if they had recognized Him as their messiah, then they would have know the Father in heaven as well.
On His Origin
In John 8:20-30, Jesus confuses the Pharisees listening to Him further. After just telling them that the didn't know the Father in heaven, He tells them that He was going to continue on in His Father's appointed course, and even though they would seek Him, they wouldn't find Him. This prophecy was partially fulfilled at the end of the chapter, and more fully fulfilled at His death which He alludes to in the following verses.
If they really knew that He was the messiah, His warning that they would die in their sins would be a terrifying thought to them. That is one difference between the Old and New testament lives of the believers. In the Old Testament, salvation came from blood sacrifice. After the people and the priests gave their offerings, their sins were covered. The hope, then and now, was that you would live a sinless life after each offering for all time, and of course most people failed at that, and had to have another sin sacrifice. But they just had the words of the law to guide them and to try to live by. We can have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to help us to stay on the right path after accepting Jesus as the sacrifice for our sin. We aren't perfect either, and just as in the Old Testament, we may need God's grace to cover us, even as Christians now and the Jewish people then had to do until the next sacrifice. But it is much easier now to pray for forgiveness when we fail. Whether that is a good or bad thing is a subject for long debates. All I know for sure is that if we sin with less fear due to the easier method of grace, we're doing it wrong.
The confused Pharisees thought Jesus was saying He was going to commit suicide, as they thought that the only place that Jesus could go that they couldn't follow would be a death that they couldn't countenance. But they clearly didn't follow what Jesus was saying, and He laid it out for them telling them that they were from Earth and He was from Heaven. He told them flatly that if they refused to believe in Him, that they would die in their sins. So many today fall into the same category as the Pharisees. Many have heard of Christ, but they are carnal and don't understand or want to understand the Spiritual. They may know who Christ is, just as the Pharisees of that day knew who Christ was, but not be willing to accept Him as their Savior. Without that acceptance of His sacrifice for them, so many today who know of Christ, will also die in their sins.
Probably, His insistence that they would die in sin, combined with all those who had walked away instead of stoning the woman, got under their skins, and they demanded to know just who He thought He was. He told them that after He was lifted up, meaning after He was crucified, they would understand who He was. Clearly, the earthquake, darkness, ripping of the veil to the Holy of Holies, to say nothing of testimonies of all the hundreds of people who saw Jesus after His resurrection, would be enough to change many hearts and lead many more to understand just who Jesus was. Many people believed on him at this teaching.
This section ends with a famous verse that is quoted for many purposes other than preaching the Gospel. "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.". Sometimes it's paraphrased as set you free instead of make you free. But the precept is the same. Knowing the truth is the only option to be set free. As long as you are comfortable living in your carefully constructed jail cell of lies, you won't even know that you need to try to get free. But when you are exposed to the light and the truth of Christ via the Holy Spirit, you can see the bars that surround you much more clearly, and the shadow they cast on your soul. At that point, Christ can set you free. It is up to if you choose to enter the jail cell again once you've walked out after Jesus opened the cell door. Be strong and don't go back.
On His Father
In John 8:33-47, the Pharisees rise up in pride and declare themselves to be children of Abraham and not in bondage as slaves. Of course, they were subjects to the Roman Empire at the time, so their haughty statements really didn't hold much water even there. But they weren't technically slaves to Rome. Just in complete subjection to them. Jesus tries to shift the focus to the spiritual, telling them that if you sin, you become the servant of sin, but the Son (Him) has the ability to set you free from sin, and once set free, you can be free indeed. Your circumstances on earth might not have changed. You'd still be under the rule of Rome. But you'd be set free for an eternity with God. He rightly told them that He knew that they were the descendants of Abraham, but that since they were plotting His murder, which Abraham wouldn't have thought of doing, they were in fact children of a different father.
They took exception to Jesus telling them their father was the devil instead of Abraham, and I'm sure wanted to be anywhere else but around Him at that moment with all of the new believers in Christ hearing Christ tell them that they wanted Him dead and so were children of Satan. I can just see heads pivoting back and forth between the group of the Pharisees and Christ, keeping their own tally - 1-0, 2-0, 3-0 - I don't think the Pharisees are going to score today, what do you think Joshua... I don't know but it doesn't look good for the home team...
But the Pharisees were too far gone in their anger. They couldn't accept that Jesus could know their hearts. Perhaps not all of the Pharisees gathered around Him at that time were aware of the desire to have Him killed. I'll give some the benefit of the doubt. But I'm also certain that some there knew that Christ was speaking directly of them. The warning that Christ gave them is equally applicable to people today. Those who believers find it easy to accept God's written word, accept the word of God given in words of prophecy, wisdom, knowledge, or via tongues and interpretation that lines up with the written Word of God. Those who are of the world can't bring themselves to accept the words given.
On His Spirit
After that proclamation, they retorted in John 8:48-53, and throw the accusation that they were of the devil right back at Christ saying that He was in fact the one with the devil, adding some racial bias at the same time when calling him a Samaritan. Jesus calls them out as liars and racist. 4-0, 5-0, ... Jesus reiterates that if the people listen to Him and do what He says, they will never see death, meaning eternal death.
The Pharisees take it as meaning physical death, and ask if He is greater than their father Abraham who lived and died, or all the prophets who had lived and died. Just who are you to say someone will never see death if the greatest Jewish people who ever were have died?
On His Honor
This discussion closes out in John 8:54-59, as Jesus declares that they didn't know God at all. Jesus declared, rightly, that He knew God very well, and if He tried to say that He didn't, then He would be the liar instead of them. He then said a couple of things that pushed the Pharisees over the edge. First, He said that Abraham rejoiced to see Jesus come to earth. The Pharisees couldn't handle that and told Him He wasn't even 50 years old, and that as such He couldn't have seen Abraham. As He was in his 30's, and they undoubtedly knew that, they were clearly trying to get an additional rise out of him by declaring Him old. His answer wasn't what they expected, for He said that before Abraham was, He was, using the I AM wording that made Him equated to God, which He was, of course. His throwing in a couple of Verily's probably didn't help His case either.
At that point, they grabbed whatever stones they could find to stone Him. But he simple passed through the midst of them and left. No stoning today, and the Pharisees lost by some high count to 0. All the people who had believed on Him at the middle of the chapter as He taught not only witnessed the exchange, but then watched Jesus just walk away unscathed as they tried to kill Him. Pretty strong testimony.