John 8:1-11
Fake Outrage
Everyone wants to be offended these days. Everyone wants to
have their rant acknowledged on social media. We will get upset about anything
really, usually under the pretense of claiming the moral high ground. In what
is a first for me, I’m going to quote Urban Dictionary for a term. Fake Outage.
generated as a way of trying to create a controversy for the purpose of
political smearing. Often used as a weapon of both left and right-wing who use
threats to achieve their goals. Usually involves but is not limited to
emotional appeals. These individuals can be easily identified by refusing to
engage in logical debate on said issues, because they either are incapable of
doing so or they are purposely doing it to 'stir the pot.' Instead, they
regurgitate talking points in an attempt to appear educated on a topic when
they really aren't.
There is nothing new about this. The Pharisees
and Sadduccess were masters of fake outage as we will see in tonight’s message.
But Jesus went to the
Mount of Olives.
2 Now [a]early
in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him;
and He sat down and taught them.
There is a lot of controversy surrounding it. I would be doing you
a disservice not to mention it. From manuscript current evidence, it seems
unlikely that this portion was part of the original text of John’s gospel, or
at least in this place. Most of the earliest ancient Greek manuscripts omit
this section. Many later manuscripts
mark this section with asterisks. One group of manuscripts inserts this section
after Luke 21:38. A few manuscripts have this section after John 21:24, and one
has it after John 7:36.
Some ancient Christians
(such as Augustine and Ambrose) omitted this story, not so much because of the
textual evidence but because they thought it made Jesus appear to approve of
sexual immorality, or at least not regard it as serious.
At the same time, the character of the story makes it seem obvious
that it is genuine, and many scholars note that it is historical and factual.
Early Christian writers mention this account as soon as the early second
century (a.d. 100). We have good reason to believe that this happened, and that
John wrote it. There is some debate as to where it belongs in the Gospel
accounts, but we can rest assured that it does belong.
3 Then the scribes and Pharisees
brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, 4 they
said to Him, “Teacher, [b]this
woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. 5 Now [c]Moses,
in the law, commanded us [d]that
such should be stoned. But what do You [e]say?” 6 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, [f]as
though He did not hear.
Jesus is teaching. The Pharisees bring him a woman, push her right
into the middle of the group and then directly address Jesus. Now let us
picture this for a minute. David is preaching and then a crowd of guys from the
SBC come storming in dragging a woman behind them and shove her right in front
of David. This is what just happened to Jesus.
Now they address Jesus and say “Teacher, this woman was caught in
adultery, in the very act!” Let us pause and break down this statement.
Teacher, one who teaches concerning the things of God, and the duties of man.
This is a proper and fitting title for
anyone who officially taught in the Temple/Synagogue. These are
the same people who just the other day were questioning Jesus education and
birthright while trying to have him arrested. They continue, “this woman”
pointing to the lady they just dragged in their and thrust in front of Jesus,
was caught in adultery.
They are trying to accomplish multiple
things. 1) Embarrass, Shame and humiliate this woman publicly. 2) show
themselves as holy and above such terrible sin. 3) Connect Jesus directly to
this woman in full view of the people in hopes of guilt by association.
Well with any case during these times you
need 2 eyewitnesses and then to present evidence. What is their evidence?
Caught in the very act. Two people watched her have sex with someone who was
not her husband. Adultery is one of those sins that requires two people at a
minimum. There is only one person being accused. This is a setup.
Here they are using fake outrage and
pretending its righteous zeal. There is nothing new under the sun.
Now having made this big public show
using the twin powers of theatricality and deception. They demand an immediate
response from Jesus. They have him over a barrel, or so they think. If He says
“Stone her” Then he comes across harsh and in violation of Roman Law which
state only Rome had the power to execute criminals. If He said “Let her go”
then he was soft on crime and in violation of the law of Moses.
He does neither! He stoops down and
starts writing in the dirt with his finger. Wait, what? None of us would have
responded that way. Some of us would have stood their stunned. Some would have
asked for more information to bide time. Some of us would have tried to reason
with those who had proven time and time again to be unreasonable. Who even
considers writing in the dirt as an appropriate response? Jesus does!
What did he write? And for how long? I am
so curious! It is on my big list of questions for when I arrive in glory. I
mean I got hung on whether or not Noah got his Wings during David’s sermon from
Sunday and I felt tangible relief once I found out that he did. What did Jesus
write? Was it scripture? Did he just write someone’s name? Was it a word? A
symbol? Was He just sketching? How did it relate to the situation at hand? No
idea!
7 So
when they continued asking Him, He [g]raised
Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin
among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” 8 And
again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 Then
those who heard it, being[h] 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
Regardless of your personal opinion concerning the January 6th
riot we can acknowledge the crowd got out of control. It the authorities hours
to regain control of that situation and afterwards several people had lost
their lives and hundreds were injured. We don’t even understand the long term
consequences of that day either.
Jesus is facing a potentially similar situation. An angry mob
calling for the death of someone they view as a criminal. Jesus is still
writing in the dirt. They continued to ask him. You know they weren’t polite
about it. Nor were they calm and collected either. Jesus stands up, speaks, and
goes back to writing on the ground. He who is without sin let him cast the
first stone.
You must admit. For a 15-word sermon that had some serious impact.
For all the plotting, planning and scheming done to arrange everything so Jesus
is placed in a seemingly impossible situation, Jesus defuses a bloodthirsty
crowd with one sentence. No one has ever spoken like this man!
. 10 When Jesus had raised Himself
up [i]and
saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman,
where are those accusers [j]of
yours? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said
to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go [k]and sin no
more.”
One act of compassion can be life changing. Is adultery
wrong? Absolutely. Are we sinners who have not committed adultery somehow
better than those who have? No. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory
of God. Compassion and Theology cannot be separated in a life trying to live by
the gospel. Jesus tells us the two great commandments were to love God and love
our neighbor. A true pursuit of God will also involve pursuit of those that God
loves, those who are most vulnerable. To miss that point is to miss God
entirely. The Pharisees had knowledge of God. They had religious heritage, they
gave a tithe of everything in their spice cabinet and offered all the right
sacrifices at the right time. Yet, they missed the point entirely. Without a
love for our neighbor the Bible is of no greater use to us than the latest self
help book.
1 John 4:7-8 “Beloved, let us love one
another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and
knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know
God, for God is love.”
Let’s replace our fake outrage with real tangible
love.
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