John 7:53-8:11 - Jared Skitt

The good news, guys, this morning, the text that

we're in, there is no controversy on this at

all. People don't have differing opinions on

this passage in the least. So it's going to be

real simple and real easy today. I was being

facetious. There's a lot of opinions on this.

And as I was working through and studying, I

felt like I could have spent half the week just

in a piece that wasn't even... actually, the

text, but it was a little bracket right at the

beginning. So, if you look in your Bibles, depending

on whether you have the CSB or ESV, most versions

are going to have a little bracket that says

something like, the earliest manuscripts do not

include John 7, 53 through 8, 11. So, we're going

to talk about that and why, but before we do

that, we are going to come before the Lord in

prayer. Because if you're here to hear Jared

talk this morning, no bueno. We're here to hear

the word of the Lord and to let his Holy Spirit

work in our hearts and draw us closer to him.

So let's open a prayer. Heavenly Father, you

are good. We praise you because you are worthy

of all honor, of all praise, of all glory. Lord,

You have given us the gift of your son, Jesus

Christ. You have given us the gift of your word.

You have given us the gift of people who spent

time to dive deep into your word and to translate

it from its original languages across so many

different texts and manuscripts. And Lord, you

still speak to us through your words. So I just

pray that you would open our hearts and our ears

to what you would have for us this morning. Let

it be your words. We pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen. So, I mentioned that little bracket at

the beginning, and I want to start there. We're

going to focus most of our time in the text.

We're not going to do a whole historical lecture

about biblical translation and inerrancy and

the process by which the canon was established

and manuscripts were selected. We're not going

that deep. But I do want to touch on something

because there is controversy over this particular

passage, chapter 7, verse 53 through 8, 11, because

it wasn't actually found in some of the earliest

Greek manuscripts that biblical scholars worked

to translate some of our more modern day English

and other language translations from. It is in

some of the earliest Latin ones, which came way

later. And some of the later manuscripts have

this passage in different places. There's two

other places it could be in John. One translation

of manuscript that was put together puts it over

in the book of Luke. And there's kind of two

common views. There's more, but these tend to

hold the biggest sway. One is a view that St.

Augustine held. The other is St. Jerome. And

Augustine's was, hey, the early church fathers

actually... may have left this out because it

seemed like it gives too much license for people

to sin. And so that it didn't create confusion

prior to some of Paul's further letters and things

of that nature. When they pulled the scriptures

together, they just left this piece out. But

it was really actually written by disciples.

And then the other one is, Jerome, that it was

oral stories. This was all true and was passed

down through oral tradition that kind of either

got missed in writing it as a manuscript or it

became so commonly referred to and everyone knew

about it that they then decided to take that

and to put that in as they were collecting and

establishing more of the manuscripts. Regardless

of what view you hold to or I hold to, No doctrine

depends on this passage alone, and the account

is consistent with the teaching and the character

of Jesus. So rather than be a reason to doubt

the veracity or the truth of God's Word, I think

it's actually really cool that the translators

are so focused on making sure they're doing the

best job they can in bringing the scripture,

that they're actually calling out and saying

like, hey guys, there is some discrepancy. There

are some different viewpoints on this. However,

we do believe that it does match the character

and the work of Jesus. We do believe that this

is historically accurate, and so it is included.

So we can view this as authoritative and trustworthy,

because everything in this account lines up perfectly

with how the Bible describes Jesus. Jesus. So,

I do. I believe it happened exactly as it states,

and we're going to dive in, and we're not going

to form individual pieces of doctrine off of

this, but all of this does point back to what

we do know about Jesus. So, we're going to start

and look at chapter 7, verse 53, which is kind

of smushed right in there with 8, and then we're

going to look through 8. chapter, verse 2. So,

it says, then each one went to his house, but

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn, he

went to the temple again, and all the people

were coming to him. He sat down and began to

teach them. So, this may not have been right

after the Feast of Booths that was just finishing

up at the end of chapter 7. It may have been

Again, we don't know exactly where this was in

the chronological timeline, but regardless, people

are going home to their own house. Jesus had

been teaching in the temple, and Jesus goes to

the Mount of Olives. We don't know exactly why.

Was he going there to pray? Was he camping there?

Did he actually go from there over to Bethany,

which wasn't that far where he had some family

and stay? We don't know. Scripture doesn't explicitly

tell us, but it does then mention that he came

and early in the morning at dawn, he came back

to the temple again and all the people were coming

to him. And he comes and he sits down and he

starts to teach them. So what was interesting

was back in that time, typically a rabbi or commonly,

a rabbi would be the one who would sit and everyone

who was coming to listen to him would stand.

So, Craig, could you bring me a chair? I'm going

to sit. The rest of you are going to stand for

the rest of this. I'm just kidding. We're not

going to do that. It's a good thing we didn't

do that last week when we did chapter 7 with

all 52 verses. You would have been standing for

a long time. So, good news, we're not doing that

today. But I want you to get the picture in your

head of what's going on here, right? Jesus has

come back to the temple, and these people are

coming, and they're saying, teacher, we want

to hear, what do you have to say? Just the chapter

before, when they were in the middle of the ceremony

and they're doing the piece of the water, Jesus

is there going, hey, guys, look, look at me.

Not because he wanted attention on himself, but

he was saying, look, I am living water. And so

the people are like, what's going on? Who is

this guy? And they're coming. They've seen him

doing signs. They've seen him healing people.

And so they're coming and they sit down. And

they're all fanned out around him. He may have

been sitting up on a step. We don't know exactly.

But I want you to picture this. Jesus is there.

People have come to him to hear what he has to

say. And he starts teaching. And then chapter

8 verse 3 says, Then the scribes and Pharisees

brought a woman caught in adultery, making her

stand in the center. Guys, this was quite the

spectacle. Okay, so they're in the temple grounds.

And I want you to picture this, right? Jesus

is there. It's early morning still. The sun is

still rising. It hasn't even come up high enough

to be over the walls of the temple. The morning

doves are still. singing their songs. People

are quietly listening to Jesus. And then all

of a sudden, there's this really big disturbance.

A bunch of religious bigwigs in their fancy clothes

that are set apart from everyone else start coming

down the stairs from an inner part of the temple

or from a different section. And are all coming

out and there's this big procession. It's the

Pharisees, it's the scribes, it's the lawmakers.

And they are coming out and right towards the

front of the procession is this woman. And she's

disheveled, wearing probably slightly less clothes

than would be normal for that situation. And

there's two guys who have her arms in a vice

grip. And they're just half dragging, half walking

her along. And they come right down and they

come to the group that's sitting in front of

Jesus. And they start pushing through the crowd.

Hey, get out of the way. We've got something

to do here. They're making a scene. And they

bring this woman up in front of the crowd, right

in front of Jesus. And they set her there in

the center, the center of attention. And this

woman was caught in adultery. So this is going

to get your attention, right? Everybody, including

Uncle Ron, who was standing there while Jesus

is teaching and started to... And, you know,

your aunt's over into his... Even Uncle Ron's

awake and is like, what is going on here? And

so everybody's locked in and watching. And as

we get to verse 4, the Pharisees... lay out the

charge that's happening here. So John chapter

John 8:4

8 verse 4, teacher, they said to him, this woman

was caught in the act of committing adultery.

In the law, Moses commanded us to stone such

women. So what do you say? They've come, and

then scripture in the first part of chapter verse

6 says this, they ask this to trap him. in order

that they might have evidence to accuse him.

The author makes it pretty clear what's going

on here. They're asking this to trap Jesus so

that they can have evidence to accuse him. The

religious leaders have brought this woman who

was caught in the act of adultery, and they're

going to come and they're going to present a

death sentence, which was allowed, that was under

the law, but the requirements of the law for

what was going to go on here were pretty stringent.

For someone to be stoned to death, according

to the law, at least two or more witnesses had

to literally catch the people in the act of adultery.

With verifiable witness of two or more people

before the death sentence could be rendered according

to the law of Moses. So the Jewish leaders bring

a woman who was caught in the act of sleeping

with a man who was not her husband. Then they

announce this sin publicly and condemn her and

demand that Jesus then and there make a public

judgment. Now, a couple things to note here.

They don't actually really care about justice.

That's not what's going on here. The woman actually

did sin. Scripture is clear. Jesus isn't even

going to deny that later. But they are, these

religious leaders, the Pharisees and the scribes,

are using this woman's sin as a tool. They're

weaponizing her sin to take out Jesus. The other

thing to note here, it takes two to tango. Adultery

is a team sport. If you're not sure what I mean,

ask your parents. Where's the guy? The law says

that both the man and the woman are to be put

to death. And stoning was for a specific situation

in where the woman was not married to the man,

was betrothed, or was the daughter of a priest.

So there were some pretty stringent things. So

there's something that's a little interesting.

going on here. A lot of biblical scholars say

this was probably a setup, that she actually

did sin, but may have been set up, and the guy

was in on it, and the Pharisees and the scribes

were using this as a situation to put Jesus in

where there was no escape for him. Maybe, I don't

know, scripture doesn't explicitly say that.

That could make sense because they don't bring

the guy, they just bring the woman. So something's

kind of fishy here, but they bring her forward,

and they've already condemned this woman. They've

already said what she has done under the law

of Moses deserves death. So Jesus, what should

we do here? This is what the law says. They're

setting a trap. They're saying, hey, this woman

is condemned. Condemned is like a building term.

It's unfit for use. Condemnation takes a person's

worst act and makes it their entire identity.

Condemnation exposes sin in order to destroy.

It sees another's guilt clearly while often being

blind to our own. But they're bringing this woman

forward, and they're setting a trap for Jesus.

And in doing so, they have already judged and

said, this woman is condemned by what she has

done. And before we're too quick to distance

ourselves from these religious leaders and look

at this as we sit here now in 2026 and think

back to something that happened over 2 ,000 years

ago. before we start saying like, well, you know,

I wouldn't act like that. Why are they making

such a big scene? I'm not going to go march some

woman out in front of everybody and try to, you

know, go to Jesus and be like, so Jesus, what

you going to do, huh? Right? It's easy to look

at what was going on here and distance ourself

from this. But if you're a Christian, Often this

is a posture that we take. I won't just call

you out. I'm going to call myself out. I'm very

quick to look at the sin of somebody else and

say, wow, that was pretty bad. Man. And to look

at somebody with condemnation. See, the longer

we go to church, the easier it can become to

think, I'm right, they're wrong. We know the

language. We know the expectations. We know how

church people are supposed to act and think and

talk, and slowly we begin comparing our cleaner

-looking sin to the more visible or what we deem

more ugly -looking sins of others. And in doing

so, it's kind of like we're carrying some stones

ourselves, stones of comparison, of gossip, of

disgust, of suspicion, of self -righteous judgment.

And we look and we define somebody else by the

things that they have done. At the same time,

we expect everyone else to understand the complexity

and the nuance of our own failures. To realize

my sin isn't as bad as Jared's. Or, well, if

you just understood why I'm sinning, then the

sin really actually wouldn't still be that bad.

But Scripture is clear. Sin is missing the mark

of holiness that God has set. And this is exactly

where Jesus is about to bring these religious

leaders to so that they have to confront it.

But first, let's notice the trap that they've

laid and they've set for Jesus. So here's the

trap. It's a lose -lose scenario or a lose -lose

-lose scenario. They're sitting here, and they

have brought this woman who, there's no dispute,

she was caught in the act of having sex with

someone who was not her husband. And the punishment

that was put in Moses' law was both the man and

the woman are to be put to death. So they bring

this to Jesus, and if Jesus says, or picks up

the stone and says, yes, stone her, let's start

stoning her, Jesus actually becomes a Roman rebel

because Rome had said, hey, for capital offenses,

Rome is the one who can render judgment. There

were some scenarios where the Jewish leaders

could come, they could petition for acts of religious

reasons for executing capital punishment, but

this all had to go through Rome. So if Jesus

says, yep, stone her right now, they can twist

this where, oh, Jesus is a rebel against Rome.

Now we get to let the Romans kind of take them

out for us. But if Jesus says, no, no, don't

stone her. Let her, no, we can't do this. Then

he violates the law of Moses, and he exposes

himself as a false prophet. Jesus has been gathering

this following, and a good chunk of his followers

are, as the Pharisees would say, dirty, rotten

sinners. He's hanging out with tax collectors.

He's hanging out with prostitutes. He's hanging

out with all the other sinners. And if he doesn't

show mercy to this lady, chances are pretty good

that maybe he's going to lose a little bit of

his following. So they're setting this up for

Jesus to essentially kind of no matter what goes

on, they can twist this and use it against him.

It's kind of similar to what happened in Matthew

when they come and they're testing him. They

come to trap him and they say, hey, you know,

Jesus, should we pay taxes to Rome? They're trying

to back him into a corner. And Jesus' response

in this? He bends down, and he starts writing

in the dirt with his finger. Kind of interesting.

So here we are. They're laying this accusation

with a very public entrance and scene, and they're

asking Jesus to render judgment. And he just

bends down and starts drawing in the dirt. Verse

7 of chapter 8 says this, when they persisted

in questioning him, he stood up and said to them,

the one without sin among you should be the first

to throw a stone at her. Verse 8 says, then he

stooped down again and continued writing. Stooped

down again and continued writing on the ground.

So here we are, all the crowd. all the religious

leaders, the condemned woman watching and waiting

while Jesus bent over riding in the dirt with

his finger. Everybody's craning their heads to

see what's going on. You can hear a pin drop.

Uncle Ron is still awake. He has not started

snoring again through this whole deal. Everybody's

locked in. And Jesus is here, drawing in the

dirt, right in the way. The religious leaders,

though, are not letting them off the hook. Maybe

at first they're like, what's he writing? But

eventually they're like, hey, Jesus. So? Jesus,

we asked you a question. Jesus, what should we

do in this? Come on, Jesus, come on. What are

you doing here? Answer. And so they persisted

in questioning him. And Jesus had stooped down

and there's, There's a lot of speculation to

the posture here of what Jesus did. Scripture

doesn't say it, but it's interesting. The fact

that he stoops down and he draws the attention

of the condemnation towards this woman. And the

attention comes away from her. as he stoops.

Maybe that's why. I don't know. That's interesting

to think about. Scripture doesn't explicitly

lay that out, so I'm not going to read something

into Scripture that's not there. But when they're

persisting in questioning him, then Jesus stands

back up, and he looks at them, and his response

is, the one without sin among you should be the

first to throw a stone at her. This is really

commonly quoted. especially by non -Christians

towards Christians. Well, you who are without

sin, throw the first stone. Basically saying,

hey, you judgy person, you messed up too, so

you can't throw anything at me. Who are you?

You're a sinner too. That's not what Jesus is

saying here. As Jesus responds, he doesn't deny

the woman's guilt. He doesn't downplay that.

But he does expose the guilt of the people who

have come and put her on this kangaroo court

trial. Normally, things of this nature would

have been done separately according to the law.

But he exposes the guilt of the people condemning

her by saying, hey, the one who's without sin

among you should be the first one to throw a

stone at her. See, the accusers believe the woman

was on trial and Jesus is caught in their trap.

Jesus shows them that they stand before God as

sinners too. We shouldn't read this story only

asking, hey, what's wrong with them? We need

to be careful not to stand at a safe distance

and then also look at the sin of the woman as

if this is a different level than ours. Jesus

in Matthew chapter 5 talks about how adultery

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

is not only an external act. He says that lust

reveals an adulterous heart. Whether that's lusting

after someone or lusting to be desired by others.

We walk in those things. And this is sexual immorality.

Jesus kind of elevates from the external act

to, no, that even happens in our hearts. And

according to Jesus' standard, We're not merely

watching the woman who was caught in the act

of adultery. In one way or another, we are actually

standing with her. The leaders, the Pharisees

who endeavored and worked to keep the law and

the scribes, were also standing on trial with

her. Now, that doesn't erase meaningful consequences

to our sin, but it does erase our right to be

self -righteous, and to sit in judgment. Because

we all come to Jesus guilty, exposed, and dependent

upon grace. And that's what makes Jesus' response

so remarkable. See, Jesus doesn't minimize anyone's

guilt. He doesn't say, well, you know, your sin

is not actually sin. It's really not that bad.

That's not the response. But also, Jesus doesn't

join in the condemnation where he says, oh, how

dare you? You are rotten. You are not fit for

use. That is not what Jesus does. He looks and

he extends grace. and mercy. And Jesus' response

to the Pharisees here, I believe is actually

an act of mercy toward them as well. When he

says, the one without sin among you should be

the first one to throw a stone at her. He's not

joining in the condemnation, but he's calling

them to examine their own hearts, even as they're

condemning this woman who's before them. See,

God is extending grace through his son. Jesus

Christ. See, grace doesn't call evil good. Grace

tells the whole truth. And according to God's

law, the woman was guilty and the accusers were

also guilty. We're all guilty and the wages of

sin are death. It was only Jesus that was without

sin. Jesus was actually the only person in that

entire circle, in the entire world, who actually

had a right to throw the stone at the woman.

But the sinless one doesn't join in the condemnation

of sinful people. I mentioned earlier how that

you who is without sin, it's commonly thrown

around. See, this passage doesn't prohibit justice.

This passage is not licensed to say, well, you

can't judge me. It's a reminder that we are all

sinners in need of a Savior. And that Savior

is Jesus. He is the one who is moving toward

the cross where he is going to take the sin and

the condemnation of this woman upon himself.

And he will bear that sin. And that's grace.

Grace is unmerited favor. And as he moves towards

that cross, in Romans chapter 8, verses 1 through

Romans 8:1–2

2, Paul writes this to the church in Rome, Therefore

there is now no condemnation for those in Christ

Jesus, because the law of the Spirit of life

in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law.

of sin and death. Christ's work on the cross

accomplished that. That there's no condemnation

in Christ Jesus because of what he has done.

See guys, grace is not God overlooking sin. Grace

was not just Jesus taking judgment upon himself.

The only one who was qualified to condemn to

condemn will instead be condemned in the place

of sinners. Jesus, God's own son, sent as man,

fully God, fully man, the only one who lived

a sinless life, the only one who had the right

to condemn, crucified on the cross, paid the

penalty that our sin deserves, wipes that penalty

out through his blood and through his grace,

then was risen again and now calls us sons and

daughters when we give our lives to him as Lord

and as Savior. If that's true, spoiler alert,

it is, then we also have to let God's verdict

be greater than our own. Because some of us might

say, I know God forgives me, but I can't forgive

myself. I condemn myself. You might say, Jared,

Jared, you don't understand. You don't know what

I've done. Doesn't need to be a bunch of Pharisees

that put me on trial. I'll put myself on trial.

And we say, hey, you know, I know God forgives

me. I just. I need to do more. I can't forgive

myself. And in that, it might sound humble. It's

actually spiritual pride. Because who do we think

we are? Are your standards higher than the standards

of a holy God? Do you believe the cross wasn't

enough for what you've done? Our hope is not

that we've punished ourself enough to deserve

peace. Our hope is that Jesus has bore our condemnation

completely. And if we're in Christ, God's verdict

is more authoritative than yours. And it's like

the reminder that God gives to Paul in 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 12:9

12 verse 9. Paul, who is struggling with health

and with weakness, Jesus says, my grace is sufficient

for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.

See, through all of this, grace does not condemn.

So Jesus has stooped back down and he's writing

in the dirt again. We don't know what he wrote.

Scripture doesn't record that. There's a lot

of people that speculate about this. Well, maybe

he was writing the sins of the Pharisees. Maybe

he was writing the Ten Commandments. Maybe it

was a picture of his hand just like God's hand

on the wall in Babylon before it fell. We don't

know. But honestly, I don't think it's that important

that we know because we see the result. See,

the accusers, they left. So John chapter 8 verse

John 8:9–11

9 through 11 says this, when they heard this,

they left one by one, starting with the older

men. Only he was left with the woman in the center.

And when Jesus stood up, he said to her, woman,

where are they? Has no one condemned you? No

one, Lord, she answered. Neither do I condemn

you, said Jesus. Go and from now on, do not sin

anymore. It says, starting with the oldest of

them. Maybe these were the guys who had enough

life experience to realize, oh, I'm picking up

what Jesus is putting down. I've come here in

condemnation, and I'm accusing this woman. And

he's saying, hey, if you're without sin, then

absolutely. The law says this. If you are not

guilty of the same sin, go ahead. And the guys

who have walked through life a little more and

have realized, okay, maybe I'm not as great as

I think, they're the first ones to leave. These

guys who are like, ha ha, we've got Jesus between

a rock and a hard place on this one, are watching.

And listening. And Jesus is just still there

in the dirt. He's not looking at them. They're

all standing around. And they start to walk away.

The oldest all the way to the youngest. Until

no one who was there in accusation was left.

And it's just Jesus and the woman at the center.

The crowd was most likely still there. And then

he gets up and he stands and he looks at her.

And he says, hey, woman, where are they? Has

no one condemned you? He's not saying like, woman!

The term here actually is kind of a term of endearment.

And he's saying, has no one condemned you? See,

I think the Pharisees and the scribes realized

that they had, all sinned. We're reminded in

Romans 3 .23, and this is not a text that was

written quite yet, but is directly applicable

because Paul is sharing with the church in Rome.

A later time in Romans 3 .23 when he says this,

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory

of God. The Pharisees knew that. The law was

there to show them that they couldn't do it on

their own. and that they needed the Messiah to

be the perfect atonement. They got twisted in

religion and pushed to a, well, you know, if

we do the right things, say the right things,

we can be the holiest people, and then we stand

in the right to judge because we're better than

the other people. We don't sin quite so badly.

Maybe they did. Whatever the narrative was that

they were believing, all have sinned. And they

realize that, and now we're left with this central

image of this passage. The woman knows she has

sinned. Her accusers are gone, but now she is

standing before the only person who fully knows

her and has the authority to condemn her. And

he says, woman, where are they? Has no one condemned

you? She says, no one, Lord. And then Jesus says,

neither do I condemn you. Going from now on,

do not sin anymore. Think the order that Jesus

speaks to her in verse 11 is important. Because

we see that grace precedes transformation. Jesus

doesn't say to her, hey, clean your life up.

Change your life, stop sinning, and then come

back and I won't condemn you. Jesus says, look,

I do not stand here and look at you and say,

because of your sin, you are unfit for use. He

also doesn't negate that she has sinned. But

he says, I don't. weaponize that sin against

you. I am extending grace. He gives unmerited

favor, and then he calls her towards transformation.

He says, go and from now on do not sin anymore.

We'll talk about that in a minute. But this grace

that he extends, isn't licensed to keep on sinning.

He's not calling her to a different life and

saying, now you got this get out of jail free

card, right? I'm not going to condemn you. So

do whatever makes you feel good. Do whatever

feels right. And I'm not going to condemn you.

He wasn't imperiously saying, you who are without

sin, throw the first stone. He's literally the

only one who could throw the stone. And he doesn't.

Not because he's afraid of the trap that the

leaders set, but because he knows he's going

to the cross where he will bear her guilt, her

shame, and her condemnation on himself. He frees

her from condemnation and calls her away from

the sin that's destroying her. See, this particular

sin that's brought before Jesus here in this

passage, it falls within a broader category of

sexual immorality. And that doesn't mean that

sexual sin is the only sin that destroys. Sexual

sin is not the only sin that grace can transform,

but it's a specific category that's before us

in the text. So I want to address that honestly

this morning. Sexual immorality is broader than

just the particular sin of sleeping with somebody

who wasn't the husband committed by this woman.

Scripture includes lust. It includes sex outside

of covenant marriage, adulterous relationships,

same -sex sexual and romantic practices. every

single attempt to take God's good gift of sexuality

outside the boundaries he has established of

one man and one woman in covenant marriage and

to twist it for our own hearts and our own desires.

It includes pornography. Sexual immorality is

not a harmless private choice or habit. It trains

us to consume rather than to love. It damages

intimacy. It brings secrecy and comparison, distorted

expectations. It often carries with it guilt

and shame. And this woman is now brought, and

this is blasted out publicly in front of everybody.

But Jesus doesn't expose sinners to destroy them

like the religious leaders did. Jesus calls us

into the light and doesn't condemn and gives

grace so that there can be transformation, so

that his grace can transform us. See, we might

not be dragged in front of a group of people

with your sin on full display. Maybe there is

some type of hidden sin that you've buried and

are working hard to keep under wraps. But we

can confess it and bring it to the light because

his grace is sufficient. He doesn't condemn.

You can't say, no, I'm too far gone for Jesus

to transform my heart and my life. And that extends

outside of just this category of sexual immorality.

There is no sin that is too great that it doesn't

fall at the feet of the one whose blood was shed

on the cross. for all sins. Jesus calls us into

the light so that his grace can transform us.

But in verse 11, he doesn't call her to a life

of perfection. When he says, go and from now

on, do not sin anymore. He's not saying, hey,

I'm not going to condemn you, but if you sin

again, I guess I have to condemn you then. He's

saying, go and have your life Walk away from

the sin that you are pursuing because look at

the grace that has been extended to you. You

are not unfit for use. I will take your sin on

myself, on the cross, and bear it. And there

is no condemnation that is in Christ Jesus. When

we looked at Romans 3 .23, There's also verse

24, which says this, Romans 3 .23 and 24, See,

that is what would be extended to this woman.

That's what's extended to us. So the question

is, where are we at in this scene, right? Scripture

is not meant to just be pulled out so we can

look at ourselves. But when we walk through God's

word, we also can't walk away from that saying,

well, that was good. Glad I'm not that woman.

Glad I wasn't a knucklehead like the Pharisees

and trying to overdo it. Glad I've got grace.

And then go on through our week. Who God is and

what he has done calls us. to look at ourselves

and say, who are we and how are we to live? So

I do want to ask, where are we? Where do we see

our tendencies in light of this passage? For

some of us, are we standing with the religious

leaders where we can see everyone else's sin

real clearly? We're carrying stones of comparison

and contempt, gossip, self -righteousness, yet

we're still sinners who don't have the right

to condemn and call someone else unfit for use

because there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus.

Jesus calls us to drop those stones, not because

sin doesn't matter. It does. That's not to say,

well, there should never be encouragement to

walk away from sin and to be church discipline

or civil discipline when there is sin that requires

that, but there doesn't need to be condemnation.

We hope for people to turn to the grace that

is extended through Jesus and to see their lives

changed in Him. It's because, again, it's not

that sin doesn't matter, but it's because we

are a sinner who lives by grace, and there is

no condemnation in Christ Jesus. But maybe some

of us are standing where the woman stood. Our

sin on full display. Or maybe you're standing

in a place where your sins are kind of safely

hidden and you're worried about being outed and

on full display. You might not be looking at

and condemning others, but you have condemned

yourself. Maybe your sin has brought shame, secrecy,

and fear. Maybe no one else knows. Maybe it involves

adultery, sex outside of marriage, pornography,

something else entirely. Jesus does not call

your sin good. However, he also doesn't condemn

you because of it. He does receive sinners who

come to him. So step into the light, confess

it, trust him, receive his grace, and begin to

walk away from the sin that is destroying you.

It's not that you will never sin anymore, but

it's that you will allow the work of Jesus Christ

to change your heart and to transform you as

you walk and seek after him. Some of us are still

condemning ourselves for what Jesus has already

carried. You believe the cross is sufficient

for everyone else except for what you've done.

The sin you've committed is too great to be possibly

forgiven. Stop placing your verdict above God's.

If you are in Christ, there is no condemnation

remaining for you. And there might be some here

who don't know Jesus as Lord and as Savior. And

one day, you will be standing before the one

who fully knows everything about you and who

has the right and the authority to condemn you.

But the good news is, the only one who is qualified

to condemn sinners willingly took the condemnation

of sinners upon himself in his work on the cross.

Turn from your sin. Trust in Jesus because he

offers forgiveness. He offers freedom. He offers

new life. So drop the stones we're carrying.

Step into the light. Receive the grace of Jesus.

Walk away from the sin that he paid for on the

cross. Because grace does not condemn. Grace

transforms. And that grace is given freely in

Jesus Christ. Let's pray and thank him for that.

God, it is amazing that you loved us so much

that despite our rebellion, despite our choice

of the pursuit of our own desires and sin, you

sent your son, Jesus Christ. to be born as a

baby, to live the life that we cannot, to bear

our sins on the cross, to wash us as white as

snow, to be buried, to then be risen again, and

now to intercede for us at the right hand of

God. Lord, if there are any this morning who

are struggling, I pray that you would just draw

them close, help them to see your grace. Lord,

help them not to feel the condemnation of the

enemy of others, but that they would look to

you. They would look to Jesus. And that that

unmerited favor would change and shape our hearts.

Father, you are so worthy. of honor, of praise,

and of glory. We praise you. We pray this in

Jesus' name. Amen.