The Lord's Mercy Toward Sinners

8/20/2019 The Lord's Mercy Toward Sinners

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“The Lord’s Mercy toward Sinners”

(John 8:1-11)

I. Introduction.A. Orientation.

What is the one thing

We always want others to show us,

But have such a difficult time showing to others?

Isn’t it mercy?

We don’t want others to point out our flaws and weaknesses,

But we often point them out in others.

We want others to forgive us when we sin against them,

But we often want justice for those who sin against us.

We want God to be merciful to us,

But often don’t want Him to be merciful to others –

Especially if they’ve offended us in some way.

Is this how the Lord wants us to be? No.

He wants us to be like Him.

He delights in showing mercy,

And He wants us to do the same.

B. Preview.

This morning,

We see that after the Feast of Booths,

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives (v. 1),



2

And returned again to the Temple early in the morning (v. 2).

As He was teaching the people,

The scribes and Pharisees brought a woman

Who had been caught in the act of adultery.

They reminded Him what Moses required –

Which was the death penalty –

And asked what He thought.

John tells us that they were trying to trap Him.

Would He side with Moses –

Giving them the opportunity to call Him a hypocrite,

Since He had declared Himself

To be the friend of tax collectors and sinners –

Or would He side against Moses

And show her mercy –

Showing that He was against God’s Law?

What we see is that Jesus shows her mercy

Without violating His Father’s Law.

The Lord delights in mercy –

Which is good for us;

Without it, we would be lost;

That’s what we want to consider this morning –

But He also delights in those who show mercy –



3

Which is what we’ll be looking at this evening.

Let’s consider three things:

1. The woman’s sin.

2. The Jews’ plot.

3. And the Lord’s mercy.

II. Sermon.

A. First, let’s consider the woman’s sin.

John writes, “The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery,and having set her in the center of the court , they said to Him, ‘Teacher, thiswoman has been caught in adultery, in the very act’” (vv. 3-4).

It’s likely that the adultery had happened

At the Feast of Booths that had just ended the day before.

Remember, this was one of the three feasts

That brought all the Jewish men together

From all over the Roman Empire.

During the eight days of this Feast,

The Jews lived in lean-tos

Or makeshift huts.

With so many attending,

The huts were undoubtedly placed close together.

When you add to this

The fact that it was a time of feasting and rejoicing;

That there were many more men there than women –



4

Since only the men were required to attend –

That many of the men didn’t have their wives with them;

That no one was working –

Since it was a feast

And most of the people were from out of town –

There was the very real possibility of temptation –

And here was a woman who had fallen into it.

Application:

We always need to be on our guard against temptation,

But especially when we have “nothing to do.”

Ideally, we should never be idle –

We should always be doing something,

Always have a purpose,

Always be striving towards a particular goal.

I’m not saying we should never rest –

We need rest,

But resting isn’t being idle – it’s doing something:

It’s taking time out to be refreshed,

It’s preparing ourselves

To pursue our goals with even greater energy.

What I’m saying is



5

We should never allow ourselves to be in a position

Where we’re not pursuing something –

Our main goal should always be Christ-likeness,

And we won’t find it by being idle.

When we’re pushing forward,

It’s harder for Satan to move us off course through temptations.

We should follow Paul’s example, who wrote,

“Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on

so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do:forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on

toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil.

3:12-14).

This woman, and the man she was with,

Weren’t pursuing this goal,

And so they fell into sin.

And they were caught in the very act of adultery.

Someone passing by must have seen them in the hut

And recognized one of them.

Considering that they brought the women to Jesus to accuse her,

There were at least two who witnessed this crime.

The one question often asked is,

Why wasn’t the man brought?

We really don’t know.



6

There’s no good reason for not bringing him.

If a man and a woman were caught in adultery,

They were both equally guilty.

Another question we need to ask is,

How serious is adultery?

In our culture,

It’s easy to lose sight of the fact

That it’s even wrong.

Today, fornication and adultery

Are portrayed almost as virtues –

Almost, as what’s expected.

There’s hardly anyone who’s escaped falling into it.

What does God say about it?

Fornication generally requires that those involved in it marry.

But what about adultery?

The Jews reminded Jesus, “Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such

women” (v. 5).

And they were right.

We read in Leviticus 20:10, “If there is a man who commits adultery with anotherman’s wife, one who commits adultery with his friend’s wife, the adulterer and

the adulteress shall surely be put to death.”

And we read in Deuteronomy 22:22, “If a man is found lying with a married

woman, then both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the

woman; thus you shall purge the evil from Israel.”

God required capital punishment.



7

Application:

What does this sin deserve today?

Well, is there any reason

To believe God’s mind has changed on the matter?

Has His justice changed?

Is it a sliding scale that adjusts according to the culture?

No. It still deserves capital punishment.

It is a serious sin we should avoid at all costs.

This woman knew the penalty,

But she still fell into it,

And so she deserved death.

In case we feel the urge to rise up and condemn her,

Let’s not forget that we also deserve capital punishment.

Why?

We all ate from the tree from which God commanded us not to eat –

And the penalty is death.

God said to Adam, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the

tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you

eat from it you will surely die” (Gen. 2:16-17).

We may not have eaten from it personally,

But we did representatively.

Paul writes, “Through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin,and so death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Rom. 5:12).



8

“Through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men” (v. 18).

We’re just as guilty as if we had eaten of it ourselves.

And let’s not forget,

That isn’t the only sin we’ve committed.

Paul writes, “The wages of sin is death” (6:23).

We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23).

B. Second, we see the Jew’s plot –

The real reason they brought her to Jesus

And didn’t carry out the sentence themselves –

Because they wanted to trap Him.

They said, “‘Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what

then do You say?’” (v. 5).

John writes, “They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds

for accusing Him” (v. 6).

If this had been an honest question,

There wouldn’t have been anything wrong in asking it:

In essence, they would be asking,

“Now that Messiah is here,

Does anything change with regard to the penalty for this crime?”

But it wasn’t an honest question.

How could they use this to trap Him?

If Jesus had sided with Moses

And said she should be executed,



9

They could have accused Him

Of being inconsistent with Himself –

After all, He received tax collectors and prostitutes (Matt. 9:11).

He was the friend of sinners.


Of being inconsistent with what Messiah was supposed to be –

One who is meek,

Who has salvation,

Who came to forgive sins.

They also could have accused Him to the Roman officials

For agreeing that the Jews should execute her.

If He acquitted her,

They could charge Him with openly opposing the Law of Moses;

That He contradicted Himself

When He said He didn’t come to destroy the Law or the Prophets (Matt. 5:17);

And that He was more than a friend of sinners –

He was someone who favored sin.

They thought they had Jesus stuck

On the horns of a dilemma.

C. But finally, we the Lord’s mercy –

How He was able to show mercy to her



10

Without violating the Law.

After they asked Him this question, John writes, “Jesus stooped down and with His

finger wrote on the ground” (v. 6).

What did Jesus write?

We’re not told.

It may have been

That Jesus was grieved by the sinfulness of their question

And was simply reluctant to answer.

But when they insisted,

He stood up and said,

“He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her” (v.

7).

Now Jesus couldn’t have meant

Whoever was completely sinless

Should be the first to execute this sentence –

That would have undermined

The whole OT judicial system:

No one could be punished on those terms

Because no one would be worthy enough to carry it out.

It’s more likely He meant

If there was anyone there

Who hadn’t committed some sin



11

That deserved the same penalty,

That they should be the first.

Was there anyone there who fit the bill?

Apparently not!

After He said this, “Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. When they

heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Hewas left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court ” (vv. 8-

9).

What had they done?

In Matthew 12:39, Jesus called them, “An evil and adulterous generation.”

They may not have committed physical adultery,

But they had at least done so spiritually –

They loved money, the praise of men,

Their power and position with the Roman government,

More than they loved God.

Is it a serious sin not to love the Lord your God

With all your heart, mind, soul and strength?

Yes it is!

Whatever you love more than God is your god,

And having another god is spiritual adultery.

Now that they were all gone,

Jesus showed her mercy –

He acquitted her.



12

“Straightening up, Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Did no one

condemn you?’ She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said, ‘I do not condemnyou, either. Go. From now on sin no more’” (vv. 10-11).

Now was Jesus setting the judicial law aside

And telling us that adultery no longer deserves capital punishment?

Was He saying that no crime should be punished?

No.

What He was saying was

That there were no longer grounds to accuse her.

The Law requires witnesses if someone is to be prosecuted.

Moses writes, “On the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses, he who is to

die shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death on the evidence of onewitness. The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death,

and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall purge the evil from your

midst” (Deu. 17:6-7).

There were no longer any witnesses.

But what about the fact

That Jesus knew she had committed the crime

But He didn’t condemn her?

This is where mercy comes in.

She deserved justice –

The death penalty –

But He showed her mercy –

He didn’t condemn her.

Why not?



13

He is the Messiah –

He came to grant forgiveness.

He could see that she was repentant.

She had to be for Him to say this to her.

But He also expected her

To show that she truly was –

From now on, she was to live as someone

Who truly has been forgiven:

From now on, she was to sin no more.

Application:

Here we see the mercy

God has toward sinners

In our Lord Jesus Christ –

There is forgiveness,

Even for the worst.

I mentioned a bit earlier

That we shouldn’t be too harsh

In condemning this woman,

Because we, like the Jews who condemned her,

Have also committed crimes that deserve death –

Perhaps not in the earthly courts,



14

But certainly in God’s court.

Paul writes, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23),

And, “The wages of sin is death” (6:23).

But the Lord is willing to forgive us as well,

If we are willing to turn away from our sins,

And trust Jesus to make us right with God.

How do we know He will?

There was once a man

Who hated the Lord so much,

That he devoted his life to destroying His people,

And he did more than a few.

But the Lord had mercy on him

So that He might use him as an example

Of what He is willing to do

For all who will turn from their sins and trust in Him.

Paul writes, “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ

Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.

Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christmight demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would

believe in Him for eternal life” (1 Tim. 1:15-16).

Will the Lord forgive you?

Is it still possible for you to go to heaven?

Yes.

If you are willing to turn from your disobedience



15

And trust Jesus alone to make you right with God.

How can you know that He has had mercy on you,

If He has forgiven you?

There are at least two ways:

You can know that He has

If you love Him and want to live the life He calls you to live –

If, as He told the woman, you go and sin no more.

The other is what we’ll look at this evening:

You can know you have received the Lord’s mercy,

When you are willing to show mercy to others.

I would encourage you to return this evening

As we consider this particular virtue

That the Lord says He delights in. Amen.

http://www.gcmodesto.org




(John 8:1-11)





Isn’t it mercy?












B. Preview.

This morning,





2

























3






II. Sermon.










Or makeshift huts.








4








Application:








We need rest,








5











3:12-14).














6






In our culture,











women” (v. 5).










7

Application:













Why?











8


























9







One who is meek,

Who has salvation,
















10





We’re not told.

It may have been






7).













11




Apparently not!



9).

What had they done?









Yes it is!





He acquitted her.



12






No.







midst” (Deu. 17:6-7).










Why not?



13










Application:





Even for the worst.









14






















Yes.




15


















(John 8:1-11)





Isn’t it mercy?












B. Preview.

This morning,





2

























3






II. Sermon.










Or makeshift huts.








4








Application:








We need rest,








5











3:12-14).














6






In our culture,











women” (v. 5).










7

Application:













Why?











8


























9







One who is meek,

Who has salvation,
















10





We’re not told.

It may have been






7).













11




Apparently not!



9).

What had they done?









Yes it is!





He acquitted her.



12






No.







midst” (Deu. 17:6-7).










Why not?



13










Application:





Even for the worst.









14






















Yes.




15


















(John 8:1-11)





Isn’t it mercy?












B. Preview.

This morning,





2

























3






II. Sermon.










Or makeshift huts.








4








Application:








We need rest,








5











3:12-14).














6






In our culture,











women” (v. 5).










7

Application:













Why?











8


























9







One who is meek,

Who has salvation,
















10





We’re not told.

It may have been






7).













11




Apparently not!



9).

What had they done?









Yes it is!





He acquitted her.



12






No.







midst” (Deu. 17:6-7).










Why not?



13










Application:





Even for the worst.









14






















Yes.




15


















(John 8:1-11)





Isn’t it mercy?












B. Preview.

This morning,





2

























3






II. Sermon.










Or makeshift huts.








4








Application:








We need rest,








5











3:12-14).














6






In our culture,











women” (v. 5).










7

Application:













Why?











8


























9







One who is meek,

Who has salvation,
















10





We’re not told.

It may have been






7).













11




Apparently not!



9).

What had they done?









Yes it is!





He acquitted her.



12






No.







midst” (Deu. 17:6-7).










Why not?



13










Application:





Even for the worst.









14






















Yes.




15


















(John 8:1-11)





Isn’t it mercy?












B. Preview.

This morning,





2

























3






II. Sermon.










Or makeshift huts.








4








Application:








We need rest,








5











3:12-14).














6






In our culture,











women” (v. 5).










7

Application:













Why?











8


























9







One who is meek,

Who has salvation,
















10





We’re not told.

It may have been






7).













11




Apparently not!



9).

What had they done?









Yes it is!





He acquitted her.



12






No.







midst” (Deu. 17:6-7).










Why not?



13










Application:





Even for the worst.









14






















Yes.




15


















(John 8:1-11)





Isn’t it mercy?












B. Preview.

This morning,





2

























3






II. Sermon.










Or makeshift huts.








4








Application:








We need rest,








5











3:12-14).














6






In our culture,











women” (v. 5).










7

Application:













Why?











8


























9







One who is meek,

Who has salvation,
















10





We’re not told.

It may have been






7).













11




Apparently not!



9).

What had they done?









Yes it is!





He acquitted her.



12






No.







midst” (Deu. 17:6-7).










Why not?



13










Application:





Even for the worst.









14






















Yes.




15


















(John 8:1-11)





Isn’t it mercy?












B. Preview.

This morning,





2

























3






II. Sermon.










Or makeshift huts.








4








Application:








We need rest,








5











3:12-14).














6






In our culture,











women” (v. 5).










7

Application:













Why?











8


























9







One who is meek,

Who has salvation,
















10





We’re not told.

It may have been






7).













11




Apparently not!



9).

What had they done?









Yes it is!





He acquitted her.



12






No.







midst” (Deu. 17:6-7).










Why not?



13










Application:





Even for the worst.









14






















Yes.




15















The Lord's Mercy Toward Sinners

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