#1487 John 8 Part 1 Go And What?

 

But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and began to teach them. 3 The scribes and the Pharisees *brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, 4 they *said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. 5 Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?” 6 They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have evidence to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. 7 But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court. 10 Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go, and from now on sin no more.”] John 8: 1-11 LSB

John 8: 1-11

John MacArthur has a lengthy discussion of internal and external evidence regarding the authenticity of John 7:53-8:11.

The passage contains several internal indicators that cast doubt on its authenticity. Its placement here disrupts the flow of thought in this section. In 7:37–52 Jesus referred to one of the rituals associated with the Feast of Tabernacles, the water pouring ceremony (see the exposition of those verses in chapter 26 of this volume). In 8:12 the Lord alluded to the second great ritual associated with the feast, the lamp lighting ceremony (see the exposition of 8:12–21 in chapter 28 of this volume). Jesus’ claim to be the Light of the World in 8:12 follows logically after His claim to be the source of living water in 7:37–52. (The word “again” in verse 12 also implies a continuity between 7:37–52 and 8:12–21.) That claim to be the Light of the World may also be an allusion to Isaiah 9:1–2 (cf. Matt. 4:12–16), and thus an indirect reply to the Pharisees’ contemptuous remark in verse 52 that “no prophet arises out of Galilee.” Interposing the story of the woman taken in adultery obscures the Lord’s rebuttal of the Pharisees’ false claim (cf. Philip Comfort, “The Pericope of the Adulteress,” The Bible Translator 40 [January 1989], 145–47).....(See John Commentary)

The vocabulary and style of the story offer further evidence that John did not write it (BORROW Carson, John, 334; BORROW Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John, The New International Commentary on the New Testament [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1979], 883 n. 3; B. F. Westcott, The Gospel According to St. John [Reprint; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1978], 142). For example, the scribes and Pharisees (Jn 8:3), paired so frequently in the Synoptic Gospels (Mt. 5:20; 12:38; 15:1; 23:2, 13–15, 23, 25, 27, 29; Mk 2:16; 7:1, 5; Lk 5:21, 30; 6:7; 11:53; 15:2) do not appear together anywhere else in John’s gospel. The passage also suggests that Jesus spent the night on the Mount of Olives (Jn 8:1–2). Yet the Synoptic Gospels record that happening only during Passion Week (Luke 21:37; cf. Lk 22:39), which was still about six months away. (It is, of course, possible that Jesus spent nights on the Mount of Olives during earlier visits to Jerusalem and the Synoptic Gospels did not record it.) And though the Synoptic Gospels refer to the Mount of Olives (Mt. 21:1; 24:3; 26:30; Mark 11:1; 13:3; 14:26; Lk 19:29, 37; 21:37; 22:39), John does not (outside of this passage). (See John Commentary)

EDITORIAL ADDENDUM regarding internal evidence - Kostenberger adds that "fourteen out of eighty-two words used in this pericope (or 17 percent) are unique to John....Moreover, several other words occur only once or twice elsewhere in the Gospel." (Kostenberger offers no commentary on John 7:53-8:11)

The external evidence also casts doubt on the authenticity of these verses. The earliest and most reliable manuscripts, from a variety of textual traditions, omit it. Others that do include it mark it to indicate that there were questions regarding its authenticity. Many of the most significant early versions (translations of the Scriptures into other languages) also omit this section. None of the early Greek church fathers—even those who dealt with the text of John verse by verse—commented on this passage. The first to do so was Euthymius Zigabenus in the twelfth century, and even he acknowledged that the accurate manuscripts did not contain it. (See John Commentary)

Here is MacArthur's conclusion -

This passage, then, was most likely not part of the original text of John’s gospel. Yet it “is beyond doubt an authentic fragment of apostolic tradition” (Westcott, John, 125) that describes an actual historical event from Christ’s life. It contains no teaching that contradicts the rest of Scripture. The picture it paints of the wise, loving, forgiving Savior is consistent with the Bible’s portrait of Jesus Christ. Nor is it the kind of story the early church would have made up about Him. “No ascetically minded monk [most of the scribes who copied the early manuscripts were monks] would have invented a narrative which closes with what seems to be only a mild rebuke on Jesus’ part” (BORROW Bruce M. Metzger, The Text of the New Testament [New York: Oxford, 1982], 223). (See John Commentary) - Precept Austin

V. 3 The Scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery - Jesus' enemies, those who have been trying to discredit Him. Who is the woman, where did she come from, how did they catch her in adultery?

…13You shall not murder. 14You shall not commit adultery. 15You shall not steal.… Exodus 20: 13-15

…22If a man is found lying with another man’s wife, both the man who slept with her and the woman must die. You must purge the evil from Israel. 23If there is a virgin pledged in marriage to a man, and another man encounters her in the city and sleeps with her, 24you must take both of them out to the gate of that city and stone them to death—the young woman because she did not cry out in the city, and the man because he has violated his neighbor’s wife. So you must purge the evil from among you.… Deuteronomy 22: 22-24

V. 4 In the very act - So it was witnessed, they saw her with another man who was not her husband. 

V. 5 Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do you say - He actually commanded you to stone the man and the woman to purge the evil from among you, so where is the dude? This is a sin of two people, and you are saying caught in the act, so where is the man that was with her?

Steven Cole -We tend to look on the woman in this story as the great sinner, while overlooking the fact that the scribes and Pharisees were just as evil, if not more so, in God’s sight. They were callously sinning against this woman. We can’t say for certain, but probably she was a young girl. In the Law of Moses, the penalty for adultery was death for both partners, without stipulating the means of death. But if the girl was engaged to be married, the penalty was specifically stoning to death (Deut. 22:22–24). Since Jewish girls were often engaged as young as 13 or 14, this girl may have been a frightened teenager. Clearly, they didn’t care about her at all. If they had cared about her, they could have held her in private custody until they brought formal charges against her. But they didn’t care about her feelings or about humiliating her in public. She was just a pawn for them to use and discard in their attempt to trap Jesus. But, even more seriously than sinning against this woman, these religious leaders were also sinning against the sinless Son of God. Their aim was to destroy Jesus and they were using both this woman and the Scriptures to do it! They weren’t concerned about God’s honor or about holiness among God’s people. It just so happened that the Law gave them ammunition to use against this woman and against Jesus. They were using Scripture to judge others, but not to judge themselves. - Precept Austin

V. 6 They were saying this, testing Him, so they might have evidence to accuse Him - He has claimed to be from God the Father, that He only does what He sees the Father doing, so they think themselves slick. If He says stone her then He is in defiance of Roman law, because Rome has the power of life and death. As Jesus will say, "the government does not bear the sword in vein", so capital cases, capital punishment, must go through the state, which is the Roman Empire. So now, these well intentioned Pharisees, think they have Him caught either way. He will either be at odds with Rome for breaking their law by having this woman stoned, or He will be breaking His Father's law by telling them to let her go. 

V. 6b But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground - How tranquil, and this is where most debaters would have pulled out their portable soap box, but He doesn't sound off on these things. 

1. As I said before, "where is the man", we can speculate about him, but all I am willing to propose here is the question of the double standard. She is a pawn to these men, I hardly think this sin causes any stench in their nostrils. Like their religion, it is all for show.

2. If they stone her then they will put themselves against Rome whether it was at Christ's words or not. For some this may be their hope, that they somehow start the fight that ushers in the Kingdom.

…12Those who seek my life lay snares; those who wish me harm speak destruction, plotting deceit all day long. 13But like a deaf man, I do not hear; and like a mute man, I do not open my mouth. 14I am like a man who cannot hear, whose mouth offers no reply.… Psalm 38: 12-14

But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground - But highlights the contrast with the nefarious intentions of these religious scoundrels. Note that He does not respond verbally but physically. The finger of God was writing on the ground He had created. We speculate in vain (in my opinion) as to what He wrote, except to say it radically impacted all who read it as their subsequent actions demonstrate. Stooped down (kupto) is same word John Baptist used saying he was "not fit to stoop down and untie the thong of His sandals." (Mk 1:7+) And yet here we see the King of Glory stoop low to teach men about grace and forgiveness.

Steven Cole - “What did He write?” Here’s the answer: Nobody knows! Some have said that He was stalling for time so that He could think of what to say, but that demeans our all-wise Lord. Some say that He was writing the Pharisees’ sins in the dust, like people today write, “Wash me” in the dust of a dirty car. Others say that He was writing the Ten Commandments, which God wrote with His finger on the tablets of stone. Calvin suggested that He was shaming His enemies by ignoring them, showing that they were unworthy to be heard. But, the bottom line is, the text doesn’t tell us and so everyone is just guessing. - Precept Austin

V. 7 Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her - So now Jesus speaks and addresses the hypocrisy. This is not new at all; God addresses such things in the OT prophets as well. In Hosea in particular, now there all of Israel was in violation of adultery towards God. Theirs was the infidelity of idols, and they went about whoring after other gods. After God punished them by sending them to Babylon they entered the time of the gentiles. They lost their theocracy, lost their Judaic dynasty, self rule. Like I said before, the laws of corporal punishment now lay in the lap of their Roman occupiers. One thing Israel did do was give up the idols made with hands, they loathed them now, that suffering taught them that much, but they had also added many of their own traditions to the Mosaic law, pure silliness, and they viewed their traditions as a means to holiness. Also in Hosea's time they were adulteresses in the most common way as well, some of this interwoven with the worship of other gods. They had temple prostitutes and the like, and while they did give up their token idols, clearly they did not give up their lust, for it was widely known of them that they divorce their wives and took others for slightest of reasons. One I read was for something like burning toast, making a bad meal, and others were more honest, that your wife didn't please you anymore and you found someone else. This was all sanctioned by their Scribes, the ones who "interpret" God's law. Interestingly, if these men had the knowledge they claim to have, they would realize that Jesus has all the precedence for letting her go. I don't know what He wrote there, but look at this from Hosea. 

…13They sacrifice on the mountaintops and burn offerings on the hills, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is pleasant. And so your daughters turn to prostitution and your daughters-in-law to adultery. 14I will not punish your daughters when they prostitute themselves, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery. For the men themselves go off with prostitutes and offer sacrifices with shrine prostitutes. So a people without understanding will come to ruin. 15Though you prostitute yourself, O Israel, may Judah avoid such guilt! Do not journey to Gilgal, do not go up to Beth-aven, and do not swear on oath, ‘As surely as the LORD lives!’… Hosea 4: 13-15

More on Hosea

V. 8 Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground - So calm, their behavior doesn't dictate His. Here they are with stones in their hands, pure drama, shouting, demanding that He make a decision, arrogantly thinking they are saying anything at all, and I can just see Him yawn and scribble something in the sand. Their air is too charged so He stoops down to where it's cool. They can't make Him do anything.

V. 9 They began to go out one by one - Seeing the level of their hypocrisy it would not be surprising if the one who lay with her stood with them or nearby. Maybe he was related to one of them, but why not bring the man out here? Is his life more valuable than hers? Is this only deemed a sin of women in your eyes; is it okay for you and your sons but not for girls, though you lay with them? 

V. 11 I do not condemn you either - He was the only One that met His prerequisite for stoning her, and He chooses no to. 

16For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. 18Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.… john 3: 16-18

V. 11b Go, and from now on sin no more - This is the call to repentance, we are not as some who fall into the error of antinomianism to go and "continue in sin that grace may abound", which I have heard often in the evangelical groups who preach the doctrine of the carnal Christian. My own Father, after Columbia Bible College and Moody Bible Institute, where he had professors who certainly taught much better than this, refers to himself now as a Corinthian Christian, and as long as it is heterosexual sex he thinks it fine, whether porn or hook ups, whatever the 80 plus years old kids are calling it these days. God has spoken against all these things, so should we if we are His children. Man's defiance in this always leads to the sacrifice of someone else, that's why we have abortion, that's why the divorce rate is sometimes higher in the church than in the world. Please, don't miss the call to repent, don't look for a Jesus who can only save you from hell, but is powerless to save you from sin. He died for those very things. 

…12When the righteous triumph, there is great glory, but when the wicked rise, men hide themselves. 13He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy. 14Blessed is the man who is always reverent, but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble.… Proverbs 28: 12-14

…16Wash and cleanse yourselves. Remove your evil deeds from My sight. Stop doing evil! 17Learn to do right; seek justice and correct the oppressor. Defend the fatherless and plead the case of the widow.” 18“Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will become like wool.… Isaiah 1: 16-18

…3So when you, O man, pass judgment on others, yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? 4Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance? 5But because of your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.… Romans 2: 3-5

…20But I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads My servants to be sexually immoral and to eat food sacrificed to idols. 21Even though I have given her time to repent of her immorality, she is unwilling. 22Behold, I will cast her onto a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her will suffer great tribulation unless they repent of her deeds.… Revelation 2: 20-22

John MacArthur agrees with Pastor Cole that Jesus did forgive the woman (and I also agree with this interpretation) - With her accusers gone, there was no one left to condemn her. Exercising His divine prerogative to forgive sin (Matt. 9:6; cf. John 3:17; 12:47), Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.” Forgiveness does not imply license to sin. Jesus did not condemn her, but He did command her to abandon her sinful lifestyle....This story is far more than a battleground for textual critics. It paints a marvelous picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, whose gracious humility, infinite wisdom, convicting speech, and tender forgiveness are its central themes. All Christians should be grateful to God for sovereignly preserving it. (See John Commentary)

Gerald L. Borchert adds "Jesus’ verdict, “neither do I condemn,” however, was not rendered as a simple acquittal or a non-condemnation. The verdict was in fact a strict charge for her to live from this point on (apo tou nun) very differently—to sin no more (mēketi hamartane). The liberating work of Jesus did not mean the excusing of sin. Encountering Jesus always has demanded the transformation of life, the turning away from sin.… Sin was not treated lightly by Jesus, but sinners were offered the opportunity to start life anew. (See John 1-11: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition) - Precept Austin