Sermon: "How Are Your Reflexes?"
INTRODUCTION
Have you ever had anyone test your reflexes? A reflex action is “an automatic response to a stimulus.” i.e. - It doesn’t involve any conscious thought.
When you go to the doctor for a physical, one of the tests he/she does is to have you sit on the edge of the table with your legs hanging down from the knee. Then he takes that rubber mallet and taps just below your knee. If your reflexes are working properly, your foot will kick out without you thinking about it.
But a reflex action doesn’t just involve your muscles. It can also be “a way of thinking or acting or responding with speed.”
You might call it a natural reaction. Someone yells – you jump. Someone claps – you blink. If you blow gently into a baby’s face – they breathe in. You get the picture – all of these are reflex actions or reactions.
This morning we want to think about our reflex action or reaction to a stimulus – SIN. How do we respond to sin? How should we respond to sin?
We find a very interesting and maybe troubling story in John’s gospel. Our proposition for this morning is …
We can learn how to respond to sin by watching Jesus interact with a woman and her accusers.
The story is often called …
A WOMAN CAUGHT IN ADULTERY
The placement of this story is interesting. In most translations we use, it is found in John’s Gospel chapter 7:53-8:11. But usually with some footnote about it; that people might question when they come across it.
This story was not always included in John’s Gospel. It is not found in some of the oldest, most reliable, manuscripts. So although John may not have included it in his original gospel, I am quite confident that it is an authentic, reliable part of scripture and deserves our careful study. We will look at four elements of the story. Let’s read the story.
JOHN 7:53-8:11 – 53Then each went to his own home.
1But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say.” 6They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
11 “No one, sir,” she said.
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
Apparently Jesus was doing what he often did in the latter part of his ministry. He would spend his nights just outside the city of Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives – maybe at the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus. Then early in the morning he would go into the temple and meet with people, teaching them, listening to them and answering their questions.
On this occasion Jesus was joined by some Pharisees and teachers of the law or Scribes. These were people who made it their business to study the Laws of Moses and the prophets, and then explain them and apply them to the lives of the people. Not unlike what we expect of our pastors and Sunday School teachers today. These men had special interest in how to apply the law.
The men brought a woman in before Jesus in order to use the law against Jesus.
A. THE LAW – is our first element of the story.
The religious leaders make a very explicit charge against the woman.
Vs. 4 – “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery.”
The way this is written in Greek make sit clear they were pursuing legal action in this case. They also state the legal action as they were applying it.
Vs. 5 – “The Law of Moses commanded us to stone such women.”
This is how they hoped to trap Jesus. If Jesus said, “Go ahead and stone her,” he would have been going against Roman Law which did not allow the death penalty in this caseand he may have been in trouble with the Roman authorities. Calling for the woman to be stoned would also have undermined his teaching and practice of offering mercy to sinners.
On the other hand, if Jesus said, “Do not stone her,” he could be charged with offending the Law of God. This would have proven to many that Jesus was not sent from God. He would have been an imposter. So it looks like Jesus is in trouble.
But let’s take a closer look at the Law. The law referenced here is from Deuteronomy 22.
DEUTERONOMY 22:22-24 – 22If a man is found sleeping 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 a man happens to meet in a town a virgin pledged to be married and he sleeps with her, 24you shall take both of them to the gate of that town and stone them to death – the girl because she was in a town and did not scream for help, and the man because he violated another man’s wife. You must purge the evil from among you.
To apply this law, the man and the woman committing adultery had to be seen by two witnesses at the same time, and in the actual sex act. Circumstantial evidence was not enough.
So if the woman was caught in the act, where was the man? How did he get away? It appears that in order to get the necessary evidence the witnesses must have had to set a trap, and the plan would have included letting the man conveniently escape.
This poses another problem for the accusers. The law also expected that if a person witnessed another about to commit sin, compassion required them to speak up. So the witnesses knew the woman was going to commit adultery, but failed to speak up – making them law breakers. The accusers knew who both adulterers were, but failed to bring the man, making them obvious law breakers.
Paul wrote to the Romans …
ROMANS 3:20b – Through the law we become conscious of sin.
The religious leaders knew adultery was sin, but they were trying to use the law to get the woman and trap Jesus.
We sometimes have trouble … APPLYING THE LAW – don’t we?
I’ve noticed two ways we struggle with “The Law.”
1. As accusers
2. As law breakers or sinners
First – As Accusers
When we notice, or hear of, someone doing something we don’t approve of, we usually apply the law as a hammer to straighten them out. Take for instance what people choose to do on Sunday. We each have our opinions about what is okay or not okay to do on Sunday. If someone does something we would not do, like mowing the lawn or opening our business, we quote …
DEUTERONOMY 5:12 – Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you.
However, when the activity is something we want to do, like eating out as a special occasion we quote Jesus …
MARK 2:27 – The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
It is not right for us to use the law to try and get at someone.
Second – As law breakers or sinners we also struggle with “The Law.”
The law says …
MATTHEW 18:15 – If your brothers sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you.
In other words, go privately and try to reconcile. What do we often do – we go talk to someone else about our brother – and in doing so sin against our brother.
Or the law says …
MATTHEW 18:22 – Forgive your brother, seventy-seven times.
We say – “I let it go the first two times, but not any more. I’m not going to let him do that to me again.” We have probably never forgiven him for the first two offenses. Failing to forgive an offense against us is sin. But we try to rationalize our way around the law we break.
You see how we struggle with the law and react to it?
A second element is this story is …
B. THE ACCUSERS
The accusers thought they had an airtight case against the woman. They wanted to “throw the book at her” so to speak. They also thought Jesus was trapped by their neatly set up situation.
But Jesus can be so frustrating at times. He appears to ignore them at first. Look at…
Vs. 6 – But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.
We do not know what Jesus wrote in the dust. I like the suggestion from one author who suggested Jesus may have written another statement from the law.
EXODUS 23:1 – Do not help a wicked man by being a malicious witness.
That would certainly fit the context of what he said next ..
Vs. 7 – When they kept questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”
This does not mean that the accusers must be sinless or morally perfect in order to bring charges against the woman. It does not mean the woman is innocent.
Jesus is making a direct reference to Deuteronomy 13:9 or 17:7.
DEUTERONOMY 13:9 – Your hand must be the first in putting him to death.
DEUTERONOMY 17:7 – The hands of the witnesses must be the first in putting him to death.
This is referring to another situation where there is a witness to sin.
What Jesus is doing for the accusers (and I say for not to) is – He is causing them to do some self-examination using the same Book of the Law they want to use against the woman. Why would he do that? He would do it hoping they would come to repentance when they looked in the mirror.
Here in lies a very valuable lesson for us. We will see one another doing sinful things – complaining, gossiping, criticizing, etc. There is a time for us to “show our brother his sin.”
GALATIANS 6:1 – Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.
We are not to throw the book at them. Every time we recognize sin in another it is an opportunity to shine the light of the law into our own hearts and say, “Lord, is there something like that in me?” And if it is there, confess and repent.
The accusers couldn’t stand up to their own self-examination and they began filing out one by one, until only the woman was left with Jesus.
Let’s focus first on …
C. THE WOMAN
This woman does not have a minor problem. She has broken the law. And according to that law it is appropriate for her to die. Her case is not dismissed, as so often happens in our courts, because evidence was obtained illegally. She is guilty as charged. She is just waiting for Jesus to pronounce his sentence on her. Let me read you the story of another woman caught in sin – Karla Faye Tucker.
Karla Faye Tucker was 23 years old in 1983. She and her boyfriend, Daniel Garret, broke into a house in Houston, Texas. They were high on drugs and when they ran into the couple in the home, they murdered them with a hammer and a pick ax – a gruesome sight. Karla and her boyfriend were caught, tried and convicted. Each one was given the death sentence. Garret, the man, died in prison. Tucker was on death row for many years but after three months in prison, a puppet ministry come to the prison, and Tucker attended out of boredom. She stole a Bible and began reading it that night in her cell. Later that night she accepted Jesus into her heart. Here is part of her testimony.
“When I did this, the full and overwhelming weight and reality of what I had done hit me. I realized for the first time that night what I had done. I began crying that night for the first time in many years, and to this day tears are a part of my life.”
Karla’s life changed. Christ was alive in her. For 14 years she was a powerful Christian presence in the prison. She wrote …
“I feel the pain of that night and I feel the pain that goes on everyday with others because of what I did that night. I know the evil that was in me then, and I know that what took place that night was so horrible only a monster could do it.”
But now her life was filled with the radiant joy of Jesus’ forgiveness.
Karla Faye was executed by lethal injection in 1998. In her final words she said she was calm and peaceful and she hoped that the families of her victims would see her love and forgive her.
How do you respond to Karla Faye’s story? I know you need time to think about it.
But I believe Karla Faye’s conversion story is helpful because the power of her Christian life is so directly tied to the power of her sin. She did not live a day without reflecting on her sin and God’s forgiveness. As the woman caught in adultery, she did not deny her sin. She, too, could experience freedom from sin, love and forgiveness. Karla Faye’s life was changed for fourteen years, and I believe the woman’s life changed as well, because Jesus set her free. Jesus understood the power of grace and the woman lived. The State of Texas did not, and Karla Faye was killed.
Our perception of Christ’s forgiveness in each of our lives diminishes as we lose touch with the depth of our own sinfulness. When we don’t see ourselves in the drama of the woman or the saga of Karla Faye, when we feel we are above accusation and judgment, we lose sight of God’s grace.
What is your reaction to sin in your own life? Can you become this woman and realize the seriousness of your own situation? The state may not condemn us for our sins, but do we see ourselves just as much in need of the mercy and love of God.
Now let’s look at …
D. JESUS, THE MERCIFUL, FORGIVING LAW GIVER
We have already seen him give the accusers opportunity to do some self-reflection that could lead to repentance and their own forgiveness.
What about his words to the woman? He says …
Vs. 11 – “Neither do I condemn you, go now and leave your life of sin.”
Jesus was not implying her innocence at all. What he was showing was his power to forgive sin.
Mark tells a story we don’t have time to read, but in it, Jesus says to some teachers of the law …
MARK 2:9-12 – 9Which is easier to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? 10But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins…” he said to the paralytic, 11“I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 12He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
Jesus was not saying to the woman, “What you did isn’t so bad, just forget about it.” If he had said that she would likely have gone right back into that life-style and would have been miserable trying to find happiness in a destructive way.
Instead he was saying – “I know what you’ve been doing. I forgive you, and I give you the power to live a transformed life.”
That is exactly what he says to us. We may not have killed anyone with a hammer or pick ax. We may not have had sex with numerous people other than our spouse, but anything we did to break God’s law is bad and the Bible says we deserve to die for it.
ROMANS 6:23 – “The wages of sin is death.”
How does Jesus respond to our sin? He offers forgiveness, mercy and a power to be free from sin’s slavery.
This morning are you going to turn and walk away, content to accuse and throw the book of the law at others? Or will you humbly accept the forgiveness Jesus offers and walk out of here a transformed person – leaving your sins and sinful life behind?