​Law and Grace (John 8:1-11)

Law and Grace (8:1-11)

The Feast of Tabernacles was over, but Jesus took the opportunity to help the pilgrims in the temple. During the feast, it quickly became known that Jesus was not only there but was also openly teaching in the temple (see Luke 21:37). He taught in the women's court, which was next to the treasury (John 8:20). The scribes and Pharisees knew where He would be, so they made their plan together.

They probably wouldn't catch a couple in the act of adultery, so we're curious if the man (who was never charged!) was involved in the plan. The law said that both people who were guilty had to be stoned (Lev. 20:10; Deut. 22:22), not just the woman. It does seem strange that the man was let go. The scribes and Pharisees were harsh, even interrupting the Lord's teaching and pushing the woman into the crowd.

Of course, the Jewish leaders were trying to put Jesus in a tough spot. What would happen to His reputation as the "friend of publicans and sinners" if He said, "Yes, the woman must be stoned!"? The common people would have left Him and never accepted His kind message of forgiveness.

If He had said, "No, the woman should not be stoned!" He would have been breaking the law and could have been arrested. The religious leaders had tried to get Jesus to go against the Mosaic Law more than once, and now they seemed to have the perfect opportunity (see John 5:39–47; 6:32ff.; 7:40ff.).

Jesus didn't judge the woman; He judged the judges instead. He was probably angry at how they treated the woman. He was also worried that hypocrites like that would judge someone else but not themselves. We don't know what He wrote on the temple's dirt floor. Was He just reminding them that the Ten Commandments were first written "by the finger of God" (Ex. 31:18) and that He is God? Or was He just reminding them of what Jeremiah 17:13 said?

Jewish law said that the people who were accusing someone had to throw the first stones (Deut. 17:7). Jesus didn't want sinless men to judge the woman because He was the only one there who was sinless. If our judges today had to be perfect, there would be no judges. He was talking about the woman's specific sin, which can be done in the heart as well as with the body (Matt. 5:27–30). The accusers quietly left the scene because they felt guilty, leaving Jesus alone with the woman. He forgave her and told her not to sin again (John 5:14).

We shouldn't think that this means Jesus was "easy on sin" or that He went against the law. Jesus had to die for this woman's sins in order to forgive her. Forgiveness is free, but it doesn't come cheap. Moreover, Jesus completely obeyed the law, so no one could rightly say that He went against its teachings or made it less powerful. The Jewish leaders were breaking both the letter and the spirit of the law by applying it to the woman instead of themselves. They thought they were protecting Moses!

The law was given to show sin (Rom. 3:20), and we must be found guilty by the law before we can be cleansed by God's grace. Law and grace do not fight with each other; they work together. No one has ever been saved by keeping the law, and no one has ever been saved by grace who wasn't first charged with breaking the law. There has to be conviction before there can be conversion.

Christ's kind forgiveness does not provide you a reason to sin. Our Lord told us, "Go, and sin no more!" " But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared." (Ps. 130:4). The experience of gracious forgiveness would undoubtedly inspire the repentant sinner to lead a life of holiness and obedience for the glory of God.