JCSLK #44 Jesus, Truth and Freedom John 8

 

JCSLK #44 Jesus, Truth and Freedom - John 8

Timeline:

Discourse and Desertion - When we were last in John it was chapter 6 and Jesus had preached the Bread of Life discourse which drove away the vast multitudes of people who had been following Him due to how He could feed them, heal them and deliver them from Rome. Afterwards He was left with only his apostles and most faithful disciples. This marked the end of the year of popularity and the beginning of the year of opposition.

Confrontation and Opposition – Matthew 15 So strong is the opposition that Jesus leave Galilee and goes to the country around Tyre and Sidon. In between John 7:1 and verse 2, Matthew in chapter 15 and Mark in chapter 7 record one of those confrontations between the Pharisees and Jesus over the ceremonial washing of hands. Something Jesus disciples didn’t do like the Pharisees in Matthew 15:2-3 Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. 3 But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?

A Retreat - In John 7:1 we read, “After these things Jesus walked in Galilee: for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill him.

The Syro-Phoenician Woman – Matthew 15:24 All this conflict leads Jesus to take His disciples on another retreat this time to across the border to Tyre and Sidon. There He is confronted by the Phoenician woman whose daughter is demon-possessed. At first Jesus tells her that He was sent to the House of Israel. He tells her, Mat 15:24–28 I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. 26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. 27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. 28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

Healing of Great Multitudes Matthew then tells us Matthew 15:29-31 And Jesus departed from thence, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee; and went up into a mountain, and sat down there. 30 And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus' feet; and he healed them: 31 Insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel.

Even though this is the year of opposition the common people are not opposed at all to Jesus, those who had a need and there were so many, they still came by the thousands to Him. You get a sense of what this was like when Matthew says the crowed, “cast them down at Jesus’ feet.” Like waves of the sea the sick and possessed are thrown in front of Jesus and the He heals them. He heals them all unlike today’s pseudo-healers and miracle works. If they came to Jesus he healed them period, full stop, no exceptions, no if and or buts. The same is true of salvation, if the lost come to Jesus to heal their souls, He heals them without exception.

Then in Matthew and Mark we read the second miracle feeding, this time not of 5 thousand men but of 4 thousand, this time not 5 loaves and fishes but 7 loaves and a few fishes. Jesus cleansed the Temple twice and He fed the multitudes twice.

During this same time Jesus told the apostle during another retreat that the gates of hell would not prevail against the church that He would build upon Himself the rock of salvation in Matthew 16. He taught on forgiveness in Matthew 18 and the danger of offending your Christian family.

Jesus and the Feast of Tabernacles - Then in John 7:2-9 Now the Jews' feast of tabernacles was at hand. 3 His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judaea, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest. 4 For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, shew thyself to the world. 5 For neither did his brethren believe in him. 6 Then Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come: but your time is alway ready. 7 The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil. 8 Go ye up unto this feast: I go not up yet unto this feast; for my time is not yet full come. 9 When he had said these words unto them, he abode still in Galilee.10 But when his brethren were gone up, then went he also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.

The events in John 7 and 8 take place in the year of opposition and around the events of the Feast of tabernacles, which was one of 7 feasts that God had given to Israel. The feast of tabernacles required the people of Israel to construct booths of branches and to live in them for a week, those of us who love camping would really enjoy this feast. The booths or tabernacles were to remind the nation of the 40 years they had dwelt in tents in the wilderness.

Jesus leaves for Jerusalem later than usual and goes by a different route again because of the danger of the opposition interfering with His work and teaching. While on the way to the Luke chapter 9 tells us that Jesus meets the 3 disciples that would not follow Christ and walked away because they loved the world, riches or family more than Jesus.

That brings us to the present time of today’s sermon Jesus, the truth and freedom. John 7:14-16 Now about the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught. 15 And the Jews marveled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned? 16 Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.

While in Jerusalem Jesus teaches and there is a great division of who He is. John 7:28-31 Then cried Jesus in the temple as he taught, saying, Ye both know me, and ye know whence I am: and I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom ye know not. 29 But I know him: for I am from him, and he hath sent me. 30 Then they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come. 31 And many of the people believed on him, and said, When Christ cometh, will he do more miracles than these which this man hath done?

John 7:40-46 Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet. 41 Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee? 42 Hath not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was? 43 So there was a division among the people because of him. 44 And some of them would have taken him; but no man laid hands on him. 45 Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why have ye not brought him? 46 The officers answered, Never man spake like this man.

Jesus, the Adulterous Woman, truth and freedom

John 8:1-11 Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. 2 And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them. 3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, 4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. 5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? 6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. 7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. 8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. 9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? 11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

The Trap of Sin

This story is one of the most compassionate ones found in the Bible. It is one of the clearest examples of what forgiveness is and the only one who can truly forgive sin.

The woman was caught in the act, the pharisees, tell Jesus. How did this happen, were they just walking by and looked in the window, no. This was a set up, today we call it entrapment. The woman is caught but the man who probably was part of the trap is not taken, under the law they both should have been brought and stones.

The Pharisees think they have a trap Jesus cannot escape. If Jesus won’t condemn the woman to stoning, then He breaks the law of Moses, if He does say she deserves to be stoned then He breaks the law of the Romans for capital punishment was under their authority. It is a insidious, ingenious plot and no one but Jesus could have seen their way clear.

They ask Jesus what should be done and instead of answering He bends down and draws in the dust. Not the answer they were expecting. They continue to press him, thinking they have the prophet in a corner and now they just need to keep hitting him until he gives up or condemns himself.

He then stands and gives an answer none them expected, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” This was a double edged response, first according to the law, the accuser was to be the first one to pick up a heavy stone and crash it upon the head of the sinner. Secondly, Jesus knew that they were the original sinners in this plot, they had set it up, they had created the situation and then condoned the sin by releasing the man who was also a sinner. They were far from being “without sin.”

Jesus bends down again and they begin to leave from the oldest to the youngest. When Jesus stands once again he asks the woman where her accusers are. Did no one accuse you? She says, No one, Lord. Then Jesus tells here, “Neither do I condemn thee. Go, and sin no more.”

Truth and Freedom For the Woman

Here is where our theme of truth and freedom come in to this story. The truth was that they were all sinners, every single one of them. Some were greater sinners than others but everyone in this story, except Jesus were sinners. The Pharisees for their plotting, deception and using sin to try and trap Jesus. The woman because she was adulterous. She may have been a prostitute or just someone having an affair, but the truth is she is a sinner.

The freedom comes when Jesus shows them the truth about their own sin. The greatest freedom or course granted to the woman. She never denied her sin and now confronted with the Messiah, she has no defense. Jesus frees her from that dangerous situation and more importantly from her sin. Go and sin no more. Like the woman who touched the hem of His garment and was freed from her issue of blood, this woman is freed by the Son of God from the penalty of her sin. At that moment, she is free, freer than she has ever been.

The CCP and Jesus

This story is so powerful, so overwhelming in its portrayal of who Jesus is and the forgiveness that He alone can give that it is rejected outright by many who can’t deal with the truth is tells. In fact the Communist Government of China hates this story so much that it decided to rewrite it recently. You probably won’t like the new version but let me share it with you, so you understand how much the unbelieving world and especially the communists hate the truth about Jesus.

In a textbook aimed at teaching ethics and law to high school students, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) changed John 8, egregiously altering the meaning of this famous narrative  demonstrating the truth and mercy of Jesus Christ.

In the CCP account, Jesus forgave the sins of a woman who committed adultery. The crowd wanted to stone the woman to death as per the law. But Jesus said, ‘Let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone.' Hearing this, they slipped away one by one.

Then the Chinese Communist narrative blasphemes dramatically. When the crowd disappeared, Jesus picks up a stone and kills the woman himself. He then tells her, "I too am a sinner. But if the law could only be executed by men without blemish, the law would be dead." ....

What the Communists and many others don’t want to believe is the truth that Jesus was without sin, that he and only he could forgive sin and that He did forgive her sin, the sin of the man being let through the roof and the sin of anyone who came to Him seeking forgiveness. The truth is that He did it then and He continues to do it today.

From all these events starting in John 7:1 to this entrapment in John 8:1 comes the sermon Jesus preaches at the feast of Tabernacles, the Bible tells us, “crying out.” That sermon is summarized in the phrase, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” Go now to John 8:30-37

 The Truth Shall Make You Free - John 8:30-36

As he spake these words, many believed on him. 31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
33 They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? 34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. 35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. 36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

To Those who had Believed

Jesus, addresses the Jews who seemingly had believed in him. There is no difference in this word in the Greek that would tell us their belief was something different than the belief in John 3:16 but though the word is not different the proof of their belief is vastly different.

What Jesus Had Taught - Let’s look back in to the context of what Jesus had just been teaching in John 8:12-30

Jesus is the Light, The revelation of God Vs. 12 ¶ Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

Jesus was from Heaven, from God Vs 23 And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.

Jesus would be crucified by them. Vs. 28  Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. 29 And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.

These are the truths they had to believe in order for Jesus to set them free. They didn’t believe these things, nor did they even believe they were in the chains of slavery to sin.

They believed in Jesus as a prophet, as a miracle worker perhaps even as the Messiah, but they did not believe in Jesus as Savior and the Son of God and without that truth they could never be free.

What Truth Do We Believe?

Do you believe in an historical Jesus. Do you believe what you’ve heard about Him? That He was virgin born, that He turned water to wine, that he healed the sick, and raised the dead. Do you even go so far as to believe that He died on the cross and rose again.

Those are all true facts about Jesus, yet if your belief only involves the facts in your head about Jesus and not your heart, then it is a belief in someone who is no more real to you today than George Washington or Abraham Lincoln, Napoleon, Churchill or Roosevelt, All great men who did great things but who are not alive today not able to change hearts, souls and lives now.

A belief like that, in Jesus, cannot save you, it is not the truth that will set you free. It cannot really save you because like the woman caught in adultery, you must realize that you are a lost sinner. Before you can be set free you must know the truth that you are fettered and shackled by your sin and you need a Saviour who has the power to set you free.

She knew her sin was going to kill her, right there that day and she knew that Jesus forgave her and set her free. That was the truth that freed her both physically and spiritually. We must know that same truth, we must have that same faith.

 Blondin crossing Niagra Falls on a Tight rope

Let me share a story that illustrates this very well. This is a true story. There was a huge crowd watching the famous tightrope walker, Blondin, cross Niagara Falls one day in 1860. He crossed it numerous times—a 1,000 foot trip, 160 feet above the raging waters. He crossed back, stood on a platform and then asked the crowd to raise their hands, if they believed he could carry a person across on his back. They all cheered, raised their hands showing they believed he could.

Then he began to point to different individuals in the crowd who had raised their hands and asked them come to the platform, jump on his back and let themselves be carried across that great, roaring wide chasm. They all refused. They didn’t really believe.

 Finally, one man stood and climbed the ladder to the platform where Blondin stood and as the crowd watched he climbed onto Blondin’s back and let himself be carried across the falls. That man was a believer. He was also Blondin’s manager and did the feat many times with the great tightrope walker because he knew the truth and was free from the fear of crossing that chasm as long as he was carried by Blondin. In order to really believe in the tightrope walker’s ability, the people had to put themselves in his power when he was walking the tightrope.

Conclusion

The Truth

Here is the truth about salvation and freedom from the bondage and the terrible eternal penalty of unforgiven sin. Mental assent or even verbal assent is not real truth, not real faith in Jesus. Just as Jesus called out the false believers in our text, one day we will face the truth about our belief in who Jesus is and what Jesus did. If all we believe is that He existed, it’s false and we are still in bondage. If we believe that saying certain words about Jesus, or practicing some ritual to worship Jesus is belief, then we’re still in bondage.

Later in this discourse between the false believers and Jesus he tells them they are in the bondage of sin and only He can set them free. John 8:34-36 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. 35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. 36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

You must know, believe the truth of Jesus Christ and then you shall be free, free indeed.

One day we will all have to cross a chasm called death and unless Jesus is the One carrying us across then we won’t make it to safety on the other side. So, you better know the truth and by your faith put yourself in His power to save. You must know the truth of Jesus as your Savior before you stand at the edge of that chasm.