Below is the manuscript to this Sunday’s sermon. Chances are, you will encounter grammatical errors. Please be gracious. I pray this will be beneficial to you as you study the Word of God that is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work (2 Tim. 3:16-17).”
TEXTUAL CRITICISM
***Mars Hill just recently did a seminar discussing in much greater detail the topic that we are about to discuss. I strongly encourage you to go to their website and listen to it.
Now, before we dive in, let me address a possible elephant in the text (room). Most of your Bible’s will have something in a footnote or a bracket saying, “The earliest manuscripts do not include 7:53–8:11.”
For some of you, you have noticed this, and it scared and confused you. But, you didn’t really know what to do about it. For some of you, you’ve noticed it and you just don’t care. So, you kept on reading. While some of you noticed it, you tackled it. Therefore, this doesn’t phase you at all.
So, for the sake of those of us who have no idea what this footnote means, I’m going to spend a few minutes explaining what this means. But, before I seek to explain what that means, let me read our church’s stance on the Bible:
“We believe that the Bible is the breathed-out, written word of God, fully inspired and without error in the original manuscripts, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and has primary authority of all matter of faith and conduct.”
So, what that means is that we believe that Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, Peter, James, all of the authors of the different books of the Bible were prompted and led by the Holy Spirit to write everything that we need for belief in Christ and obedience to God. In their writing, we believe that the Holy Spirit kept them from error.
Now, during the time of their writing, they shockingly didn’t have a printing press. There was no fax machines or copiers. Therefore, because these words were recognized as the inerrant word of God, copyist began to make copies of the original manuscripts.
So, for example, John wrote this gospel. Copies were then made, and those copies were dispersed. Then copies were made of those copies, and copies of those copies, so on and so forth.
Before you know it, hundreds and thousands of copies of the original NT manuscripts existed. Then, overtime, the original manuscripts deteriorated and became inexistent. Therefore, we don’t have any of the original manuscripts. But, we have thousands of copies of those manuscripts.
So, now we have a thing called “textual criticism,” which is the discipline of attempting to determine the original wording of a document when the original document doesn’t exists. This is a challenging discipline that I am not capable of doing. However, I’m thankful for those who do.
Textual critics take all of these copies, compare them, and then try to conclude what the original wording was/is. Although we don’t have the original manuscript of John, we have, what some scholars would call, an “embarrassment of riches” when it comes to ancient handwritten copies of the Bible.
Imagine making $1M/year by working as a cashier at McDonalds. Then one day one of your coworkers says, “Hey, I notice you drive a Tesla. How can you afford that by making minimum wage?” It would be embarrassing to reveal how much money you make to a coworker who makes so much less than you.
Well, when you compare the amount manuscript data from the NT with the data provided for the average Greco-Roman author, it’s not even a close comparison. Daniel B. Wallace says this,
“The average classical author’s literary remains number no more than twenty copies. We have more than 1,000 times the manuscript data for the NT than we do for the average Greco-Roman author.”
So, most writings would possess around 20 copies; and no scholars doubts the credibility of these writings. Well, multiply that by 1,000 and that’s how much data we have for the NT. There’s an abundance of evidence surrounding the reliability and trustworthiness of the Bible.
Now, this abundance of evidence can create both problems and solutions for textual critics. The problem they create is the more copies you have the more variations you find. So, if you have 5,800 copies in the Greek language that were all written down by hand, then you can expect mistakes to be made. (Most of these mistakes consist of spelling errors and changes in words.)
The more copies you have, the more variations you have. However, the more copies you have, the more those variations tend to be self-correcting.
For example, If, back in 2017, I recorded in my journal that FSU beat Alabama in football and Chris recorded in his hot pink diary with hearts on it that Alabama beat FSU, then we would have a serious dilemma on our hands. Which is true? Nobody knows.
However, if I recorded in my journal that FSU beat Alabama in football and Chris, Brent, Andrew, and Troy recorded in their diaries that Alabama beat FSU, then we have a better idea which is true.
Because we have more recordings, the variations correct themselves. F.F. Bruce says,
“If the great number of manuscripts increases the number of scribal errors, it increases proportionately the means of correcting such errors, so that the margin of doubt left in the process of recovering the exact original wording is… in truth remarkably small.”
So, with that in mind, we do not have the original manuscript of John, but we do have many copies of this original manuscript. And our little footnote in our Bible tells us that this passage wasn’t found in the earliest copies of the gospel of John.
What does that mean? Well, it means what it says.It means that, until the fifth century, this story wasn’t found in any of the early Greek manuscripts. So, that means that for around 400 years this story wasn’t found in the gospel of John.
Not only that, but when you study the teachings and commentaries of the early church fathers, none of them mention this passage in their commentaries on the gospel of John. So, it’s safe to conclude, there’s overwhelming evidence, that this story was not a part of the original writings of John.
Now, if this gospel wasn’t written by John then
Who wrote it?
What is it doing here?
Well, I, personally (and I’m not alone here), think there’s a lot of evidence that would point to the author of this passage being Luke. The language and writing style used in this passage doesn’t match the rest of the gospel of John. Rather, it resembles more of Luke.
For example, Luke is often concerned with the poor, the marginalized, the helpless, the rejects of society, similar to the woman addressed in our passage today.
But, not only that, a lot of the words used here reflect Luke’s vocabulary. For example, John never uses the words “scribes and Pharisees” and the “Mount of Olives” anywhere else in his gospel. But, Luke does. The word for “early” in verse 2 isn’t found anywhere else in John. But, it is in Luke. The words for “all the people” in verse 2 is found 20 different times in Luke & Acts. The word for for “appear” is found over 24 times in Luke & Acts. The word for “accusers”and “conscience” is only found in Acts. There’s over 10 words used in this passage that aren’t found elsewhere in the gospel of John.
Imagine if Toby Keith recorded a song and put it on Drake’s new album, you would quickly realize there’s a difference between that song and the rest of his album. The tone, language, and words being used would quickly reveal Drake is not the author. You would be asking, “Since when did Drake get a southern accent, and what’s he doing talking about mud, trucks, and fishing?”
The language and writing style in this passage doesn’t fit with the rest of this gospel. In fact, if you were to remove this passage, the story flows much smoother from John 7:52 to 8:12 than it does from 7:52 to 7:53. Which, again, tells us that this passage was inserted at a later date. Scholars do not disagree over this.
That being said, I don’t think there is any reason to doubt the authenticity of this story. There’s details in this passage that push back against the theory of this story being fabricated and made up; and, as one commentator puts it, “It has all of the earmarks of historical veracity.”
Therefore, some scholars believe that this text was likely a manuscript fragment found separated from a larger manuscript. So, what scholars over the years have sought to do is insert this story in a place that least interrupts the flow of the text. Some have placed it here, others have inserted it following John 7:36. Some have placed it at the end of John 21:25, others have placed it after Luke 21:37-38.
It’s a passage that does have a home. Therefore, some have decided to place it here because it takes place in the temple and deals with the theme of judgment (which is so prevalent in John 7).
So, although this story is not original to John, I believe it’s a historically accurate document that carries the same “character, tone, words, and actions of Jesus, clearly conveying the gospel.” Therefore, we will not dismiss this passage today.
Today’s passage is dripping with the gospel. In it, we will see the scribes and the Pharisees seek to trap Jesus so that “they might have some charge to bring against him,” and the way they seek to do that is by bringing a woman caught in adultery before him.
Jesus, however, responds with a perfect balance of law and grace, truth and love, by (1) exposing the religious leaders hypocrisy and (2) giving grace to the sinner.
TWO GROUPS OF PEOPLE
Now, for my second introduction of the morning, what I would like to do is highlight two groups of people in this passage and discuss how Jesus interacts with each of them. Then, we will unpack these verses.
These are:
The scribes and Pharisees.
The adulteress and the adulterer.
Scribes and the Pharisees:
The scribes were a group of people who possessed a knowledge of the law. They would be responsible for copying and drafting documents about the law. The pharisees were leaders in the synagogue. These would be men who were extremely zealous over the minute details of the law.
Both the scribes and Pharisees were men who knew the law and who were zealous for keeping the law. However, as we will see today, despite this knowledge and zeal for the law, these were men who were walking in hypocrisy.
But, most importantly, as we will also see today, these were men who hated Jesus. They did not like Jesus; and out of their hatred for Jesus, they will seek to take the law and use it to trap Jesus.
Now, before we look at how the scribes and Pharisees seek to trap Jesus, and how Jesus interacts with them, let’s look at two other characters in this story: the adulteress and the adulterer.
Adulteress
What makes one an adulterer or adulteress? A simple answer would be the act of adultery.
Well what is adultery?
Adultery is voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and a person who is not his or her spouse. (Jesus also takes this a step further by including the act of looking at a man or woman with lustful intent). Adultery is one of many ways that mankind seeks to enjoy the gift of sexual intimacy outside of the confines that God has given us in his word.
Now, I want to spend a few moments camped out here on what the Bible says about adultery. This is where things get squirmy. But, I want to do this because I did a little research this week on the topic of adultery in our culture.
There’s a study out there that shows that 20% of men and 13% of women have reported to have sex with someone other than their spouse while married. I hope those numbers reflect those outside of the church.
Not only that, but data from a survey done in 2002 indicated that, by the age of 20, 77% of boys and girls had sex before marriage.
And, not only that, but “1 in 5 mobile searches are for pornography.” “68% of young adult men and 18% of women use porn at least once every week.” “64% of Christian men and 15% of Christian women say they watch porn at least once a month.”
This tells me that we don’t just live in a culture that is polluted with sexual perversion, but we live in a culture that worships, celebrates, and longs for sexual perversion.
Around every corner one can find temptations to be lured into sexual immorality. Single men and women are constantly faced with the temptation to “awaken love before one should.” Married men and women are faced with the temptation to be intoxicated with the love of someone other than his or her spouse. And, at the click of a button, both married and single men and women are tempted to chase after a fantasized love that they can find on the internet.
Remaining sexually pure in the middle of a culture that celebrates sexual perversion is a challenge for believers today.
Now, that being said, the temptation for sexual immorality isn’t new to our culture today. In fact, contrary to what some may believe, the Bible has much to say about sex. Which tells me that there’s a right way to enjoy sex and there’s a wrong way to enjoy sex.
Sex is good. But, the temptation to pervert the good gift of sex is common amongst all people. Surprisingly, the Bible strongly encourages sexual intimacy. Sex is not a bad thing. It’s a good gift from God that is to enjoyed within the confines that God has given.
God created sexual intimacy to be enjoyed between one man and one woman within the confines of marriage. However, sin has sought to distort, fracture, and destroy what marriage was originally intended to be.
Where the marriage bed was to be the only place for sexual intimacy, we now see (1) sex being enjoyed outside of the confines of marriage and (2) married partners withholding sex from one another (which Paul rebukes in 1 Corinthians 7).
Proverbs 5-7 give stern warnings against adultery. We see that although the lips of a forbidden woman “drip with honey, and her speech is smoother than oil” in the end she is bitter and her path leads to death. Therefore, “a young man is to keep his way far from the house of the forbidden woman.”
Meaning: you are to flee (run from) the temptation to enjoy the good gift of sex with anyone other than your spouse. We are to flee sexual immorality like we would flee a murderer.
Lets pretend Brady has lost his mind and is now hell bent on seeing you die. You’re at his house and he starts threatening your life. When he journeys into his room to find a gun, wisdom would obviously tell you to RUN (or “flee from him”). It’s in this moment that your only hope for protection would be outside of Brady’s presence.
In your pursuit of safety, wisdom would also tell you to avoid future contact with Brady, meaning you’re not going to hang out with this crazy fool anymore, nor would you go anywhere that you think he might be.
This means you would begin to avoid shopping at Walmart (because you know Brady is a Walmart guy), and you would start shopping at Publix’s, Whole Foods, or you would even make the expensive trip over to Fresh Market. At this point, you wouldn't care about prices because you are aware of the danger of seeing Brady again.
This is obviously a silly analogy, but the point still remains: sexual immorality is a horrendous sin and it is one we must “seek safety from by flight.” It is our calling as Christians to run from sexual immorality. We are to seek safety from it by fleeing. Safety from sexual immorality can only be found by obediently running from it and running to God and submitting to His word.
Proverbs constantly warns us to, as we’re running, “not desire her beauty” and “not let her speech captivate you.” Avoid, flee, the temptation to enjoy sexual intimacy outside of the parameters that God has given you, which is marriage.
The book of Proverbs doesn’t just call us to run, but it also calls us to “delight in the wife of your youth.” Meaning: enjoy the gift of sex with your wife or husband. “Drink water from your own cistern, flowing water from your own well…” “Rejoice in the wife of your youth…” “Be intoxicated always in her love…”
Married couples, some of y’all need to go home, open up your Bibles to Proverbs 5 or Song of Songs, and worship the Lord by “being intoxicated in the love” of your spouse. Sex is a good gift from God that is to be enjoyed with only your spouse.
Listen, “our ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and he ponders all of our paths.” God sees all and knows all. He sees your actions and he sees your thoughts. Therefore, run from sexual immorality and cling to intimacy with your spouse. This is pleasing to the Lord.
The one who commits adultery lacks sense, and destroys himself (as the Bible says). The Bible gives stern warnings against adultery because adultery is breaking the law.
Adultery is like a kid opening up a new Christmas gift, playing with it for a moment, and then throwing it on the ground to go steal and play with another kids Christmas gift. It is a selfish endeavor that destroys ones life.
So, in our passage today, where this woman had a spouse to delight in and worship God with through sexual intimacy, this woman lacked sense and chased after her sinful desire to eat of the forbidden fruit of sex outside of marriage… And she got caught…And she stands before Jesus condemned by the law.
Look at what the law says about adultery…
“You shall not commit adultery.” — Exodus 20:14.
“If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.” — Leviticus 20:10.
“If a man is found lying with the wife of another man, both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman.” — Deuteronomy 22:22.
So, the law speaks strongly against adultery, and there were serious repercussion for both the man and woman caught in adultery.
So, here in this passage you have a group of men who know and are zealous for the law and you have a man and a woman who are guilty of breaking the law through the act of adultery. Because of the scribes and pharisees distaste for Jesus, they take the woman to Jesus in hopes to trap him.
Let’s go ahead and dive in.
53 They went each to his own house, 1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. 3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst 4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5 Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” 6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”
So, early in the morning, while Jesus is teaching a large crowd, the scribes and Pharisees enter the scene with a woman caught in adultery. They place her in his midst and say to him,
“Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5 Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” 6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him.
Verses 4-5 tell us the words they say, but verse 6 shows us the motivation of these words. Their goal is to test Jesus so that they might have something to charge against him. So, we have a group of men who know the law and who are zealous for keeping the law. However, we see here that they have little concern for justice. Their aim is to trap or test Jesus.
So, we just saw that adultery was an offense that was to be punishable by death. Therefore, they bring a woman who was guilty of adultery before Jesus saying, “This woman should be stoned.”
Now, do any of us notice the inconsistency found in the words of the scribes and Pharisees here? Lets go back and read what the law said about adultery.
“If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.” — Leviticus 20:10.
“If a man is found lying with the wife of another man, both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman.” — Deuteronomy 22:22.
The law is clear: both the man and the woman shall be put to death, not just the woman. Yet, the scribes and Pharisees bring only the woman. This shows us that they had little concern for justice here. Rather, they were laser focused on trapping Jesus. These men who know the law and are zealous for the law are manipulating the law in order to trap Jesus.
Adultery was an offense punishable by death; and this woman was undoubtedly guilty. She was presented before Jesus (the giver of the law) as one who has gone against God’s design for marriage, and consequently the law says that she and the man is to be punished by death. Yet, she stands before Jesus alone.
The scribes and Pharisees had little concern for justice. Rather, they were wrapped up in trapping Jesus. So, they ask Jesus what his thoughts were.
Rather than respond immediately, Jesus bends down and begins to write in the dirt with his finger.
There’s a lot of speculation over what Jesus is writing here.Some believe that he was writing Exodus 23, which speaks against spreading false reports. Which would indicate that he’s accusing them of spreading a false report.
Others believe he’s writing out Jeremiah 17:13, which says,
“O Lord, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you shall be put to shame; those who turn away from you shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living water.”
This would mean that Jesus was writing out their names in the earth, accusing them of forsaking the Lord themselves. With them being scribes and Pharisees, they would have immediately known what Jesus was doing here.
The reality is, we simply don’t know what’s being written here. The author leaves this detail unknown. Any attempt to figure this out would simply be speculation. But, what I think Jesus’s actions here do tell us is this: Jesus is not acting on their time table. He will not answer when they want him to answer.
So, verse 7 tells us that they continue to ask.
7 And as they continue to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.
Now, Jesus here is not saying that one cannot confront sin unless he or she is sinless. If that was the case, one could never carry out the law. What Jesus is doing here is he is forcing the scribes and Pharisees to examine their own hearts before they carry out the law. In doing so, he exposes their corruption and their inability to keep the law.
Yes, the act of adultery was punishable by death. The scribes and pharisees were right. But, are they without sin here? Are they keeping the law by bringing just the woman? No. Are they, therefore, blameless and without sin in their pursuit of “justice?” No.
Jesus here is humbling the arrogant scribes and Pharisees by challenging their motives. He is revealing that they do not know nor keep the law.
Then, one by one, the stones begin to hit floor and the crowd begins to dwindle. D.A. Carson says, “Those who came to shame Jesus now leave in shame.”
Can you imagine what this woman was feeling at this point?
With her greatest sins exposed before the blameless giver of the law, Jesus, with her head down in shame, tears flowing from her eyes, thinking this is her last moments of life, I can’t imagine what’s going on in this woman’s mind. I’m sure she’s filled with great regret and remorse, fear and hopelessness.
Then, in verse 10, Jesus (the lawgiver) speaks to the woman,
“Woman where are they (where are your accusers)? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”
At the feet of Jesus, rather than receive condemnation, this woman finds grace and forgiveness when her sin was exposed. Because of where Jesus was going, the cross, he is able to justly extend grace when condemnation is demanded; and following this grace, she’s sent to go and “sin no more.”
Richard Phillips says, “We are forgiven in order that we might become holy.” We must never reverse these two. We don’t clean our life up and then come to Jesus. We come to him broken and in desperate need of forgiveness, and— because of the cross— we are sent to go and sin no more. Repentance is not a means to earn forgiveness. It is something that follows the forgiveness we find in Christ.
A GREAT TRAGEDY
Now, as we close today, I want to highlight what I believe is one of the greatest tragedies of this passage. Where this woman’s sin was exposed and brought before Jesus, the man was able to remain in hiding. At the start of the story, it seems like the man was off the hook. He escaped judgment.
The man was able to go home to his wife and kids, continuing on living in darkness, hiding his corruption from others. But, this woman’s deep dark secrets were exposed, and she stood before Jesus condemned. Yet, this woman walks away not condemned. She walks aways forgiven and justified.
Because of the cross, the sinner who comes to Jesus broken and empty handed can walk away a new creation, forgiven and cleansed by the blood of Jesus. Because of the cross, men and women like you and I and the woman in this story, can one day stand before God holy and blameless and above reproach.
Listen to me, the greatest lie anyone could ever tell you is that hiding your sin is worth it. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
It is a great tragedy that this man’s sin remained in the dark. Some of you are like the man in this story. You’ve gotten far too comfortable with sin and you’re way too good at hiding it.
I want you to understand that this man did not escape judgment. Although he thought he could hide, his sin was on full display before God.
May we be a church that strives for purity. May we be a church that strives to “go and sin no more.” And, when we do fall, may we be quick to confess, clinging to the blood of Jesus.
And, lastly, some of you, have been sinned against. You have been hurt and wronged. May you find the example of Jesus here comforting.
We know Jesus to be the giver of the law. Therefore, this woman’s sin was blatant defiance against Jesus (God) alone. Yet, he extends grace.May we, like Jesus, be quick to extend grace and mercy to those who sin against us.
“This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” — 1 John 1:5-10