Tuesday, November 29, 2011

The Gospel of John 7:53 + 8:1-59

The Adulterous Woman

7:53 [Everyone went to his home.
8:1 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 bought 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 grounds for accusing 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, "He who is without sin among you, let him 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. From now on sin no more."]
12 Then Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, bu will have the Light of life."
13 So the Pharisees said to Him, "You are testifying about Yourself; Your testimony is not true."
14 Jesus answered and said to them, "Even if I testify about Myself, My testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going.
15 "You judge according to the flesh; I am not judging anyone.
16 "But even if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me.
17 "Even in your law it has been written that the testimony of two men is true.
18 "I am He who testifies about Myself, and the Father who sent Me testifies about Me."
19 So they were saying to Him, "Where is Your Father?" Jesus answered, "You know neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also."
20 These words He spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come.
21 Then He said again to them, "I go away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come."
22 So the Jews were saying, "Surely He will not kill himself, will He, since He says, 'Where I am going, you cannot come'?"
23 And He was saying to them, "You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world.
24 "Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins."
25 So they were saying to Him, "Who are You?" Jesus said to them, "What have I been saying to you from the beginning?
26 "I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you, but He who has sent Me is true; and the things which I heard from Him, these I speak to the world."
27 They did not realize they had been speaking to them about the Father.
28 So Jesus said, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on my own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me.
29 "And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do things that are pleasing to Him."
30 A He spoke these things, many came to believe in Him.
31 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed in Him, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine;
32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."
33 They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants and have never been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, 'You will become free'?"
34 Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.
35 "The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever.
36 "So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.
37 "I know that you are Abraham's descendants; yet you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.
38 "I speak the things which I have seen with My Father; therefore you also do the things which you heard from your father."
39 They answered and said to Him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, "If you re Abraham's children, do the deeds of Abraham.
40 "But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do.
41 "You are doing the deeds of your father." They said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father: God."
42 Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceed forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me.
43 "Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word.
44 "You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
45 "But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me.
46 "Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me?
47 "He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you donot hear them, because you are not of God."
48 The Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?"
49 Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.
50 "But I do not seek My glory; there is One who seeks and judges.
51 Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he will never see death."
52 The Jews said to Him, "Now we know that You have a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets also; and You say, 'If anyone keeps My word, he will never taste of death.'
53 "Surely you are not greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets died too; whom do You make Yourself out to be?"
54 Jesus answered, "If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, 'He is our God';
55 and you have not come to know Him, but I know Him; and if I say that I do not know Him, I will be a liar like you, butI do know Him and keep His word.
56 "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad."
57 So the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?"
58 Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am."
59 Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.
-John 7:53 + 8:1-59

Intenseness. I just have to say that the way Jesus handled the adulteress situation was genius. Pure genius. I could not have come up with that. Genius. With one phrase he got an entire room of judges in a court ready to stone a woman to death to leave of their own accord because they acknowledged they were not fit to judge her because they had sin. And then the adulteress called Him, "Lord". That was amazing.

Then Jesus preached again. He was a brave, brave individual. He proved one point and then went right on making new ones. Then the Jews made the mistake of taking Him literally again. It occurs to me that His disciples understood Him the whole time and always knew what he was speaking about. Maybe it's not that people of that time didn't understand Spiritual concepts, but that most of the people He spoke to were not spiritual themselves. I makes sense considering their doctrine lacked a good amount of spirituality until He came around.

And people kept accusing Jesus of boasting of Himself. He said He was just speaking truth and they were from the devil and couldn't understand Him. Then they said He had a demon. Here's how you know Jesus was not evil or possessed: He told people to come to God. Most demons wouldn't do that. He also spared a woman's life and argued for Forgiveness and Mercy over Revenge and Judgment. He was accepting and patient. None of those characteristics would ever be associated with a demon or someone evil . Evil people aren't exactly understanding and compassionate.

I also reflects a lot on what happened during the Inquisition and other times in history when people twisted the Bible to suite heir own agendas. As I know understand it, as long as a person accepts God as their Savior and gives Reverence to Jesus -they are never beyond the Divine. So whatever "sins" people ere accused of committing back then or now -Death is never a suitable punishment because Death takes away a person's chance of redemption and return to Salvation. Only through God can a person be saved, not execution. Men aren't really fit to judge. They judge with their eyes, not with the Light.

Here's another good point: Jesus never said anything that contradicted the teachings of Moses or Abraham. At least not that I am currently aware of. He may have updated a few things, but it was because He was fulfilling God's purpose and the Law. And He always directed His glory back to God, and said even if someone were to glorify Him it would still be glorifying Him because He is Him. The devil may be cocky, but He certainly never calls himself God.

I also sensed here that Jesus was getting frustrated with people. He genuinely wanted them to understand, but they genuinely could not. It's like trying to light a match that won't light. Frustrating. And yet He kept talking and making His points because He had Patience and Acceptance.

1 comment:

  1. "He told people to come to God. Most demons wouldn't do that" ---- you sure? You'd be surprised as to how demons REALLY act outside of Hollywood and popular myth. We'll get there. =)

    "He may have updated a few things," ---- yep. Old Testament is DVD, New Testament is Blu-Ray. Same movie, just things are a lot clearer now.


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