Grace upon grace (7:53-8:30)

[John 8:1-12 is regarded by many scholars as unlikely to have been written by John himself, but rather, added in at a later date. It is true that the earliest manuscripts of this gospel either skip it completely, or leave a blank space where it should be. However :-

1. if we take all the early manuscripts into account, the majority do include it, and place it at this point.

2. It is certainly consistent with Christ's character

3. Its themes tie in with the sections before and after it

4. It fits John’s pattern of preceding a section of teaching with an illustrative event.]

The setting

On the last ‘great day’ of the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus had suddenly hijacked the whole ceremony by shouting “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me; and let him drink, if he believes in Me.” By this, He made the whole event a pointer to Himself, and His identity.

We don’t know what He did for the rest of that day, but we do know there was intense debate amongst the pilgrims as to whether He was Messiah. We also know that the Temple authorities were wanting Him arrested, but the police refused to do so because they knew He was claiming to be God. The authorities were furious, but couldn’t do much at that point.

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. From the Temple you walk down into the Kidron valley to its east, then cross the stream onto the slope of the Mount of Olives. Here there was a garden called Gethsemane, meaning 'olive press’.  It is likely that the garden would have been used as a campsite during Tabernacles, with multitudes of leafy shelters created there.  But after the pilgrims had gone, Jesus would have been there  alone.

The olive harvest finished just before the feast of Tabernacles, so the olive press may still have been in use. Baskets of olives would be stacked on top of each other, so that the lower ones were crushed by the weight, and oil began to ooze out. This was the ‘extra virgin’ oil, used for the holiest purposes such as anointing. Then a huge wooden beam would be lowered onto the baskets, to crush them more : that produced the 'virgin' oil, for food and cooking. Lastly, the beam would be loaded with massive stones, to extract the last drops of oil, for other everyday uses.

This was a place where Jesus often went to pray; He would have been talking with His Father, perhaps foreseeing when He would be crushed by our sin.  Six months later, the night before He was crucified, He would pray there three times - with such intensity, that drops of blood were squeezed from His pores.

Early in the morning, He returned to the Temple: to the Court of the Women, where people had been dancing each night of the Feast. The court was floodlit by sixteen oil lamps, mounted on four tall lampposts.  Elders of the Sanhedrin would perform impressive fire dances with flaming torches. And periodically, young priests carrying big pitchers of olive oil would climb high ladders to replenish the oil. Though it was the middle of the lunar month and the harvest moon was full, these lamps were so bright that the whole city had a canopy of light; wherever you lived in Jerusalem, you could see to walk around safely.

The woman caught in adultery, and the men caught in hypocrisy

Having stood to shout His message the day before, Jesus now sits. This is how rabbis teach when they are training their disciples (Matt 5:1). Jesus is bent on “follow-up” of those who have believed in Him during the Feast. But He is interrupted by a gaggle of men dragging a screaming, struggling woman towards Him. The men are scribes - teachers of the Law - and Pharisees. (Most scribes were Pharisees, but not all Pharisees were scribes.) Their aim is to entrap Jesus with a ‘gotcha’ question, rather like modern-day reporters try and do to politicians.

Surrounded by these men, the woman is made to stand in front of Jesus and His audience of new disciples. She is probably dishevelled and tearful, likely a teenager, and certainly very very afraid. She has been caught in the act of adultery, for which the penalty is death by stoning. Somehow all these men emerged from the shadows just as she and her lover were at their most intimate moment: but her man had abandoned her and escaped. He too was liable to death by stoning, and should have been brought along. The whole scenario is so inherently unlikely that it must have been a ‘set-up’, arranged specifically for the purpose of entrapping Jesus. The woman was just a pawn.

Reminding Jesus of the Law of Moses, these super-spiritual men ask Jesus whether He agrees with the Law of Moses. (The only form of adultery for which the Torah specifically mentions stoning, is when a betrothed virgin is unfaithful: this suggests that she was likely in her teens.)  If He agrees, she dies there and then, though the Roman authorities might take a dim view of the death penalty being administered without their say-so. More importantly, Jesus’s reputation for grace and forgiveness would be blown apart. His new disciples would be appalled. But if He refused to condemn her. He would be instantly discredited for contradicting the Law of Moses. Either way, they thought, they had Him cornered! How can  God be both just, and forgiving?  It seemed impossible to them, though of course we now know the answer (Rom 3:23-26) !

Jesus leaned forwards from His chair, and began writing in the dust. Many ingenious theories have been put forwards, but the truth is, scripture doesn't give us any clues as to what He was writing. (The one I like best, is the idea that He was actually writing out a list of the sins each of the men had committed: a charge sheet, if you will.) The men aren't impressed by His silence, and badger Him for an answer. He looks up briefly, and says, ‘Let anyone who is sinless cast the first stone’. Then He goes back to writing on the ground.

The Law required witnesses to be of good character; not complicit in any way in the sins of which they are accusing others; and their testimonies had to match up exactly. They had to have actually seen the thing they are accusing the person of: it wasn't enough to have seen two people entering a hotel bedroom together, for example. Convictions for adultery, and resulting stoning, were therefore very very rare. If the men had entrapped her and watched, without intervening to prevent the adultery, they were complicit. Indeed, they too were guilty of adultery (Matt 5:8).

The penalty for false witness, was for the witness to suffer what the victim would have suffered. They were at risk of being stoned themselves! Whether it was this knowledge, or an awareness that though highly respectable they too had committed adulteryin the past, we don’t know. One or two of the older men, perhaps with longer life experience, began to slip away. That unnerved the young turks, and they too quietly turned on their heels and disappeared - till only the young woman was left.

Why she didn’t flee, we don’t know. She must have already sensed something of the holiness and grace of Jesus. Jesus asked her if there was anyone else left who might condemn her. She calls Him Lord, acknowledging that her judgement is now solely in His hands.

Jesus’s verdict, "I do not condemn you either”, is technically correct under the Law, since she can only be found guilty if there are witnesses. But He is saying something much deeper: He is saying, in effect, I forgive you and will pay the death penalty for your sin, at Calvary in six months’ time. I will carry your cross. It is through Me that God can be both just, and your Justifier. This is truly costly grace.

Grace upon grace

This passage is perhaps the supreme example of what John wrote in his introduction: “Of His fullness have we all received, grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No-one has seen God at any time. The only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.” (1:16,17)

The way Jesus handles the apparent conflict between the demands of the Law, and His fullness of grace, is incredible. In His verdict on the woman, He combines grace with challenging truth: “I do not condemn you; go and sin no more!” But there is also grace for the Pharisees: time for them to question themselves as they wait for His response, privacy from His gaze as they weigh His answer, and opportunity to recognise their own hypocrisy before it is too late.

But it is not ‘cheap grace’, for the woman. Go, and leave your life of sin', He tells her. And then He says, both to her and His audience, “I AM the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” Just as the Temple lights had reminded them of the shekinah glory which hung over the Exodus campsites at night, Jesus the light of the world will give them the light of zoe life. Just as the cloud had guided them from campsite to campsite through the unmapped wilderness, He will illuminate their journey through life.

I AM the light of the world

This is the second of Jesus's seven great statements of what His divine nature means to us.

In it, He takes His hearers back, yet again, to the Exodus.  In chapter six, He referred to Himself as the manna.  In chapter seven, He says He is the Rock that gushes out the water of life.  Now in chapter eight, He says He is the cloud of glory that covered Israel, giving them light and warmth at night in the desert.  It also led them through the wilderness.

In our first study we looked at what light does.  It dispels the darkness, exposes uncleanness, and can purify.  It enables us to see where we are going.  The word also conveys purity, truth, enlightenment and holiness.  Jesus has all of these qualities and effects; He is utterly pure, true, and holy.

Light and life go together in Christ: "In Him was life, and the life was the light of mankind" (1:4).  When we are born again and  receive life from Him, Zoe life, His life in us gives us that light.  We become 'sons of light', and act as the light of the world now He has returned to the Father.

Because light disperses darkness, anyone who follows Jesus will not continually walk in darkness. It is not possible to ‘walk in darkness’ and have fellowship with the light. In his later letter, John says: “This is the message which we have heard from Him, and declare to you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and 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 Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1Jn 1:5-9)

Jesus will go on to elaborate this theme further:

“Are there not 12 hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him” (11:9-11

“A little while longer, the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, less darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness, does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” (12:35-36)

What does it mean, to walk in the light?

This story is usually called ‘The woman caught in adultery’: and we have seen the astonishing, costly grace Jesus extended to this young woman - combined with a challenge to live in purity. It is grace that makes repentance and restoration possible. In its absence, only condemnation and stigma remain.

But there is another side to this episode, namely ‘The men caught in hypocrisy’. These scribes and Pharisees saw themselves as ‘a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness’ (Rom 217-24). They thought they could see, when in fact, they were blind (9:40,41). Worse, they were blind guides! Blind guides who strain out a gnat whilst swallowing a camel (Mt 23:13-33). Their hypocrisy would condemn them to hell.

Jesus repeatedly warns His disciples, ‘Beware the leaven of the scribes and Pharisees, which is hypocrisy’. He knows the heightened risk for those who seek to walk with God: how easy it is

• for religious zeal to slowly morph into hypocrisy, within our hearts.

• for a preacher to condemn those with alternative lifestyles, to jump on the bandwagon of popular opinion.

• to hide the areas of failure in their lives, 'to protect the church'

• to seek the approval of men, & compare oneself favourably against others.

But He also knows that hypocrisy isn’t confined to those in leadership positions. Maintaining our reputation and respectability is a powerful drive in our everyday lives. We use spiritual lipstick and moral facecream to hide the blemishes. It is so much easier to point the finger at someone else than to acknowledge the truth about ourselves. To try and remove the specks of dust from their eyes, whilst ignoring the cataracts in our own.

Judging ourselves is very difficult. The human heart is desperately wicked and deceitful (Jer 17:9). John says,’if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us’ (1Jn 1:8). There is no such thing as sinless perfection, and the Christian who thinks he has reached such a state is deeply deceived. As the Holy Spirit leads us further into truth, we will become more and more aware of our sinfulness. In my own experience as I grow older, I find that God's spotlight shines more and more on the underlying heart attitudes, rather than focussing so much on specific deeds. Paul says he doesn’t trust his own judgement of himself (1Cor 4:3,4) but rather, submits himself to God's scrutiny. We can only plead, “Search me, O God, and know my heart. See if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Ps 139:23,24)

He knows that we have a tendency to judge by appearances, without looking into the heart. Unlike Him, we cannot judge justly, because we do not know mens’ hearts. That is why He says, “Judge not, lest you be judged” (Mt 7:1).

We see many examples in scripture of people being judged by their own words. For example when Nathan the prophet goes to David and tells him a sob-story about a poor man whose lamb was stolen by his rich neighbour, David condemns the bad guy. But Nathan says to him, “Thou art the man!” And Jesus tells us that on the Day of Judgement, its will be our own words that come back to haunt us. The things we said, the emails we wrote, the trolling we indulged in, the vendettas of unforgiveness we pursued.

For 'church discipline' to bring cleansing and healing, rather than being destructive, it must not be exercised by individuals. There must be at least two or three believers gathered together, with Jesus present amongst them, and then our judgements will either bind or loose, in heaven as on earth (Mt 18:18-20). But first of all we should have done everything in our power to bring the straying sheep back into the fold (Mt 18:10-14). We must have forgiven them, so that we are not condemning them, but also seek to address the genuine issues rather than ignore them (Mt 18:15-17).

So 'walking in the Light' means:-

• Striving to live in holiness and listening for His guidance

• Seeking to help each other to do so

• But also facing our own hypocrisy and failings

• Repeatedly and continually opening ourselves to His scrutiny

• Letting His utter purity reset our moral plumbline

• Confessing and repenting of what He shows us

• Relying on His grace, for forgiveness and empowerment to change

The Pharisees harden their hearts, but Jesus warns them their window of grace is closing

Rather than facing their own hypocrisy, the Pharisees are incensed by Jesus's fresh claim to deity. There was an added edge to it, in that they counted themselves as ‘a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness’ (Rom 2:17-24). Here was Jesus saying ‘No, it's not you, but Me: I am the light of the world’.  

His light forces men to choose: "This is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness, rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practising evil, hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God" (3:19-21).

Having tried to silence Him by arrest, and to discredit Him by trickery, they now seek to undermine His testimony on a technicality.  Quoting His own words (5:31), 'Blowing one's own trumpet', however subtly, implies a lack of integrity in a preacher.  Jesus answers them with their own legalistic logic, which is easiest to follow if we paraphrase a bit:

"Whilst it's true that in earthly matters, there might need to be two or three human witnesses, this issue - whether I am God's divine light for the world - is a heavenly one. I know My heavenly origins and destiny, but you don't, and can't." (v14)     "Your judgement is fundamentally flawed in a case such as this, because your worldview is limited to the natural world. Unlike you, I am not judgemental." (v15)     "But if I were to judge, it would always be just: because I'd have My heavenly Father's all-knowing, all-wise perspective on it." (v16)     "If you really want to argue legal niceties, remember that the Law says you only need two eye-witnesses who agree, to prove a case." (v17).   "Heavenly issues require heavenly eye-witnesses; I am one, and My Father (who by the way, sent Me as His ambassador) is the other. He backs up everything I teach, through the miracles He enables Me to do." (v18)

At this point, the only weapons they have left are sarcasm and ridicule.  "Really? So tell us then - where is this mysterious Father you talk about?"

"The very fact you can ask such a question, shows you've completely missed the point.  When you look at Me, you are seeing the Father.  But as it is, you don't recognise either Me or Him." (v19)

Although the Twelve struggled with this same issue right up to the Last Supper, the Pharisees' failure to recognise Jesus's one-ness with the Father, despite all their knowledge of the Law and the Prophets, was more culpable.  They could not comprehend His incarnation - that He was 'Jesus Christ come in the flesh'.  They hated Him and wanted to kill Him; but even though He'd positioned Himself right in the lions' den, no-one touched Him, because God's καιρος moment hadn't yet quite arrived.  But Jesus was well aware it wasn't long till the hour would chime...

"I'm warning you, your window of opportunity is fast closing: I'm leaving shortly for somewhere beyond your reach.  You'll search for Me in vain, and die in your sin - the one sin that precludes you entering heaven completely, the sin of not believing in Me." (v21)

This puzzled them.  The only way they could think of Him escaping their clutches, would be if He were to commit suicide!  Heaven was a shoe-in for them, in their minds: so only if he went to hell would they be unable to follow.

"No, no!  You're fatally complacent!  Your roots are earthly, mine are heavenly.  You are at home in this sinful, rebellious world: I am from above, not like you, holy." (v23).   "Far from being entitled to enter heaven, you will die still marked for judgement by your many sins, unless you believe that I AM - that I am God."  (v24)

Now they were rattled.  This was serious.  For the first time they asked genuinely, "Who are You?"

"I've been telling you for so long, and you still don't believe." (v25).    "There are so many charges against you which I will pronounce judgement on in due course, but My Father's scheduled that for a later date." (v26).    "All I will say is that when you finally get your wish and have Me crucified, you will suddenly realise you have crucified the Son of God, and that everything I ever did or taught was straight from God." (v27).  "You detest and despise Me; but My Father is continually present with Me, delighting in My obedience." (v28)

Many were finally convinced by this, and committed to believing Him.  But Jesus' knowing how prone we are to self-deception, starts to teach them about the total depravity of the human heart.  

Next week we'll see how He teaches them that even though they have some measure of belief, they are as yet still 'children of the devil', so used to his lying and deception that they can't hear the truth Jesus is telling them.  They're still enslaved by sin: and only ongoing longterm obedience to His word will set them free, so that they can be assured of their place in God's house.