2017.01.22                                  John 7: 53- John 8: 12

         Jesus at the Feast of Tabernacles

               I am the Light of the World

As we come to the text this morning… Remember that the day before… Jesus had cried out in the Temple and said… If anyone thirsts let him come to me and drink… John 7: 37… Jesus was pointing to Himself as the only source for life giving water… Living Water to transform  hearts and minds… Jesus was offering grace and mercy to anyone who saw their need for a Savior… The people were divided in their opinion about Jesus… some believed… Many did not…

The leaders were also divided about Him…   And again they determined to Kill Jesus…. They tried to arrest Him again… But even the Temple Police were amazed at His Words of Life… They did not arrest Him… The Scribes and Pharisees were very upset… They hated Jesus… And only Nicodemus defended Him… It is late at night now as we pick up the text… John 7:53…

John 7: 53 + John 8: 1-12            NKJV slt 2000

53 And everyone went to his own house.

1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

2 Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. 3 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, 4 they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. 5 Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?” 6 This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. 7 So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” 8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 10 When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.”And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.” 12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

53 Und so ging jeder in sein Haus. 1 Jesus aber ging an den Ölberg.

2 Und früh am Morgen kam er wieder in den Tempel, und alles Volk kam zu ihm; und er setzte sich und lehrte sie. 3 Da brachten die Schriftgelehrten und Pharisäer eine Frau zu ihm, die beim Ehebruch ergriffen worden war, stellten sie in die Mitte 4 und sprachen zu ihm: Meister, diese Frau ist während der Tat beim Ehebruch ergriffen worden. 5 Im Gesetz aber hat uns Mose geboten, daß solche gesteinigt werden sollen. Was sagst nun du? 6 Das sagten sie aber, um ihn zu versuchen, damit sie ihn anklagen könnten. Jesus aber bückte sich nieder und schrieb mit dem Finger auf die Erde. 7 Als sie nun fortfuhren, ihn zu fragen, richtete er sich auf und sprach zu ihnen: Wer unter euch ohne Sünde ist, der werfe den ersten Stein auf sie! 8 Und er bückte sich wiederum nieder und schrieb auf die Erde. 9 Als sie aber das hörten, gingen sie — von ihrem Gewissen überführt — einer nach dem anderen hinaus, angefangen von den Ältesten bis zu den Geringsten; und Jesus wurde allein gelassen, und die Frau, die in der Mitte stand. 10 Da richtete sich Jesus auf, und da er niemand sah als die Frau, sprach er zu ihr: Frau, wo sind jene, deine Ankläger? Hat dich niemand verurteilt? 11 Sie sprach: Niemand, Herr! Jesus sprach zu ihr: So verurteile ich dich auch nicht. Geh hin und sündige nicht mehr! 12 Nun redete Jesus wieder zu ihnen und sprach: Ich bin das Licht der Welt. Wer mir nachfolgt, wird nicht in der Finsternis wandeln, sondern er wird das Licht des Lebens haben.

v53… And everyone went to his own house.

v1… But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives… Everybody went to his own home… Jesus didn't have his own home… He went to the mount of Olives… Most of you know that the Mount of Olives is just to the East of the Temple…

v2… Now early in the morning He came again into the temple. And all the people came to Him. And He sat down, and He taught them…

The Greek shows us that it is before dawn… Jesus came again to the temple to teach… There are already many people there… Even very early… It was the time of the morning sacrifice… He's in the court of the women…

Slide

Court of the Women

Treasury

Huge lights

Court of the Gentiles Scroll down and Look at v3-5…

v3,4… Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery…

v4… Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act… They caught this woman and maybe they were taking her to the Chief Priests when someone had an Idea… Let´s test Jesus…

v5… The law of Moses says to stone her… What do you say…  They don't really care about the broken commandment at this point... What they care about is they want to trap Jesus… They want to put Him between a rock and a hard place…  If He says stone her… He will lose His reputation as the friend of sinners…

But if he says no… don't stone her… then they can accuse Him of breaking the law… I can imagine that they are high fiving each other… Gotcha… They think that they have Him trapped… But Jesus acts like He doesn't even hear them... He just starts writing on the ground… But they keep at Him… Immediately Jesus points at the heart of the Matter…. Once again He shines the light of truth on their motives… He shines the Light of the Gospel on their hearts… Scroll down v7… 

v7…he who is without sin among you, let him throw the first stone."

He says to them… Are you fit to condemn her…? Only if you are perfect…  You have to be [anamartétos] (an-am-ar'-tay-tos)That's the Greek word for without sin… If any of you is without sin… That means that you never even thought of sinning… Then go ahead and throw the first stone…

Jesus spoke directly into their hearts and showed them their sin and pride and rebellion… They were all convicted… look at v9-11…

John 8: 9-11                      NKJV    

9 Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 10 When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

What Words of Life… Is Jesus being light on sin? No.

The words that Jesus said point to  exactly what this woman needed…

Because He saw her heart… He knew that she believed in Him and was repentant… He showed her grace…  This woman who was  embarrassed and ashamed… Receives mercy and grace from Jesus… He is so gentle with her… That kindness caused her heart to turn toward Jesus… and to trust Him… Then He said… Stop sinning… 

The Bible says… it's the goodness of God that leads a person to repentance… Romans 2: 1-4… For Temple leaders and the Pharisees… This lady was a very obvious sinner… It was easy to condemn and make an example of her…

But the big sinners present that morning… Were the Pharisees… They pretended to be perfect… They were secret sinners… The very religious Pharisees were careful to obey every detail of the law… It is very human to love rules… We love our rules… Ordnung… But rules and laws cannot change our hearts… We can determine with training and hard work to perfectly obey the rules… I grew up across from the Mormon Temple in Mesa Arizona… They look so good… But they are not Christians… We can become very legalistic… But Legalism is not righteousness… It is secret pride… And It causes a Hypocritical judgment of others…  As these leaders  heard and watched Jesus… They were also convicted… The text says that they were convicted in their hearts… They dropped the stones… and they went home...

Here again is the division that happens in every heart as we are confronted with the Words of life… As the Light of truth shines into our hearts and shows us our sin… We come to the light…  we hide from the light…

This woman was convicted of her sin… She saw the truth about her sin was truly repentant… Her desperate need and desire for forgiveness drew her to Jesus… The leaders and Pharisees were convicted of their sin too…  

But the truth of their sin and pride and rebellion… Truth that they refused to repent of… drove them away from Jesus… Sometimes a person will come to church and hear the truth and become convicted…. But instead of repenting…  They hit the panic button and say… I have got to get out of here… I am not going to listen to this…   

What they're feeling is guilt… It  should lead them to Christ... but they will not repent…  Others hear the truth and It pierces their hearts… They say I will come and drink of the water of life… I need to be forgiven by this Jesus… And it's that goodness and gentleness of God that draws them in…

You know as we study this…  We get a really good picture of how sinners treat sinners… It is not pretty…  We sinners are not nice to other sinners around us... We are experts at pointing fingers at other people… but we do not want to examine our own hearts…

We judge and condemn others and give ourselves a free pass… Blinded  by our Pride… We give ourselves  a fake Divine get out of jail free card…

The purpose of the law is defeated by our pride and rebellion… The law shows us our sin… Look at Romans 3:20… 

Romans 3:20   NLT   Neues Leben

20 For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.

20 Denn niemand wird in Gottes Augen gerecht gesprochen, indem er versucht, das Gesetz zu halten. Im Gegenteil, je besser wir Gottes Gesetz kennen, desto deutlicher erkennen wir, dass wir schuldig sind.

The Law shows us our disease… It is fatal…. We cannot survive the death sentence caused by our sin… But the Law has no power to cure it… There is no cure for the disease of sin in the law…

Plus… We cannot obey the law…. Not perfectly from the heart… The Pharisees and chief Priests pretended to be perfect… And the people honored them as Godly leaders… They knew that they did not love God with all of their heart and soul and strength… And that is just the first  commandment… They were hypocrites… That is why they walked away… And when Jesus showed them the truth…. They hit the road… What a tragedy that they refused to repent and come to Him… Grace and mercy and forgiveness was right there for them… Like them…. Like this woman…. We all need mercy and grace… Look with me at Galatians 2…v16…

Galatians 2: 16               NLT   Neues Leben

16 Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.“

16 Und doch wissen wir, dass der Mensch vor Gott nicht durch das Halten des Gesetzes gerecht gesprochen wird, sondern durch den Glauben an Jesus Christus. Wir sind zum Glauben an ihn gekommen, damit wir durch diesen Glauben von Gott angenommen werden, und nicht etwa, weil wir dem Gesetz gehorcht haben. Denn durch das Befolgen des Gesetzes wird niemand vor Gott gerecht.

No flesh will ever become righteous by keeping the law… Practical application time… Why are we so hard on each other… Why are we so hard on our kids then?… Hold that thought... I will try to get back there in a minute…

This wonderful text also shows us how Jesus treats sinners… How do we break through our tendency to lie to ourselves?… How do we face the truth so that we can come to Him and find the grace and mercy and forgiveness that we so desperately need…

John describes Jesus as full of grace and truth… John 1:14… Jesus is the first and only perfect keeper of the law… He is our only hope… Look with me at John 8 v12…

John 8: 12                  NKJV slt 2000

12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

12 Nun redete Jesus wieder zu ihnen und sprach: Ich bin das Licht der Welt. Wer mir nachfolgt, wird nicht in der Finsternis wandeln, sondern er wird das Licht des Lebens haben.

I am the Light of the World… Remember where Jesus is… His is standing in the Court of the Women where the huge lights had been lighting up the city every night during this feast… He is once again using this teaching moment to point to Himself as savior and redeemer… And when He said…. I am…. Everyone knew that He was proclaiming Himself as Immanuel…. God come in the flesh… The hope and the Light of the world… This is the incarnation… God in His Sovereign Power and Unfailing love… Chose to send a Savior… A redeemer to deliver us from sin and death…

How do we break through our tendency to lie to ourselves?… How do we face the truth so that we can come to Him and find the grace and mercy and forgiveness that we so desperately need…  We come to Him and walk in the light of His love and grace…

Jesus speaks to us here in His Word…. He says Stop walking in darkness…. Come to me…. I am the Light of the World!...

And all of this is taking place in the background of the Feast of Tabernacles… Here as we listen as Jesus   offers living water to us... We hear Jesus Words of life…  We are witnesses to a miracle… A heart transformed… As Jesus shows grace and mercy to this sinner… We begin to understand the Radical forgiveness that Jesus offers anyone who comes to Him and drinks… This is the Scandal of Grace… That is exactly how the Pharisees think of Jesus actions….. Scandalous

How can He simply forgive this woman… You know once… He let a rotten sinner… A prostitute touch Him and wash His feet… Luke 7:39… He knew all about her…. He forgave her and offered her mercy and forgiveness…

Jesus knew their sin that day just like He knows our sin… He knows every bad motive and thought… He sees our hearts… The scripture reminds us that we don´t even understand our own hearts… And yet we often sit in Judgment on the thoughts and intentions of others... We are in desperate need of a Savior… We need to be forgiven… There are none righteous…  We need to have our hard stony hearts transformed by the Lord Jesus…  We are all guilty sinners… The wages of sin is death… Romans 3:23… We all deserve to be condemned… As far as the leader and Pharisees were concerned… This woman deserved to be condemned…. It was Scandalous that Jesus would forgive her… What gave Him the right to set aside the verdict that she deserved… She deserved Death… remember… That is the same penalty that you and I deserve too?...  The Answer is the Cross… He knew that he would pay for her crime… He stands ready to pay for our sin and pride and rebellion too…

CLOSE

Jesus offers life… to all that cry out to Him… This is the Good News of the Gospel… This is the Scandalous Good news…. This is the Gospel that we proclaim to you… We see the Gospel in a very distilled form we see the Gospel in Ephesians…

In chapter 2 we are reminded that God accomplished our Salvation and redemption all by Himself… While we were dead in sin and rebellion… Beginning in Ch2 v1… We see that God did this because of His Grace and Mercy… He made us alive… We who were dead in sin… He intervened in our lives…  We were dead…. And without hope… But God… He  stepped in and by His Grace changed everything… look with me at Ephesians ch 2…v4,5…

Ephesians 2: 4,5         NLT   Neues Leben

4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead.

4 Doch Gott ist so barmherzig und liebte uns so sehr,5 dass er uns, die wir durch unsere Sünden tot waren, mit Christus neues Leben schenkte, als er ihn von den Toten auferweckte. Nur durch die Gnade Gottes seid ihr gerettet worden!

But God… Here we see The Scandal of God´s grace… It is not only a great Theological term…. Grace is real and active in our lives… We were dead… But God gave us life… How?… look down at verse 8-10… These 3 verses are our focus for the rest of our time this morning… ch 2 v8-10…

Ephesians 2: 8-10              NLT  Neues Leben

 8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

8 Weil Gott so gnädig ist, hat er euch durch den Glauben gerettet. Und das ist nicht euer eigenes Verdienst; es ist ein Geschenk Gottes.9 Ihr werdet also nicht aufgrund eurer guten Taten gerettet, damit sich niemand etwas darauf einbilden kann.10 Denn wir sind Gottes Schöpfung. Er hat uns in Christus Jesus neu geschaffen, damit wir zu guten Taten fähig sind, wie er es für unser Leben schon immer vorgesehen hat.

The Gospel according to Grace is wonderfully shown to us in these verses… And when it is all said and done… It is the grace of God that does it all… His unfailing love transforms our lives… We are saved by Grace… We cannot boast about it… 

And so my dear friends… It is absolutely necessary that we understand grace… When we understand what God Has done for us… When we understand that He has poured out His Love on wicked and sin filled people like me… Like us…

We should become deeply thankful… In Ephesians Paul is explaining God´s character and nature to us…

When I understand the miracle… that I have been forgiven… It will affect every aspect of my life… It will affect the way I respond to God… It will transform the way I relate to others…  It will transform the way I disciple my children… Jesus gave this woman Grace and mercy exactly at the point where she had been discovered in her sin and shame… This is the Scandal of Grace… What Hesed…. What Unfailing love… Never gonna give up on you…. Never gonna leave you… Never gonna stop loving you… This is the Kind of Love that only Jesus can offer… This is the way Jesus handles sin and sinners… This is the way we should treat our own family… He is willing to say to you and I… I don't condemn you… Go and sin no more… That is Grace… And Grace is what I need… Grace is what our children need too…Christians are sometimes a bit crazy… We know that we are saved by grace through Faith…. And yet we lay down the law for our own children… We demand perfect obedience from them… We shame them… We hold out the possibility that we might stop loving them… What… Is that How Jesus treats us… He offers us grace and mercy…

How about us? How will we treat the people in our lives… Will we lay down the law…. Or will we show them the same grace and mercy that we have been freely given in Christ Jesus… Let´s pray…