Moments to Ponder

Episode 130: Embracing Forgiveness and Lasting Change (John 8:1-20)

• Betsy Marvin • Season 15 • Episode 130

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Heart change is essential for true transformation, as exemplified by the story of Jesus and the woman caught in adultery. The episode explores the difference between behavior change and heart-based motivation, emphasizing the importance of forgiveness and living in the light of Christ.

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Speaker 1:

Hi friends, welcome to Moments to Ponder. This is a podcast designed to help you spend a few moments in God's Word, gain fresh perspectives and find meaningful takeaways to ponder throughout your week. I'm Betsy Marvin and this is Episode 130. Marvin and this is episode 130. As you can probably tell, my voice might sound a little different today. I do have a cold, but I didn't want to skip a week, so I hope you'll bear with me as I sound just a little different today.

Speaker 1:

It's that time of year when so many people start things Diets, workouts, book reading, numbers for the year or even new business goals and as the new year starts, it seems to be a natural fit to start something you've been wanting to do or work towards someone you've wanted to become. I have done this so many times, and maybe you have too. There's a large percentage of people in the world that do, but just like them, I often lose track of the goal or break the resolution. There's actually even a national quitter's day. Most resolutions fail because, well, for many of us, the behavior we desire to change or build into our lives is just that. For many of us, the behavior we desire to change or build into our lives is just that a behavior. It's just a thing. And behaviors don't truly change unless there's a deeper heart change behind it. Throughout my years in ministry, I've learned that when a heart changes, the behavior changes. This is true spiritually, but also in other areas of life. When the motivation to become more thin or fit is based on a deeper desire for health and wellness, well, that heart change motivates the behavior change. Yet behavior changes don't usually bring the heart change. During my early years in ministry, the big push was all behavior Don't wear that, don't drink that, don't have sex, don't smoke, don't do drugs, don't go there, but go there. And I watched over and over as kids made vows or commitments to not do those things, but they often didn't last. They needed something different than signing a piece of paper or wearing a certain kind of ring. They needed heart change. And for those who made those commitments with a heart change connected, well, they lasted. As we leaned into discipling students, we saw hearts change. And as their hearts changed and they discovered more of Jesus, then we saw so many behaviors change as well. As we enter into the story of John 8, we see a group of people bringing someone to Jesus because well, because of a behavior, an action, but Jesus sees the heart.

Speaker 1:

For context, this is the section you see in most Bibles with that little clarifier that says Most ancient Greek manuscripts do not include John 7, verses 53 through 8, verse 11. With a little research I discovered that scholars felt this story truly belongs in the book of John, but they believe it was removed due to the content in the story, and we'll see why in just a moment in this story. And we'll see why in just a moment. John 8 is a continuation of John 7. We're still in Jerusalem at the end of the Feast of Tabernacles, and John 7 53 says Then the meeting broke up and everybody went home. That's referring to the meeting of the Pharisees and their discussion of Jesus with Nicodemus. John 8, verse 1.

Speaker 1:

Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, but early the next morning he was back again at the temple. A crowd soon gathered and he sat down and taught them. I've always read right past that, but John has given us a context clue when he writes that Jesus sat down and taught them. In John 7, john noted that Jesus was standing. So here's the distinction when a rabbi sat down, it and the crowd is standing around him. Now, when someone is proclaiming truth, they stand. So when Jesus stood and cried, if any man thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He's proclaiming something, but now he's going to teach. So he sits and he's interrupted Verse 3.

Speaker 1:

As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd, teacher. They said to Jesus this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say? They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him. There is so much wrong with this situation, isn't there? First, this is happening in the middle of a crowd interrupting a teaching rabbi in the temple court, and this poor woman is in the center of it all.

Speaker 1:

The religious leaders wanted this to be well, be as public as possible, as they tell everyone. We caught this woman in the act. Adultery was a serious crime and the consequence was death. Therefore, the actual act had to be observed by two witnesses who agreed exactly in their testimonies. So, as you can imagine, it was rare that anyone was ever executed for this crime. Thus their statement of catching them in the act implies that they had the witnesses.

Speaker 1:

Okay, really, this had to be some kind of setup. We can see the level the leaders are willing to stoop to in order to arrest Jesus. You may have noticed that they only brought the woman forward. Where's the man? Maybe he was in on it? Wherever he was, they were using this woman, however guilty she was, as a tool in their attack on him. They want to trip him up between the law of Moses and Roman law, because either law would give them cause to arrest him. If Jesus said, let her go, he would be breaking the law of Moses, and if he said, stone her, as the Mosaic law said, then he would be breaking Roman law, which would also be very cruel.

Speaker 1:

Let's continue into verse 6. They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. They kept demanding an answer. So he stood up again and said All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone. Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust. If you've heard this story before, then you know that there are a lot of ideas about what Jesus was drawing? Did he write a passage from scripture about lies or wickedness? Did he just doodle making the group wait? Maybe he wrote their names down? We don't know what he drew, but we do see that he has stooped down Again, his posture telling us something about him. He's not showing anger or accusation, but humility and even gentleness as he draws in the dirt at the feet of this woman. Since the leaders demand an answer, jesus stands up proclaiming truth, looking him in the eye, and he says the one that is sinless can throw the first stone. Then he stoops again right to draw.

Speaker 1:

Jesus is very aware of what these men have done and is calling him to account. He's exposing their sin and we know the only one without sin is not going to throw a stone Verse 9. When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman when are your accusers? Didn't even one of them condemn you? No, lord, she said. And Jesus said Neither do I. Go and sin no more. Go and sin no more. Thankfully, these religious leaders still had enough of a conscience to realize their sin. They slipped away convicted and were left with Jesus and this woman in the middle of a crowd that has just watched all of this unfold. I imagine it was pretty quiet as the crowd watched Jesus stand and address the woman. Then he offers her forgiveness and life. He recognizes the sin, yes, yet offers her hope that speaks against the shame that would have been present in her life without him. This is the part that brings questions.

Speaker 1:

As a part of the Gospel of John, Many translators and scholars didn't think it was good that Jesus didn't condemn the woman for her adultery. They felt that this story could be used as approval for adultery, so they removed it. For adultery, so they removed it. But that's not what Jesus is doing here. Forgiveness is not the same as tolerance. Forgiveness doesn't mean that sin didn't matter. Sin does matter. That's why we need forgiveness. It's only God who can put it aside. And Jesus continues to teach, making this point very clear. Verse 12,. Jesus spoke to the people once more and said I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won't have to walk in darkness because you will have the light that leads to life, what he had just offered this woman, he is now teaching to all of them. It's no wonder so many scholars put this story into this section. It would follow that, as the woman was absorbed by the crowd, jesus would continue to teach about light and darkness, sin and forgiveness. He has just shown this woman his light. In her darkness, it would have been very clear to the people sitting there Also.

Speaker 1:

This I Am statement, just like the one in chapter 7, connects to the Feast of Tabernacles that has just ended. It was the custom on the first night of the feast, well maybe even every night, for two large chandeliers to be lit in the Court of Women at the temple, and it commemorated God's presence with his people in the wilderness. It was a pillar of fire. At night, the light would have been seen across the city and they would dance all night by that light. That symbol of God's presence is now physically in front of them in Jesus, the one that would be lifted up for all to see in just a few short months. His presence is there to guide them out of the darkness of their world. But he does say if, if you follow me, you will have light that leads to life. There is a choice.

Speaker 1:

The Pharisees have heard his I am statement I am light of the world, and so they have something to say about this. Verse 13,. Pharisees have heard his I am statement I am the light of the world, and so they have something to say about this. Verse 13, pharisees replied you are making those claims about yourself. Such testimony is not valid. Jesus told them. These claims are valid, even though I make them about myself, for I know where I came from and where I'm going, but you don't know this about me. You judge me by human standards, but I do not judge anyone, and if I did, my judgment would be correct in every respect, because I am not alone. The Father who sent me is with me.

Speaker 1:

Your own law says that if two people agree about something, their witness is accepted as fact. I am one witness and my father who sent me is the other. Well then, where is your father, they asked? Jesus answered Since you don't know who I am, you don't know who my father is. If you knew me, you would also know who I am. You don't know who my father is. If you knew me, you would also know my father.

Speaker 1:

Jesus made these statements while he was teaching in the section of the temple known as the treasury, but he was not arrested because his time had not yet come. The Pharisees used the word testimony, meaning where are your witnesses? Jesus' response is so straight up. My two witnesses are my father and myself. Although Jesus is speaking of God the Father, this is lost on the Pharisees and the crowd as they're still not quite clear on who Jesus says he is. But we know. We know the full story. We see that to know Jesus is to know the Father and to know the Father is to know Jesus. And he doesn't judge as we do. He desires heart change, which will in turn be shown in our behavior changes, but he doesn't judge those behaviors. He calls us to something more as we take all this in.

Speaker 1:

What can we apply from this section today? For me, it comes from focusing on the first story in light of the second piece, and it deals with behavior. What's your struggle? Do you struggle with some judgmental attitudes about the behaviors of others? Maybe you carry shame because of a behavior that you've done. Maybe that's a hidden guilt, like the man who is on the outside of the story but yet a part of it. Or maybe it's the hidden guilt of the crowd who didn't do anything to help her. Maybe there's a behavior you need to forgive in someone else or a behavior you need to forgive within yourself, and you need that forgiveness from God. What's amazing is that in every case, jesus shows us what to do. He shows us to love, to offer forgiveness and to step into light together. It is so hard to do.

Speaker 1:

We live in a world that loves to judge and loves to shame us. We all have probably something that we carry, that we're ashamed that we have done Some guilt. These verses from chapter 3 come to mind. God sent his son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him, but anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God's one and only Son, and the judgment is based on this fact. God's light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.

Speaker 1:

Dear one. May we love the light In a world that judges so quickly. May we have eyes to see, as Jesus does. In a world that casts shame widely. May we offer forgiveness and love, and in a world that has so much darkness, may we shine the light of the one that is in us, so that others may come to know the light that leads to life. From John 1.5. In the message we close, the life light blazed in the darkness and the darkness couldn't put it out. Amen.