John 3:16-17, the reason Christ came into the world
John 8:3-11 tells of the adulteress who was brought to Jesus by community leaders and Pharisees, to see what His reaction would be. Would he obey the Law of Moses and have her stoned to death, or could they trap Him into saying something they could use against Him.
During the time of Jesus, stoning was not as widely used as it had been during the time of Moses. At the time of Jesus people were sort of looking the other way when it came time to enforce the laws of Moses. But in this incident the crowd made a point to let Jesus know this woman was caught in the act of adultery. Why? The whole thing was a set up by the community leaders who opposed Jesus, to trap Jesus. I do not believe the crowd could have cared less about her sin; they were just interested in what Jesus would say or do, as far as Jewish law.
In verse 5 the crowd lets Jesus know "Moses' law says to kill her. What sayest thou?" At this point Jesus stooped down and started writing in the sand. When the crowd kept demanding an answer, He stood up and made the statement "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." He then stooped down a second time and continued writing in the sand. At that time the Jewish leaders began slipping away, beginning with the eldest, and as the custom, when the younger ones saw their elders leave, they followed out of respect.
Why would Jesus take the time to write something in the sand at such a crucial time? There is an interesting tradition, outside of the Bible, that suggests that He was writing the names of the people standing in front of Him, the woman's accusers. When they saw their names being written in the dust by a Man unfamiliar with them, and when they realized that they too were all sinners, they also realized that it was time to put down their stones and leave.
Jesus then asked the woman where her accusers were? She said "no man, Lord." And Jesus replied "Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more" (John 8:11).
John 3:16 just about sums up the entire Bible: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." The next verse, John 3:17, says: "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." I believe that the incident involving the woman really helps us to appreciate these two verses.
This particular incident in the Bible is a great example of why Christ came into this world. If only the sinless people could cast the stones, then there would not be anyone qualified in those days, or today, other than Jesus. He alone is the only sinless person to walk the earth. But instead, He forgives the woman and tells her to leave her life of sin and to sin no more.
By George Konig
June 27, 2004
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