In My Mess
Study it in Logos (opens the passage in Logos in a new tab)
John 8:1-11 - Woman Caught In Adultery
“but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. 3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst 4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5 Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” 6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”
Pray
Set The Scene
- Jesus finds Himself in another conflict with the Pharisees and Scribes
- Jesus is confronted with what seems to be an impossible situation
- The Pharisees and Scribes are attempting to trap Jesus to have Him arrested
- But Jesus is not taken off guard and He responds in a profound way
The Process In The Narrative
- Caught in her mess
- Exposed in her mess
- On trial because of her mess
- Used as leverage for an evil purpose
- Jesus speaks up, steps in, and leans in to the situation
- Found in her mess
- Loved in her mess
- Offered freedom despite her mess
- Given an opportunity to show compassion and grace
Here we see a great contrast in the sinfulness of man and the graciousness of Jesus
BIG IDEA: We are all a mess. We are all a work in progress. And in our mess, whether private or exposed, we can find freedom in Christ Jesus.
In our time together I want us to examine the
- attitude of the scribes and pharisees
- the exposed state of the woman
- and the gracious response of Jesus.
SCRIBES AND PHARISEES
Do you have a hard time loving people in their mess?
Do you have a spirit of condemning others? This is not uncommon, especially in today’s society. We are quick to judge and rarely take the time to show love and forgiveness.
If so, could it be that you see yourself more as the Pharisees and Scribes in the story than the woman caught in adultery?
I can very easily fall into this myself. I see someone get exposed in their sin and say “It’s because they….” or “This is so typical, why can’t people just get their act together?!”
I’m often condemning and judgemental in situations instead of remembering my own sin and taking a good long hard look at my own life and brokenness.
“Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.” Matthew 7:1-5
There is a process that Jesus gives us, yet we are so quick to judge. When I have taken this passage to heart and applied it in my life it’s amazing how differently I respond. After I have examined the LOG in my eye, it often leaves me humbled and broken for the sin that might be working in my brother’s life. It leaves me with a heart of compassion and forgiveness, not anger and condemnation. Because I’M A MESS!
This passage especially needs to be applied on social media today. We see certain things online and immediately want to take action and go crazy on our comments, when these things should cause us to be broken and commit to prayer for our brothers and sisters. Not gossip and put them on trial!
“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.” John 3:17
If you’ve experienced God’s saving grace on your life then it should change your perspective of others.
Grace is God’s unconditional love that is undeserved because it finds us in our mess!
Grace meets you right where you are and loves you anyways. Exposed or hidden, Jesus sees to the core of who you are and loves you anyways.
Grace that has been received can’t help but be reciprocated to others!
ADULTEROUS WOMAN
This woman had obviously done something wrong. She committed sin against God.
“You shall not commit adultery.” Exodus 20:14
The adulterous woman is not only on trial to be stoned (which is from the law of Moses), but she is being used as a pawn to “test” Jesus. She is being publicly humiliated, possibly naked, mocked, and is fearing for her life… no hope, and is now completely at the mercy of an angry crowd with stones in their hands, ready to kill her.
Talk about a mess!
And you think you’re having a bad day?!
The spotlight of the story though is not the woman, scribe, or the pharisees. It’s not the test, culture, or situation. The spotlight is Jesus and grace.
The Scribes and Pharisees are looking to trap Jesus (private sin)
The adulterous woman was caught in adultery (public sin)
But then Jesus.
When this woman met Jesus she encountered grace and freedom like she had never known.
Is this your story as well?
We all should be on trial like this woman. We all deserve death for our sins and transgressions to God, but God.
But God. But God!
But God shows love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
But God -> Turn to Ephesians 2:1-10
When you experience Jesus you experience grace like you’ve never known.
When you experience Jesus you experience love like you’ve never felt.
When you experience Jesus you experience freedom like you never imagined
Who in this story experienced the full measure of God’s love, mercy, and grace?
The woman! The one that is a total mess!
“If we sin, we shall feel the weight of God’s hand. We ought to thank Him for this, for though it brings great sorrow, yet it brings great safety to us.” Charles Spurgeon
Jesus didn’t condemn the woman, but he didn’t ignore or condone her actions either. He told her to leave her life of sin.
Jesus stands ready to forgive your sins. To clean up your mess. Will you let him?
Illustration: The House
Think of all of us as a house. And outside of the house is Jesus and He wants to come in. But He’ll never force his way in the house. He wants you to invite him in the house.
A lot of people are ok with having Jesus outside the house. Because you can crack the door, ask for a few things, tell him what you need, and then go about your business.
One of the reasons you won’t let him in the house is because your house is a mess. You think you gotta clean it up first. You’ve been trying all this time to clean it up and it’s still a mess.
He’s the only one that can clean it up, but you’re too afraid to let him in. He’s just waiting for you to invite him in.
There’s some people that used to have Jesus in the entire house, but for some reason or another you’ve evicted him completely. Or you’ve just moved him to one area or room in the house. It’s the good room. Anybody ever seen that good room in the house? My grandma always had that good room. We weren’t even allowed in the good room. :)
Bow your head and close your eyes.
Jesus is standing at the door, will you let him in? If you have never said yes to Jesus and you want to let Him in and make Him Lord of your life, then in a minute I’m going to count to 3 and I want you to raise your hand and let me know who you are.
If you used to have Jesus in the whole house, but for some reason you’ve closed some doors and out of fear you have removed Jesus from parts of your life then I’m going to ask that you pray right where you are and tell Jesus that He has the whole house.
I want us to look at the process I mentioned at the beginning of the message one more time. But instead of “her” in the sentences, I’m going to put “me”
The Process In My Narrative
- Caught in my mess
- Exposed in my mess
- On trial because of my mess
- Used as leverage for an evil purpose
- Jesus spoke up, stepped in, and leaned in to my situation
- Found in my mess
- Loved in my mess
- Offered freedom despite my mess
- Given an opportunity to show compassion and grace
Let this be your story this morning. Say yes to Jesus and confess your mess to God. He is standing ready to forgive you and offer you compassion and grace like you’ve never known.
- God loves you and has a purpose for your life.
- Don’t wait. Today is the day of salvation.
- Say yes to Jesus. Say yes to Jesus.
Let’s pray.
Was this helpful? Here's how it stays free.