Shoes | Week Three

Bedroom Slippers | John 8:2-11

John 8:2-6 “At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.”

John 8:6 “they were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.”

She is being charged with a crime that carried with it a death sentence.

Leviticus 20:10 “If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress are to be put to death.”

John 8:3b “They made her stand before the group”.

Shame can lead us to feel as though our whole self is flawed, bad, or subject to being excluded.

John 8:6b-9 “But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.”

John 8:7b “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”

John 8:10-11 “Jesus straightened up and asked her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ 11 ‘No one, sir,’ she said. ‘Then neither do I condemn you,’ Jesus declared. ‘Go now and leave your life of sin.’”

Key Point: Repentance requires a change of direction.

This story doesn’t suggest that we ignore sin.

Key Point: Treat everyone with respect.

The two voices you will hear when you sin:
The voice of the critic seeks to condemn you by exposing all your failures.

The voice of Jesus confronts our sin with love, provides a remedy for sin  and gives us a better way to live.

How should we respond to sin?

John 8:7b (NASB) “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her”.

1. Respond to sin by admitting our sin.

Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

2. Respond to sin by accepting the compassion offered by Jesus.

1 John 1: 7 “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”

1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

There is forgiveness and freedom in Jesus.