Who Do You Want To Judge You?

John 8:1 - 12 (NKJV) ¹But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. ²Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. ³Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, ⁴they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. ⁵Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?” ⁶This 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.

⁷So 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.” ⁸And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. ⁹Then 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. ¹⁰When 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?” ¹¹She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.” ¹²Then 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.”

Introduction: We go back to John chapter 7:53.

John 7:40 - 53 (NKJV) ⁴⁰Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, “Truly this is the Prophet.” ⁴¹Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Will the Christ come out of Galilee? ⁴²Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?” ⁴³So there was a division among the people because of Him. ⁴⁴Now some of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on Him. ⁴⁵Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why have you not brought Him?” ⁴⁶The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like this Man!” ⁴⁷Then the Pharisees answered them, “Are you also deceived? ⁴⁸Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him? ⁴⁹But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.” ⁵⁰Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them) said to them, ⁵¹“Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?” ⁵²They answered and said to him, “Are you also from Galilee? Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee.” ⁵³And everyone went to his own house.

They went to their own house “but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives” there under the branches of the Olive trees Jesus and the disciples no doubt built a small camp fire, they probably had a late night meal cooked on the open fire, prayed together then spent the night sleeping in the open on beds made from their cloaks, dry olive leaves, and grass hay. Before sunlight came into the city below they arose, washed in the cool waters of a nearby stream and walked down the hillside, keeping their voices low they walked through the empty streets of the sleeping city to gather at the temple for an early morning teaching with the Master. Others, who had been told the night before about the early morning meeting, followed the same routine from all over Jerusalem, and so a good size gathering had occurred. I can only imagine what a thrill it must have been to gather in the beautiful setting of the temple, as the sun light began to shine on the Jerusalem marble of the temple and its steps. The crowed was silent in anticipation. Jesus mounted the steps and began to teach the wonderful word pictures of His Father and the Kingdom.

On the other side of the city another scene was playing out. They, too, slipped silently through the city but hung to the shadows of the walls. They were not being quiet because they did not want to wake the populace but because they did not want to alert their pray. A priest, or perhaps another Pharisee, was on duty at the temple. They arrived at his house, the house they were looking for. Did they carry a battering ram with them to nosily break down the door and wake the entire neighborhood? Or was the door intentionally left unbolted by the man inside? They were not concerned with her lover who may have been one of their own; they were only concerned with the wife of the man on duty at the temple. They really did not want her but only wanted to use her to spring the trap on Jesus. They cared les about the man, if he were one of them he could quickly and quietly slip out of the room or join them in the parade. But they wanted the woman, disheveled, unrobed or naked, the heat of passion still on her body, the smells of lust still exuding from her. They wanted the sinner judged and there is only three ways to judge a sinner. Which would you prefer?

1. To be judged by self-righteous people

Matthew 7:1 - 5 (NKJV) ¹“Judge not, that you be not judged. ²For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. ³And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? ⁴Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? ⁵Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

1. These are people so blinded by their own sins their own faults are not visible to them.

   • They become exceedingly keep to detect the faults of others

   • They become unfair in their judgment while believing that they are very right

   • They become very good at locating those who need correction

   • They can see every one else’s problems and faults and are quick to point them out

   • They hide behind the robes of their correctness and enjoy the misery of their victims

   • Sadistic satisfaction at being right is their most cherished possession

   • They had much rather be right than loving

   • They are sharp, cruel, and godless because by judging they have become their own god.

2. This woman had no chance whatever in the hands of these Pharisees.

2. To be judged by the law of Moses

1. Cursing

Leviticus 24:10 - 23 (NKJV) ¹⁰Now the son of an Israelite woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel; and this Israelite woman’s son and a man of Israel fought each other in the camp. ¹¹And the Israelite woman’s son blasphemed the name of the Lord and cursed; and so they brought him to Moses. (His mother’s name was Shelomith the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.) ¹²Then they put him in custody, that the mind of the Lord might be shown to them. ¹³And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁴“Take outside the camp him who has cursed; then let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him. ¹⁵“Then you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin.

¹⁶And whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall certainly stone him, the stranger as well as him who is born in the land. When he blasphemes the name of the Lord, he shall be put to death. ¹⁷‘Whoever kills any man shall surely be put to death. ¹⁸Whoever kills an animal shall make it good, animal for animal. ¹⁹‘If a man causes disfigurement of his neighbor, as he has done, so shall it be done to him— ²⁰fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; as he has caused disfigurement of a man, so shall it be done to him. ²¹And whoever kills an animal shall restore it; but whoever kills a man shall be put to death. ²²You shall have the same law for the stranger and for one from your own country; for I am the Lord your God.’” ²³Then Moses spoke to the children of Israel; and they took outside the camp him who had cursed, and stoned him with stones. So the children of Israel did as the Lord commanded Moses.

2. Gathering sticks of the Sabbath

Numbers 15:32 - 36 (NKJV) ³²Now while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. ³³And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation. ³⁴They put him under guard, because it had not been explained what should be done to him. ³⁵Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.” ³⁶So, as the Lord commanded Moses, all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him with stones, and he died.

3. Stealing

Joshua 7:22 - 26 (NKJV) ²²So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver under it. ²³And they took them from the midst of the tent, brought them to Joshua and to all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the Lord. ²⁴Then Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the garment, the wedge of gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and all that he had, and they brought them to the Valley of Achor. ²⁵And Joshua said, “Why have you troubled us? The Lord will trouble you this day.” So all Israel stoned him with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones. ²⁶Then they raised over him a great heap of stones, still there to this day. So the Lord turned from the fierceness of His anger. Therefore the name of that place has been called the Valley of Achor to this day.

4. Adultery / Under the Law of Moses this women would have been stoned to death.

3. Judged by Jesus

John 8:5 - 11 (NKJV) ⁵Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?” ⁶This 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. ⁷So 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.” ⁸And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. ⁹Then 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. ¹⁰When 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?” ¹¹She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

1. John is saying that Jesus is God – only God can forgive sin!

Luke 5:17 - 26 (NKJV) ¹⁷Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present to heal them. ¹⁸Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him. ¹⁹And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus. ²⁰When He saw their faith, He said to him, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”

²¹And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” ²²But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He answered and said to them, “Why are you reasoning in your hearts? ²³Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise up and walk’? ²⁴But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the man who was paralyzed, “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” ²⁵Immediately he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and departed to his own house, glorifying God. ²⁶And they were all amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen strange things today!”

Luke 7:36 - 50 (NKJV) ³⁶Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him. And He went to the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to eat. ³⁷And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, ³⁸and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil. ³⁹Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, “This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner.”

⁴⁰And Jesus answered and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” So he said, “Teacher, say it.” ⁴¹“There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. ⁴²And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?” ⁴³Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have rightly judged.” ⁴⁴Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. ⁴⁵You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. ⁴⁶You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. ⁴⁷Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.” ⁴⁸Then He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” ⁴⁹And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” ⁵⁰Then He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

2. How God can be righteous and forgive sinners

Romans 3:9 - 31 (NKJV) ⁹What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. ¹⁰As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; ¹¹ There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. ¹² They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.” ¹³ “Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit”; “The poison of asps is under their lips”; ¹⁴ “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.” ¹⁵ “Their feet are swift to shed blood; ¹⁶ Destruction and misery are in their ways; ¹⁷ And the way of peace they have not known.” ¹⁸“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

¹⁹Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. ²⁰Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. ²¹But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, ²²even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; ²³for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, ²⁶to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

²⁷Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. ²⁸Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. ²⁹Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, ³⁰since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. ³¹Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.

3. The penalty of sin is death

Romans 6:20 - 23 (NKJV) ²⁰For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. ²¹What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. ²²But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. ²³For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

4. The born again Christian died

Romans 6:20 - 23 (NKJV) ²⁰For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. ²¹What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. ²²But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. ²³For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

ILL: When I accepted God’s gift of the payment for my sins they were placed on a cross with Jesus 2,000 years ago and the penalty of those sins were paid by my death in Him. It is impossible to execute judgment on a dead man.

1 Peter 1:2 - 5 (NKJV) ²elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied. ³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, ⁵who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

1 Peter 1:18 - 21 (NKJV) ¹⁸knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, ¹⁹but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. ²⁰He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you ²¹who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

IV. How Jesus deals with the judges

John 8:6 - 9 (NKJV) ⁶This 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. ⁷So 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.” ⁸And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. ⁹Then 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.

1. What Jesus wrote on the ground

   • I do not know

   • Some say He wrote the sins of the crowd

   • Some say He wrote the names of the women the Pharisees had been with

   • Some say He wrote the names of the conspirators

2. The were “convicted by their conscience – and left in a single line

5. How Jesus dealt with the embarrassed woman

John 8:10 - 11 (NKJV) ¹⁰When 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?” ¹¹She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

Jesus saw the woman. How it must have wrenched His spirit. This that had once been an innocent baby girl, a pure young woman now a wretch, bruised from the crowd, bloody from having been thrown to the pavement in front of His Fathers House, embarrassed from her disarray, terrified from the aspect of being stoned to death – Jesus saw the woman! A question, “where are your accusers?” She looks around for the cruel, snarling, self-righteous men who had drug her from her bed in the early dawn. They are all gone, the noise of the tumult is gone, the peering eyes are gone, there are only the eyes of pity, compassion and – yes love! A soft compassionate voice comes to her heart. “I do not condemn you.”

He did not come to condemn but to save, forgive, bring not death but life and real freedom.

ILL: I was taking a make up examination in College. I was in a small closet and the test was on a shelf. I looked up and there on the wall was the answer sheet to the test. I did not mean to read the answer to the question I was having a problem with but there it was and I read it. Dr. Perry Langston was my professor. I picked up my paper, walked out of the room and approached Dr. Langston. “Dr. Langston,” I said I must disqualify myself and take an “f” on the test.” I told him the answer sheet was on the wall and that I had read the answer to one of the questions. “All right, Paul,” he said, “go back in a finish the test.” “Sir,” I answered, “will you remove the answer sheet?” “No!” he replied, “you will not look up again!” That’s always the way of grace – once we see the price He paid we will not want to do it again!

Conclusion:

You will be judged! Who do you want to do it, men, the Law or Jesus? Only if you let Him judge you now will you hear, “Neither do I condemn you!” How many times will He forgive you – as many times as you ask!