knowing i am: gospel of john “living by grace” john 8:1-11
TRANSCRIPT
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Knowing I AM: Gospel of John “Living by Grace” John 8:1-11 Kevin Haah
June 29, 2014
I. Introduction
[Reminder: Please turn on the timer]
[Slide 1] We are in the middle of a series on the Gospel of John called Knowing I
AM. Last week, David Guyer preached a great sermon on being thirsty for God.
Thanks, David!
[Slide 2] The title of the sermon today is “Living by Grace.”
There was a conference on comparative religion in England and experts from all
over the world were debating what belief, if any, was unique to the Christian faith. The
debate was going on for some time when C.S. Lewis wandered into the room and asked:
“What’s the rumpus about?” When told that they were trying to figure out Christianity’s
unique contribution among world religions, Lewis responded, “Oh, that’s easy. It’s
grace.” And after some discussion, the conferees agreed with him.
We hear that term a lot. We sing about it: Amazing Grace, How Sweet the
Sound! There’s even a U2 song called Grace. It goes like this:
Grace
She takes the blame
She covers the shame
Removes the stain
It could be her name
Grace
It's a name for a girl
It's also a thought that
Changed the world
She travels outside
Of karma, karma
She travels outside
Of karma
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Knowing I AM: Gospel of John “Living by Grace” John 8:1-11 Kevin Haah
June 29, 2014
U2 lead singer Bono said this about grace in an interview: "[Grace] is a powerful
idea. It really is, and, we hear so much of karma and so little of grace. Every religion
teaches us about karma [that] what you put out you will receive. And even Christianity,
which is supposed to be about grace, has turned [it] into good manners, or the right
accent, good works or whatever it is. I just can’t get over grace—[it’s] so hard to find."
Sometimes, we say grace before a meal. I heard about this 6 year old kid saying
grace at a restaurant: "God is good. God is great. Thank you for the food, and I would
even thank you more if Mom gets us ice cream for dessert. And Liberty and Justice for
all. Amen!”
So, what is grace?
There are so many passages in the Bible that tell us about grace. In fact, the entire
Bible is the story of God’s grace to us. I believe in this so much that I married Grace!
But today, I want to look at a passage, a snapshot in a moment in the life of Jesus,
and see what we can learn about grace.
Let’s go to John 8:2-11. Just want to comment on this passage before we read it.
Most of your Bibles should have a footnote or maybe the whole passage is italicized.
That’s because the best and the earliest manuscripts of the Book of John do not contain
this passage. So, John probably didn’t write this. But, we have some manuscripts that
included this story in John and in some manuscripts, in Luke; Eusebius, a 2nd Century
historian, talks about this story; it is consistent with the stories of Jesus; so, it was
probably something that actually happened and in other sources but got inserted into John
later. It goes to the heart of our faith and consistent with the Jesus that is revealed. Let’s
go to the passage:
[Slide 3] 2 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.
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Knowing I AM: Gospel of John “Living by Grace” John 8:1-11 Kevin Haah
June 29, 2014
[Slide 4] 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.
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.
[Slide 5] 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. 10 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.”
[Slide 6] This passage tells us three things about grace: (1) what grace is not, (2)
what grace is, and (3) how to live by grace.
II. [Slide 7] First, this passage tells us what grace is not.
• In this passage, teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought a woman who
was caught in the act of adultery.
• Can you imagine the embarrassment and shame? Imagine your most painfully
shameful moment being broadcast all over the Internet. The private affair has
now become a public spectacle.
• Everyone is ready to condemn her, and under the OT Law, they’re right.
Leviticus 20:10 says: “If a man commit adultery with another man’s
wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress
must be put to death.”
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Knowing I AM: Gospel of John “Living by Grace” John 8:1-11 Kevin Haah
June 29, 2014
• Admittedly, there are some irregularities here—where’s the guy?
And the law says nothing about stoning. Nonetheless, the crowd
is generally right under the law.
• The law and justice say you should get what you deserve. But, grace says
something different.
• Don’t we all feel this way at times?
o If we see some injustice done, a crime or some wrong, we believe
from the bottom of our hearts that the criminal should get what he or
she deserves. There should be justice.
o Think about all the action movies, like Kung Fu movies, the theme is
always the same: you killed my brother and I am going to kill you.
o When someone cuts us off, we want the cops to catch him.
o If someone hurts us, isn’t our first instinct to fight back and try to hurt
him?
o If our spouses say something that hurts us, aren’t we trying to hurt
them right back. We give them what they deserve! If he doesn’t
remember my birthday, I’m not going to remember his birthday. It’s
only fair.
o He didn’t invite me; why should I invite him?
o I really don’t like the way he treats me. I’m going to give him a dose
of his own medicine.
o Eye for eye; tooth for tooth. That’s justice! That’s what they deserve.
o Even when we do something wrong, we often have a sense of justice.
We expect God to punish us because we believe that God is the God of
justice. And when we do something right, we expect God to reward us
because we believe that God is the God of justice. So, when things go
well, we think we are getting what we deserve (and therefore, become
self righteous) and when things don’t go well, we think that we are
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Knowing I AM: Gospel of John “Living by Grace” John 8:1-11 Kevin Haah
June 29, 2014
also getting what we deserve (and therefore, become bitter that God is
punishing us). Either way, the focus is on us and what we deserve.
o BUT, it’s not grace.
Then, what is grace?
III. [Slide 8] Let’s see what this passage tells us about what grace is.
• The idea here was to trap Jesus. Would he uphold the law? If Jesus did, then
he would have been in trouble with the Roman authorities because Jews did
not have the right to carry out executions (that’s why the Jewish ruling council
had to bring Jesus to Pilate, the Roman governor, to carry out the execution).
In addition, if Jesus upheld the law, he would have undermined his own
teaching on grace and mercy of God.
• Jesus’ answer was ingenious: He who has no sin may cast the first stone.
Many people just focus on how clever this answer is but Jesus is not someone
who sidestepped controversy if he really thought the issue was important.
Later in Chapter 8, for example, he openly claimed to be God. They wanted
to stone him right there. Talk about not avoiding confrontation!
• But, Jesus was being more than ingenious. There’s something more going on
here.
• Jesus got involved.
• Imagine how this woman felt. She was shamed; she feared for her life;
she probably already felt condemned. Maybe she was even condemning
herself.
• Somehow a miracle happened. This Jesus got people to back off. Then,
he forgave her and told her to sin no more. If there was anyone who could
justifiably condemn her, it was Jesus, God himself, but he chose not to.
This is a revolutionary point. He chose to demonstrate grace. He gave her
a second chance. He didn’t give her what she deserved!
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Knowing I AM: Gospel of John “Living by Grace” John 8:1-11 Kevin Haah
June 29, 2014
• She experienced grace, the notion that God loves us unconditionally even
when we’re messed up and even when we turn against him and curse him,
that God doesn’t give us the punishment we deserve but gives us the love
we don’t deserve.
• And do you know what?
o Grace prevailed over law.
o Love prevailed over justice and punishment.
o Giving her a gift that she didn’t deserve prevailed over giving her
what she deserved.
o He didn’t give us what we deserved; he gave us the gift of life.
This is at the core of the gospel.
• The principle of grace is at the core of why Jesus died on the cross.
o Let’s look at Isaiah 53:6: “We all like sheep have gone astray and
each of us has turned to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him
(Jesus) the iniquity of us all.”
o Let me use an illustration from the Alpha course. [This illustration
also answers a question some of you might have. That is, what
about justice? Shouldn’t there be punishment?] Suppose this hand
represents you and me. What the verse says is: All we, like sheep,
have gone astray—we’ve all done things that we know are wrong.
Let this book represent the things in our lives that we do wrong.
Those things cut us off from God.
o Let this hand represent Jesus Christ. He never did anything wrong.
He lived a pure, sinless life. There was nothing between him and
his Father in Heaven. What the verse says is: All we, like sheep,
have gone astray—we’ve turned, everyone, to our own way; the
Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (move the book to the
other hand)
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Knowing I AM: Gospel of John “Living by Grace” John 8:1-11 Kevin Haah
June 29, 2014
o That’s why Jesus on the cross cried out: “My God, my God, why
have you forsaken me?” At that moment he was God-forsaken, he
was cut off from God for you and for me. The wonderful news is
this.
o Do you see where this leaves us? It leaves us free to have a
relationship with God.
o It is the cross that makes this grace possible to us because it is on
the cross that Jesus paid the penalty of justice.
o So, it is grace that compelled Jesus to die on the cross to pay for
our sins.
• This principle of grace is not only at the center of the gospel and why Jesus
died on the cross, it is at the center of the teachings of Jesus Christ.
• If you look at his teachings very carefully, there’s a shift from the
principles of law to the principles of grace.
• Matthew 5:38-41: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and
tooth for tooth.’ [the principles of law and justice—it’s fair] But I tell
you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right
cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and
take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to
go one mile, go with him tow miles.” [this is the principle of grace—
giving to people not what they deserve but even more]
o Note: Martin Luther King Jr. got the non-violent direct action
principle from here. It is the principle of grace. It’s not about
passively taking it and being a doormat; it’s about responding
directly in grace. It might be the strongest thing that you do.
• Matthew 5:43-48: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor
and hate your enemies.’ [here’s the principle of law and justice—it’s fair
to do this] But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who
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Knowing I AM: Gospel of John “Living by Grace” John 8:1-11 Kevin Haah
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persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.” [here’s the
principle of grace—loving your enemies and those who persecute you]
• How about the story of the prodigal son? That story is a contrast between
the attitude of the older brother on the one hand [who wants fairness and
justice—He believed that his little brother should get what he deserved for
blowing the family estate on wild living], and the attitude of his father on
the other hand [who demonstrated grace—he waited for him day and
night, ran to him when he saw him from far away, hugged him, kissed
him, killed to fattened cow to celebrate his return, and restored all the
rights of a son; the father didn’t give him what he deserved].
• How about the parable of the workers who got paid equally in Matthew
20:1-16? This landowner went out to hire people at 6 am to work on his
vineyard and promised them 1 denarius each. He went and hired more
people to work at various hours of the day even at 5 pm. Then, he paid
everyone 1 denarius. People who started at 6 am complained. They
thought it was unfair. [Here is the principle of law—getting what you
deserve] But, the landowner demonstrated grace by paying equally [He
gave the late workers more than they deserved]
• It’s not just his teachings; it’s his life was also centered on grace as well.
• He reached out to and fellowshipped with tax collectors, prostitutes, and
sinners (Luke 5:27)
• He ministered to Gentiles--outsiders (Luke 5:17)
• He spent the entire day on a boat to go across the lake to free a gentile
person possessed by demons in Gerasenes, and immediately after the
healing he came back and nearly got shipwrecked (Luke 8:26-38)
• We can go on and on.
Here’s the bottom line: The movement from law to grace is at the center of the
life of Jesus, teachings of Jesus, and at cross of Jesus: It was the reason he came
to this world and the reason he died for us.
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Knowing I AM: Gospel of John “Living by Grace” John 8:1-11 Kevin Haah
June 29, 2014
-Apostle John put it this way (John 1:17): “For the law was given through Moses;
grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
IV. [Slide 9] Let’s go on to the third point: This passage also tells us how to live
by grace.
• Initially, when I first looked at this passage, I divided up the application point
on how we can live by grace for two types of people: for those of us who
identified more with the woman (in other words, sinners among us) and those
of us who identified more with the crowd and the teachers of the law, and I
was going to talk about how we can experience grace if we identify with the
woman and how we can demonstrate grace to sinners among us if we identify
with the crowd. However, I got this all wrong!
• What did Jesus say to crowd and the teachers of the law? He said: “If any of
you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” What does he
mean by this?
o He is essentially saying to them that all of them are sinners.
o No one is righteous!
o They are all in need of grace!
o You are all in the woman’s shoes!
o Maybe their sins are hidden but they are all sinners.
o Some scholars speculate that what Jesus was writing on the ground
was the hidden sin of the condemners.
• Philip Yancey, in his seminal book and best seller, “What So Amazing About
Grace” comments that this incident illustrates that the world is not divided
into righteous and unrighteous people but into sinners who admit that they are
sinners and sinners who deny that they are sinners.
• So, how do we live by grace? Let me suggest two steps.
o The first step is the same as the first step in this story. We must
heed the words of Jesus and realize that all of us are in need of
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Knowing I AM: Gospel of John “Living by Grace” John 8:1-11 Kevin Haah
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grace. None of us can afford to get what we deserve. We have all
sinned. Many of us assume that we are in the shoes of the crowd,
but what Jesus is saying is that we are in the shoes of the woman,
who desperately needs grace.
§ You see, only those who are self-righteous want to live by the
law. If you believe that you are self-righteous, you can’t live in
grace. You don’t think you need grace. You just want to get
what you deserve. You earn your reward.
§ But those who realize their sins are desperately seeking to live
in grace. We take what Jesus said to heart: we are sinners in
need of grace.
§ Now, I know some of you are saying: I’m a pretty decent guy.
I don’t cheat on my wife or beat up anyone, I try to be nice to
everyone, and I don’t cheat on my taxes.
§ But what is the standard?
• Here’s another Alpha course analogy: This one pastor
explained it like this to someone who said I live a good
life.
• He would ask, suppose there is a scale of everyone
whoever lived.
• Who is at the bottom? Hitler, their boss.
• Who’s at the top? Mother Theresa, their mother.
• All of us fit somewhere in between. Maybe you’re up
there and I am down there. He’ll say, yes, that sound
right.
• What do you think the standard is? Maybe the ceiling?
• No, it is the sky.
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Knowing I AM: Gospel of John “Living by Grace” John 8:1-11 Kevin Haah
June 29, 2014
• Paul says, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory
of God, as revealed, of course, in Jesus Christ. And
compared to him, all of us fall a long way short.
• Also, the standard is not the law, but grace. Remember
the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus already taught us to go
from the ethics of law to the ethics of grace. One of the
purposes of the Sermon on the Mount was to teach us
that we can’t live by the law. We have no choice but to
seek the grace of God through Jesus Christ.
§ So, the first step is to acknowledge our need for God’s grace in
our lives.
§ Jerry Bridges, in a book called Transforming Grace, says this:
"We tend to give an unbeliever just enough of the gospel to get
him or her to pray a prayer to receive Christ. Then we
immediately put the gospel on the shelf, so to speak, and go on
to the duties of discipleship. The grace that brought salvation to
you is the same grace that teaches or disciplines you. But you
must respond on the basis of grace, not law."
§ You see, we need grace not only to become a Christian, we
need it for everything in our lives.
o The second step to living by grace is to allow the grace of God to
work through you to every part of your life through the Holy
Spirit.
o In cartoon strip, “Peanuts,” Lucy is seen saying that if she were in
charge of the world, she’d change everything. Charlie Brown says,
“That wouldn’t be easy. Where would you start?” Lucy looks directly
at him, and without hesitation, points her finger at him and says, “I’d
start with you!” In many ways, we want to see grace work in other
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Knowing I AM: Gospel of John “Living by Grace” John 8:1-11 Kevin Haah
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people first. But, God calls us to allow grace to flow through our lives
first.
o I’ve often wondered how we are supposed to live by the ethics of
grace that Jesus taught us to live by in the Sermon on the Mount. How
are we supposed to love our enemies or turn the other cheek? I believe
that the only way to do so is to fully immerse ourselves in the grace of
God, and through the power of the Spirit of God, emulate the giver of
grace
o Luke 6:36: after commanding us to love our enemies and do good
to those who hate us (in other words, show grace), Jesus says: “Be
merciful, just as your father is merciful.” Just as, Just as your
father is merciful.
o One preacher put it this way: “Not justice, but just as”—meaning it
is not about justice—giving them what they deserve, but showing
grace “just as” God showed grace towards us.
o You have to remember, you can’t do this unless you first
experience God’s grace, and you know what’s the most amazing
thing about grace is? God give us grace even when we are not
repentant. There is no condition whatsoever! But, when we
realize I our sins, his grace overwhelms us.
• So, how do we actually do it? Instead of explaining this more, let me try
to paint it by giving you a couple of examples. One is from everyday life
and the other is a dramatic once in a life time thing.
o When Kaetlyn, our daughter was 4 years old, was taking too long to
get ready. So, Grace, my wife, said: “Kaetlyn, if you don’t hurry up,
we’re gona leave without you.” Then, she was ready to go, but Grace
was not ready to go. Kaetlyn said to Grace: “Mom, that’s okay. I
won’t leave without you.” Grace experienced grace.
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Knowing I AM: Gospel of John “Living by Grace” John 8:1-11 Kevin Haah
June 29, 2014
o I heard this story from one of you. He grew up in a pretty rough
neighborhood. Then, spend some time in jail. When someone
disrespected him, he beat that person up. That was how he lived. It
was the code by which he lived. Then, he became a Christian. And it
happened again. Someone openly disrespected him, and his automatic
response was to let that person have it. He and I talked about what it
means to live by grace. He begin to reflect more and more on God’s
grace in his life. Later, someone disrespected him again. In fact, he
was openly cussed out. But, this time, he walked away feeling a sense
of compassion for him. That’s grace in action.
o Corrie Ten Boom and her family secretly housed Jews in their home
during WW II. Their activity was discovered, and Corrie and her sister
Bessie were sent to the German death camp, Ravensbruck. There,
Corrie watch many, including her sister, die.
o After the war she returned to Germany to declare the grace of Christ.
o After one of her talks, she came face to face with a man who was a
guard at Ravensbruck. He was one of the crudest guards. He didn’t
remember her specifically. He had since become a Christian. He
acknowledged how cruel he was and asked her for forgiveness.
o And I stood there—I whose sins had again and again to be forgiven—
and could not forgive. Betsie had died in that place. Could he erase her
slow terrible death simply for the asking? It could have been many
seconds that he stood there—hand held out—but to me it seemed
hours as I wrestled with the most difficult thing I had ever had to do.
o For I had to do it—I knew that. And still I stood there with the
coldness clutching my heart.
o But forgiveness is not an emotion—I knew that too. Forgiveness is an
act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature
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Knowing I AM: Gospel of John “Living by Grace” John 8:1-11 Kevin Haah
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of the heart. "Jesus, help me!" I prayed silently. "I can lift my hand. I
can do that much. You supply the feeling." And so woodenly,
mechanically, I thrust out my hand into the one stretched out to me.
And as I did, an incredible thing took place. The current started in my
shoulder, raced down my arm, sprang into our joined hands. And then
this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to
my eyes.
o "I forgive you, brother!" I cried. "With all my heart!" For a long
moment we grasped each other’s hands, the former guard and the
former prisoner. I had never known God’s love so intensely, as I did
then. But even then, I realized it was not my love. I had tried, and did
not have the power. It was the power of the Holy Spirit.