Picture: Among Snares 3TC 294.1
This chapter is based on John 7:16-36, 40-53; 8:1-11.
All during the feast Jesus was shadowed by spies. Day after day brought new attempts to silence Him. The priests and rulers were planning to stop Him by violence. On the first day at the feast they demanded by what authority He taught. 3TC 294.2
“My teaching is not mine,” said Jesus, “but his who sent me. Anyone who resolves to do the will of God will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own.” John 7:16, 17, NRSV. Understanding and appreciating truth, He said, depends less on the mind than on the heart. Truth claims the allegiance of the will. We can receive it only through the work of grace in the heart, and its reception depends on our renouncing every sin that the Spirit of God reveals. There must be a conscientious surrender of every habit and practice opposed to its principles. Those who yield themselves to God in this way will be able to distinguish between someone who speaks for God and someone who speaks merely from himself. The Pharisees were not seeking to know the truth but to find some excuse to evade it. This was why they did not understand Christ’s teaching. 3TC 294.3
“Those who speak on their own seek their own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and there is nothing false in him.” NRSV. The spirit of self-seeking reveals its own origin. But Christ was seeking the glory of God. This was the evidence of His authority as a teacher of the truth. 3TC 295.1
Jesus gave the rabbis an evidence of His divinity by showing that He read their hearts. They had been plotting His death, and so they were breaking the law that they claimed to be defending. “Did not Moses give you the law,” He said, “yet none of you keeps the law? Why do you seek to kill Me?” 3TC 295.2
Like a swift flash of light, these words revealed the pit of ruin into which they were about to fall. For an instant they saw that they were fighting against Infinite Power. But they refused to be warned. They determined to conceal their murderous plans. Evading the question, they exclaimed, “You have a demon. Who is seeking to kill You?” 3TC 295.3
Christ ignored the insinuation that an evil spirit had prompted His wonderful works. He went on to show that the Jews’ own interpretation of the Sabbath law justified His work of healing at Bethesda. According to the law, every male child must be circumcised on the eighth day. If the appointed time fell on the Sabbath, the rite must be performed then. How much more must it be in harmony with the spirit of the law to make a man “completely well on the Sabbath.” He warned them, “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.” His reasoning silenced the rulers. 3TC 295.4
Many who lived at Jerusalem felt drawn to Christ by an irresistible power. The conviction grew on them that He was the Son of God. But Satan was ready to suggest doubt. People generally believed that Christ would be born at Bethlehem, but that after a time He would disappear, and when He appeared again no one would know where He came from. Many held that the Messiah would have no natural relationship to humanity. 3TC 295.5
While the people were wavering between doubt and faith, Jesus spoke about their thoughts: “You both know Me, and you know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know.” Christ’s words repeated the claim He had made in front of the Sanhedrin many months before, when He declared that He was the Son of God. 3TC 296.1
Among the people, many believed on Him and said, “When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done?” The leaders of the Pharisees, watching the course of events, caught the expressions of sympathy among the crowds. Hurrying to the chief priests, they made plans to arrest Him when He was alone, because they did not dare seize Him in the presence of the people. 3TC 296.2
The false reasoning of the priests and rabbis misled many who were convinced that Jesus was the Son of God. These teachers had impressed the people by repeating the prophecies concerning the Messiah, that He would “reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem and before His elders, gloriously,” that He would “have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.” Isaiah 24:23; Psalm 72:8. Then with contempt they contrasted the glory pictured in such verses with the humble appearance of Jesus. If the people had studied the Word for themselves, they would not have been misled. Isaiah 61 testifies that Christ was to do the very work He did. Chapter 53 portrays His rejection, and chapter 59 describes the character of the priests and rabbis. 3TC 296.3
God does not compel people to give up their unbelief. He wants them to decide not from impulse but from the weight of evidence, carefully comparing scripture with scripture. If the Jews had compared written prophecy with the facts, they would have recognized a beautiful harmony between the prophecies and their fulfillment in the life and ministry of the humble Galilean. 3TC 296.4
Many are deceived today in the same way as the Jews were. Religious teachers read the Bible in the light of their traditions, and the people do not search the Scriptures for themselves. They give up their own judgment and commit their destiny to their leaders. Whoever will prayerfully study the Bible in order to obey it will receive divine enlightenment. He will understand the Scriptures. “Anyone who resolves to do the will of God will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own.” NRSV. 3TC 297.1
On the last day of the feast, the officers who had been sent to arrest Jesus returned without Him. The leaders angrily asked, “Why have you not brought Him?” They answered, “No man ever spoke like this Man!” 3TC 297.2
Even hearts as hard as theirs were melted by His words. While He was speaking, they had lingered near to catch something to turn against Him. But as they listened, Christ revealed Himself to their hearts. They saw what priests and rulers would not see—humanity flooded with the glory of divinity. 3TC 297.3
The priests and rulers had felt the same conviction when they first came into Christ’s presence. Their hearts were deeply moved and the thought came forcibly to them, “No man ever spoke like this Man!” But they had stifled the Holy Spirit’s conviction. Now, enraged, they cried, “Are you also deceived? Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him? But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.” 3TC 297.4
Those who hear the message of truth seldom ask, “Is it true?” but instead ask, “Who supports it?” Many people judge it by the numbers who accept it, and the question arises, “Have any of the educated men or religious leaders believed?” It is no argument against the truth that large numbers are not ready to accept it, or that it is not received by the world’s great men or even by the religious leaders. 3TC 297.5
Again some of the rulers argued that if Jesus were left free, He would draw the people away from the established leaders, and the only safe course was to silence Him immediately. In the full tide of their discussion, they were suddenly stopped. Nicodemus questioned, “Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?” Silence fell on the assembly. They could not condemn a man unheard. But the haughty rulers were startled and distressed that one of their own members had been so impressed by Jesus that he would now speak a word in His defense. “Surely you are not also from Galilee, are you? Search and you will see that no prophet is to arise from Galilee.” NRSV. 3TC 297.6
Yet because of the protest, the rulers were defeated for the time, and “everyone went to his own house.” 3TC 298.1
Jesus turned from the confusion of the city, from eager crowds and treacherous rabbis, to the quiet of the olive groves where He could be alone with God. But in the early morning, He returned to the temple, and the people gathered around Him. 3TC 298.2
Soon He was interrupted. A group of Pharisees and scribes approached, dragging a terror-stricken woman. With hard, eager voices they accused her of violating the seventh commandment. They pushed her into the presence of Jesus and said, “Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?” 3TC 298.3
They had grasped this opportunity to trap and condemn Him, thinking that whatever decision He might make, they would use it to accuse Him. If He would acquit the woman, they could charge Him with despising the law of Moses. If He would declare her worthy of death, they could accuse Him to the Romans as having assumed authority that belonged only to Rome. 3TC 298.4
Jesus looked on the scene—the trembling victim in her shame, the hard-faced dignitaries devoid of pity. He read the heart and knew the character and life history of every one. Giving no indication that He had heard their question, He stooped and began to write in the dust. 3TC 298.5
The accusers drew nearer, impatient with His delay and apparent indifference. But as their eyes fell on the pavement at His feet, their faces changed. There, written before them, were the guilty secrets of their own lives. The people saw the sudden change of expression and pressed forward to discover what it was they were looking at with such astonishment and shame. 3TC 298.6
With all their claims to reverence the law, these rabbis were disregarding its provisions. It was the husband’s duty to take action against the woman, and the guilty parties were to be punished equally. The action of these accusers was unauthorized. Jesus, however, met them on their own ground. The law specified that the witnesses in the case should be the first to cast a stone. Standing up and looking intently at the plotting elders, Jesus said, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” And then He continued writing on the ground. 3TC 299.1
Now the accusers were defeated, with their robe of pretended holiness torn from them. They stood guilty and condemned in the presence of Infinite Purity. One by one, with bowed heads and downcast eyes, they slipped away, leaving their victim with the pitying Savior. 3TC 299.2
Jesus got up again, looked at the woman, and said,” ‘Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.’” 3TC 299.3
The woman had stood before Jesus, cowering with fear. His words, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first,” had come to her as a death sentence. Silently she awaited her doom. In astonishment she saw her accusers leave speechless and confused. Then those words of hope fell on her ear, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.” Her heart melted, and sobbing out her grateful love, with bitter tears she confessed her sins. 3TC 299.4
For her, this was the beginning of a life of purity and peace. In lifting up this fallen soul, Jesus performed a greater miracle than in healing the most severe physical disease. He cured the spiritual illness that leads to everlasting death. This repentant woman became one of His most faithful followers. 3TC 299.5
Jesus does not excuse sin nor lessen the sense of guilt, but He seeks to save. The Sinless One pities the sinner’s weakness and extends a helping hand. It is not Christ’s follower who leaves sinners unhindered to pursue their downward course. Most people hate the sinner, while they love the sin. Christ hates the sin, but loves the sinner. This will be the spirit of all who follow Him. Christian love is slow to condemn, quick to discern repentance, ready to forgive, to encourage, and to set the wanderer on the path of holiness. 3TC 299.6
