Title: The Forgotten Adulteress
Contents
1. Words that begin
Forgiveness is a virtue. However, the problem is that there is a proverb that says, “A needle thief becomes a cow thief.” I don't know if it's theft or not, but I wouldn't have become a cow thief if I had not forgiven them when they stole a needle, scolded me harshly, or pierced me with the needle.
According to the ‘2007 Crime Analysis Statistics’ released by the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office on November 12, 25,525 of the 88,104 juvenile offenders arrested last year were repeat offenders. It is said that 29% of juvenile offenders committed another crime even after being punished and released. Also, what happens to the victims of their crimes if they forgive them?
Forgiveness is a virtue, but forgiving is not a simple matter. In the text, we see the woman who committed adultery, the crowd with stones, the priests and Jesus.
2. Clergymen who tempted Jesus with an adulterous woman
Jesus went to the Mount of Olives and came back into the temple in the morning, and as the people came, he sat down and taught. At that time, the scribes and the priests, who were the Pharisees, brought a woman caught in adultery and set her in the middle, instead of killing her according to the law.
“The scribes” were expert expositors and teachers of the Babylonian post-exilic law. The scribes in Jesus' day, together with the high priests and elders, constituted the supreme body, the council, or the Sanhedrin, and were in a leadership position after the high priest and their families.
The Pharisees were leaders who took great pride in their Jewish doctrines, creeds, or observance of laws and traditions. Those who had the glorious view of the Messiah, who were born and raised in a poor environment, pretended to be the Messiah, and regarded Jesus, who received cheers and applause from the people, as something that must be eliminated.
These scribes and Pharisees brought a woman who had committed adultery to tempt Jesus and set her in the middle.
After spending time in prayer and spiritual fellowship with God the Father on the Mount of Olives, Jesus came to the temple and taught the gathered crowd the truth of eternal life, and the clergymen brought an adulterous woman who was a conspiracy and trap to eliminate Jesus. And, there is a situation where the mortals who are trying to stone the adulterous woman to death and the adulterous woman who commits adultery and trembles in fear of death are gathered in one place. It can be said to be a microcosm of various life.
The clergy performed a scale that would eliminate Jesus. “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery. Moses commanded in the law to stone these women. What will you say?”
Conspiracies are often disguised as reverence, as the clergy see Jesus to be removed and call, “Sir. The hypocrites said, “What shall I say?” It's a very cunning question with double lines.
When Jesus tells a woman who commits adultery to be stoned to death according to the law of Moses, he falls into four traps. First, you will be branded a hypocrite because you have emphasized love as the Messiah who came to save mankind, the slaves of sin. Second, it will be a fatal obstacle to your progress as the Messiah. Third, they will be accused of violating the Roman powers over Judea. A. Barnes commented, "I will sue for asserting a right belonging to the Romans, namely, the right to life and death." Fourth, from the point of view of the Roman authorities, the charge of teaching murder can be established.
Conversely, when Jesus tells us to forgive a woman who has committed adultery, we fall into four traps. First, there will be no escape from punishment for violating the Mosaic Law, which all Jews believe and follow. Second, the Jews will hate or reject Jesus because they are so proud of being a people of the Law. Third, we will not escape the accusation of disregarding the forbidden sin of adultery. Fourth, you may be accused of promoting adultery.
The words that came out of the mouths of those clergy are very easily understood, but that understanding is not a proper understanding. In order to understand properly, we need to see the intentions hidden in the words of those clergymen. Words and writings are not properly understood by understanding the expression itself, but by understanding its inner meaning to be properly understood. Jesus saw through the cunning trials of those clergymen in order to obtain conditions for accusing him by laying various double lines.
3. Jesus' Disposition
Jesus did not tell them to stone them to death, nor did Jesus tell them to forgive them, according to the law of Moses. He just bent over and wrote something on the ground with his finger. The clergy, who knew that they could not answer quickly, were elated and did not hesitate to ask. It seemed to me that the purpose of trapping Jesus was accomplished, so I called for joy. It's really not like a religious leader. By the way, by the way. Isn't Jesus' silence not an opportunity for the clergy to rejoice and urge them to answer Jesus, but an opportunity to realize and repent?
Jesus got up and answered. “He who is without sin among you, let him first throw a stone at him.” M. Henry and J. Wesley commented that first to be stoned is to be a witness of a woman's mortal adultery. Hoskins commented, "The only question that Jesus' answer raises is whether we can act as God's agents in dealing with men and women on the subject of sinfulness.
With the authority of the sinless Messiah, Jesus' answer to realizing the fundamental problem, that is, that all human beings are sinners in need of salvation, was an answer that the clergy could not imagine. The crowd who watched with stones in their hands was not expected to respond. It was a thunder that shook the consciences of the Jewish people, who had fallen into the self-righteousness that they deserved to stone an adulterous woman. For the arrogant self-righteousness and the rulers who were intoxicated with the righteousness of the law, it was a clearing force. A man cannot see his true self when he is with a crowd. Therefore, man must learn to stand alone before God.
Of course, Jesus' words did not deny the laws made under the consensual agreement of men under sin, nor did they deny rewards and punishments by public authorities. Jesus said that he did not come to abolish the law, but to complete it (Matthew 5:17) and to fulfill it (Matthew 5:18). In Romans 10:4, the apostle Paul said that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. The purpose of Jesus is to have an attitude of standing before God, whether it is an individual's words or actions or the exercise of public authority.
After answering, Jesus bent down again and wrote another thing on the ground with his finger. Hearing Jesus' answer, they received remorse and went out one by one, from adults to young people. Only the adulterous woman who stood in the midst of Jesus was left. More precisely, Jesus and the woman in adultery and her sins are left behind. They also had to stand before the Lord Jesus, instead of leaving, feeling remorse for their unspoken confession of sin. There is no one in this world who does not have to stand before the Lord Jesus.
When Jesus got up and saw that only the woman in adultery was left, he asked, “Where are the accusers of you? Has no one condemned you?” The woman replied, “No, Lord.” The woman realized that she was the Messiah when she saw Jesus, who made them realize that they were sinners who did not have the right to condemn the priests and the crowd, who were living in poverty.
The Greek word for “condemned” is katekrinen (κατ?κρινεν), meaning “to judge,” “to convict,” or “to judge worthy of punishment.”
Hearing the woman's answer that there was no condemnation, Jesus made a decisive declaration. “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.” These words are not unconditional forgiveness. He instilled in the sinner a certain awareness of sin and its consequences. It is a sin that deserves condemnation, but it is not condemned. Reckless forgiveness has the detrimental effects of either dulling guilt or guilt, or encouraging sin. Jesus does not forgive that way. He makes us realize that sin has the amazing power to make humans a slave, and ultimately exerts a tremendous power that leads to death and destruction. The purpose, of course, is to go and sin no more. True forgiveness ends here. It is to help us to know the sins we have committed and the power of our sins so that we do not sin again.
4. Conclusion
No one is innocent enough to condemn a sinner. No one is righteous enough to condemn others legally, ethically, morally, or conscientiously. Even when discipline and scourge are needed to prevent a greater sin and damage caused by it, we must follow the Lord's word. Above all, there is something we need to keep in mind about sinners who have received forgiveness of sins and new life through the blood of the Lord. “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”
(Poongseong Methodist Church. Book: Complete Commentary on 27 New Testament Books/ Interpretation of Difficult Scriptures I, II/ Salvation Before Jesus Came/Paul’s Understanding of Man/ Prosperity Prayer/ Seasonal Sermonbooks/ Sermonbook 18. -3051)