Title: The Running Instinct (John 8:1~11)
Contents
Instinct to run (John 8:1-11)
The core layperson training program of our church is 'discipleship training (弟子訓鍊)'. One year in the discipleship class, and another year in the ministry class, you must recite Romans 8 during this period. In Romans 8, which is the core of chapter 1,189 of the Bible, the answers to various problems in life we face today are hidden. Among them are these words:
“If you live according to the flesh, you will surely die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. Anyone who is led by the Spirit of God is a son of God” (Romans 8:13-14). 'If you kill' has the same meaning as 'if you stop.' Also, 'to be led' is a reflexive verb that means 'to bind, to fix'. The question is, ‘Where is the instinct to run?’ For humans, it is like a herd of 2,000 pigs in Gerasea ran into the sea (Mark 5:13). There is an instinct (Isaiah 59:7; Romans 3:15), who can stop this reckless run?
In today's text, the scribes and Pharisees running without hesitation appear. One day, they brought a woman caught on the spot while committing fornication to the temple, and cried out in front of Jesus, who “sitting” in the temple and teaching the people (Matthew 5:1; 13:1-2). “Sir, this woman was caught in adultery. Moses commanded in the law that such women be stoned, but what will you say?” Acting outright before Jesus, they were convinced that they had the support of the law. As such, in this text, the ‘running instinct’ that is latent in the inner human being is clearly expressed.
But, ignoring them and the multitude of people gathered around them, Jesus sat down on the ground and wrote. Then he said to the crowd, “He that is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at him.” Then he sat down again and wrote on the ground. There is a stark contrast between Jesus, who stops his speech, action, and judgment with those who are reckless with an adulterous woman in the middle.
But how was the woman discovered? Also, where is the other party, the man? And is this reckless act of God really the will of God, and is it really biblical? ... The fact that they attacked the site proves that they already knew the site well. That is, they are of the same class. These people are more obsessed with the chastity of women. That's why he leaves the man alone and publicly condemns the woman.
The words of Deuteronomy 22, which they use as the basis for their conviction, are given to engaged men and women, and only the husband who is the party to the accusation can make a complaint. In addition, Jesus was opposed to publicly condemning all sinners (Matthew 18:15). Paul also tells him to correct him with meekness and examine himself with fear (Galatians 6:1). When Joseph, too, found out that his fianc e, Mary, was pregnant, he quietly wanted to divorce him (Matthew 1:18). Therefore, what they do when they bring a woman into a public place and shout (Mark 1:1-4; Luke 19:3; John 8:3) is, I assure you, not the will of God.
Therefore, the Lord is telling us to stop our running instinct to stone this woman and sit down on the ground for a while like I did and look at yourself first (Proverbs 7:7-12). Failure to suppress this running instinct will only lead to destruction. The end of their sprint proves that Pharaoh confronted Moses, King Saul who wanted to kill David, and Absalom who usurped his father’s kingship (2 Samuel 18:14).
We also have this running instinct. In the movie 'Forrest Gump', the protagonist, Forrest (Tom Hanks), with an IQ of 75, runs away from his chasing friends one day, discovers his own running talent, and continues to run. Thanks to him, he overcame adversity and prejudice and eventually succeeds. But his girlfriend Jenny (Robin Wright) is surrounded by prostitution, violence and drugs, and ends up just like that. So, are you running blindly? Now, you need wisdom to stop for a moment on the spot where you are running.
One day, around 2 am, while my wife and I were traveling home from the south on the highway on the highway, at the Nami Junction, we took the Jungbu Expressway through Guri and Uijeongbu to enter Ilsan and ran without hesitation. The rest area I saw for the first time and the surrounding scenery were a bit unfamiliar, but I still believed that there was no doubt, so I kept running. After running like that for a while, it seemed strange, so I went to the next toll gate and checked it, and it was not the Jungbu Expressway, but the Jungbu Inland Expressway, a newly opened road. The same is true of ‘the road of life’. I have to suppress my instinct to run as I thought, pause for a moment and look left and right.
'Difficult Week (苦難週間)', we stop for a moment and meet Jesus. Thousands of people stopped running at the sight of the blood pouring out while stopped on the cross (Luke 23:47-49; Matthew 27:3-4). Therefore, we also need time to stop our ‘running instinct’, go to the cross and look at ourselves, and pause like the Lord.
‘War Nangsori’, the point of this movie is ‘the aesthetics of slowness’. The grandfather gave the cow the slowness of cutting the forage instead of cutting the porridge and feeding it. The audience was able to be moved because there was a camera that watched the slow cow and the grandfather slowly for three years here.
The Lord says “Couldn’t you have stayed awake like this even for an hour with me?” (Matthew 26:40) During this difficult week, put down my words, judgments, and actions for a while and sit down like the Lord. And I hope you will listen to the small voice of the Lord. I hope that you will enjoy the thrill of being found once again as a child of the Lord in God.