John 7:40-8:11: Divisions and Dilemmas

John 7:40-8:11:

Divisions and Dilemmas

By Dr. Hal Harless

Foundation Fellowship of Greenville, TX

November 1, 2009

I. Introduction

A. Please turn to John 7:40.

While you are turning.... Ironside commented:

I think almost all well-educated ministers of the gospel have read scores of books by men who reject the Bible and refuse the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ. I can say that I have read literally hundreds of such books written by unbelievers. "Have they not shaken your faith in the Bible?" you ask. No, they only show me the folly of unbelief. But having said that, let me say this, I have never met an infidel yet who has ever read one serious book on Christian evidences. Now there may be some, but I have never met one who has. Men read the arguments from the other side, but the average objector does not take the trouble to read the books written in defense of the truth of God.[1]

Nicodemus would say, "Investigate before you judge!"

II. Exposition

A. Background

1. We are still in Jesus' public ministry (John 2:1-12:36a).

2. We are in Judea where we will remain until our Lord's death and resurrection.

3. The Sukkoth or the Feast of Tabernacles has ended.

4. Jesus is continuing to teach in the temple and there is much confusion and debate concerning Him.

B. Exposition: After the Feast of Booths (John 7:40-9:41)--Part I

1. Division over Jesus (John 7:40-53)

a. The people are divided (John 7:40-43).

⁴⁰Some of the people therefore, when they heard these words, were saying, "This certainly is the Prophet." ⁴¹ Others were saying, "This is the Christ." Still others were saying, "Surely the Christ is not going to come from Galilee, is He? ⁴² Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the descendants of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?" ⁴³ So a division occurred in the crowd because of Him (John 7:40-43).

1) "Some of the people therefore, when they heard these words, were saying, 'This certainly is the Prophet.'"

a) Some of the people drew the conclusion that Jesus was an expected Messianic figure, a second Moses.

i) "The Prophet" refers to the prophet like Moses, "The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him" (Deut 18:15).

ii) Peter applied that promise to Jesus (Acts 3:22-23).

b) Jesus' promise of living water would have reminded them of the fact that God gave Israel living water from the rock during the Exodus (Exod 17:6; Num 20:8-11; Deut 8:5).

i) The rabbis connected living water and the coming of the Messiah, "As the former redeemer [Moses] made a well to rise, so will the latter Redeemer bring up water, as it is stated, And a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim."[2]

ii) Paul told us that the rock was a theophany, "all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ" (1 Cor 10:4).

c) Thus, one camp saw Jesus as a second Moses dispensing living water in the desert.

2) "Others were saying, 'This is the Christ.' Still others were saying, 'Surely the Christ is not going to come from Galilee, is He?'"

a) Others decided that Jesus must be the Messiah.

i) The Gk. word Christos ("Christ") is equivalent to the Heb. MāshÐach ("Messiah").

ii) It means "The Anointed One."

b) However, others questioned the messianic credentials of Jesus because He was from Galilee.

i) Grammatically, the question expects a negative answer.[3]

ii) Regional prejudice made faith difficult.

3) "Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the descendants of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?"

a) Those who questioned Jesus' credentials correctly pointed out that the Messiah must be of David's lineage and from Bethlehem.

b) They appear to be ignorant of the fact that Jesus does indeed meet those two criteria.

c) John does not bother to point out that Jesus was in fact of the lineage of David and born in Bethlehem since Matthew, Mark, and Luke have done so already and it was common knowledge.[4]

4) "So a division occurred in the crowd because of Him."-- Therefore, the crowd was divided in its opinion about Jesus.

b. The Jewish leaders are divided (John 7:44-53).

1) Those seeking to detain Jesus (John 7:44-49)

⁴⁴Some of them wanted to seize Him, but no one laid hands on Him. ⁴⁵ The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, and they said to them, "Why did you not bring Him?" ⁴⁶ The officers answered, "Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks." ⁴⁷ The Pharisees then answered them, "You have not also been led astray, have you? ⁴⁸ No one of the rulers or Pharisees has believed in Him, has he? ⁴⁹ But this crowd which does not know the Law is accursed" (John 7:44-49).

a) "Some of them wanted to seize Him, but no one laid hands on Him. The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, and they said to them, 'Why did you not bring Him?'"

i) Those that were sent to arrest Jesus were unable to carry out their mission.

ii) When the officers returned, the priests and Pharisees demanded an explanation for their failure.

b) "The officers answered, 'Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks.'"

i) The officers answered that they were impressed by Jesus' speech to such a degree that they could not arrest Him.

ii) In the Gk., "man" is emphatic.

c) "The Pharisees then answered them, 'You have not also been led astray, have you?'"

i) The Pharisees angrily accused them of having been led astray.

ii) The Gk. word translated "have ... been led astray" is a perfect tense verb and emphasizes the continuing results of the alleged deception.[5]

d) "No one of the rulers or Pharisees has believed in Him, has he?"

i) The Pharisees went on to assert that not one of their group has believed in Jesus.

(a) Grammatically, the question expects a negative answer.[6]

(b) Wiersbe paraphrased, "Have any important people--like ourselves--believed on Him? Of course not!"[7]

ii) Paul wrote to the Corinthians concerning the deficit of wise and powerful people in the Church:

For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God (1 Cor 1:26-29).

iii) Ironically, Nicodemus who was both a ruler and a Pharisee defended Jesus two verses later.

iv) Moreover, several of the rulers did believe (John 12:42; 19:38-39).

e) "But this crowd which does not know the Law is accursed."

i) The Pharisees held the crowd in contempt, and considered them under God's curse.

(a) Rabbi Hillel (c. 110 BC-AD 10) "USED TO SAY: AN UNCULTURED PERSON IS NOT SIN-FEARING, NEITHER IS AN IGNORANT PERSON ['am hā'āreî] PIOUS."[8]

(b) Rabbi Akiba (2^nd century) said that, when he was an 'am hā'āreî, he wanted to beat up rabbis.[9]

(c) Barclay translates, "As for the mob who neither know nor want to know the Law, they are bound for hell anyway" (Barclay).

ii) Tragically, the Pharisees, not the common people, were the objects of God's wrath because they rejected Jesus.

2) Those seeking to defend Jesus (John 7:50-53)

⁵⁰Nicodemus (he who came to Him before, being one of them) said to them, ⁵¹ "Our Law does not judge a man unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it?" ⁵² They answered him, "You are not also from Galilee, are you? Search, and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee." ⁵³ Everyone went to his home (John 7:50-53).

a) "Nicodemus (he who came to Him before, being one of them) said to them...."

i) The irony is that, after verses 48-49, one of their own educated in the Law, Nicodemus, raises an objection to their hasty condemnation of Jesus.

ii) Nicodemus criticized them on a fundamental of Jewish Law.[10]

b) "Our Law does not judge a man unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it?"

i) The Gk. grammar expects a negative answer.[11]

ii) Moses taught:

(a) "If it is told you and you have heard of it, then you shall inquire thoroughly" (Deut 17:4a).

(b) "The judges shall investigate thoroughly" (Deut 19:18).

iii) In the Talmud, "R. Hanina [2^nd century] said: By Biblical law, both monetary and capital cases require inquiry and investigation, as it is written: One manner of judgment ye shall have."[12]

iv) The Midrash later related that "R. Eleazer b. Pedath [c. 4^th century] said: Unless a mortal hears the pleas that a man can put forward, he is not able to give judgment."[13]

v) Nicodemus warned them to investigate before you judge.

(a) He wanted them to consider two things: Jesus' words and His works.

(b) One has observed that "the two go together, for the miracles point to the messages, and the messages interpret the spiritual meaning of the miracles."[14]

c) "They answered him, 'You are not also from Galilee, are you? Search, and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee.'"

i) The Pharisees responded with regional bigotry.

(a) This is the classic ad hominem fallacy.

(b) In Galilee, Rabbi Eliezer (c. AD 90) said that "there was not a tribe in Israel from which there did not come prophets."[15]

(d) Concerning the Messiah, Isaiah prophesied:

But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who walk in darkness Will see a great light; those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them (Isa 9:1-2).

ii) Therefore, their cutting remark was actually false--one has observed that

you cannot help but feel sorry for the people described in this chapter, people who responded to Jesus in the wrong ways. His half brothers responded with disbelief; various people responded with debate; and the result was division....

But people today commit the same blunder and permit their prejudices and superficial evaluations to blind them to the truth.

Don't let it happen to you![17]

d) "Everyone went to his home."

i) The meeting ended and all went home.

ii) The authenticity of John 7:53-8:11

(a) Since John 7:53-8:11 does not appear in some of the oldest manuscripts, many have questioned the veracity of these verses.[18]

(i) With the possible exception of Papias (II^nd century), no early Church father commented on the passage until Ambrose (AD 397).

(ii) Ironside suggested that perhaps early Christians were concerned that this story might be taken to imply a lenient attitude toward immorality.[19]

(iii) However, even among those that doubt that these verses are originally part of John's gospel, many still consider the account historical.

(iv) Gk. scholar Robertson notes, "It is probably a true story for it is like Jesus."[20]

(v) Textual critic Metzger comments, "At the same time the account has all the earmarks of historical veracity."[21]

(vi) Bible scholar Bruce calls it "a fragment of authentic Gospel material."[22]

(b) Nevertheless, there is support for John 7:53-8:11.

(i) These verses do appear in D (Codex Bezae, VI^th century AD), the Byzantine Majority Gk. texts, the Latin Vulgate (IV^th century AD), the Syriac Peshitta (II^nd-VII^th centuries AD), fragment 4 of Papias[23] (II^nd century), commentaries by Ambrose (in both Gk. and Lat., AD 397), Jerome (AD 420), and Augustine (AD 430).

(ii) Hodges contended that the vocabulary and style is Johannine and the placement is highly suitable to the subject matter of the section.[24]

(iii) He concluded that "there is no compelling reason to doubt that the story is originally Johannine, despite the prevailing contrary opinion."[25]

2. The woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11)

a. The dilemma of the case (John 8:1-5)

^8:1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. ² Early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and began to teach them. ³ The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, ⁴ they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. ⁵ Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?" (John 8:1-5).

1) "But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and began to teach them."

a) As the Pharisees' meeting was breaking up, Jesus retired to the Mount of Olives.

b) Jesus returned early the next morning and began teaching the crowds in the temple.

2) "The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, they said to Him, 'Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act.'"

a) The scribes and Pharisees unceremoniously brought in a woman accused of adultery and interrupted His teaching by thrusting her into the midst of the crowd.

b) Jesus' opponents claim that she was caught in the very act.

c) The man is conspicuous by his absence.[26]

d) However, Jesus does not dispute the facts of the case with them.

3) "Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?"

a) The scribes and Pharisees hoped to catch Jesus with a dilemma.

i) On one hand, since Moses did command the stoning of adulterers, they hoped to discredit Jesus by getting him to contradict Moses.

ii) Harris notes:

The accusers themselves misrepresented the Mosaic Law, which states that in the case of adultery, both the man and woman must be put to death (Lev. 20:10); Deut. 22:22). Here Jesus' opponents mention only the woman (in the Greek text the pronoun "such" [toiautas] is feminine and refers only to the woman).[27]

b) On the other hand, the Romans had taken capital jurisdiction from Jewish courts.[28]

i) If Jesus recommends stoning, He would be breaking Roman law.

ii) In the Gk., "You" is in the emphatic position, i.e., "You, there! What do you say?"[29]

c) Jesus was on the spot.

b. Jesus' decision in the case (John 8:6-9)

⁶ They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. ⁷ But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." ⁸ Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. ⁹ When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court (John 8:6-9).

1) "They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground."

a) The scribes and Pharisees had sprung the trap; they are convinced that they have Jesus regardless of His answer.

b) Instead of springing into action, Jesus wrote in the dirt with His finger.

i) Keener noted that God used His finger to write the Ten Commandments (Exod 31:18; Deut 9:10).[30]

ii) Perhaps Jesus did so also knowing that the Law would convict of sin (Rom 3:20).

iii) Jesus taught "that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Matt 5:28).

iv) Therefore, they were all guilty of adultery.

2) "But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, 'He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.'"

a) Jesus' decision is that the witness who is not personally guilty of sin should begin the stoning.

b) Barclay translates, "Let him start the stoning!" (Barclay).

c) At a stoning, the witnesses threw the first stones (Deut 17:7).

d) However, false witnesses suffered the same penalty that their victim would have (Deut 19:19).

3) "Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground."

a) Again, Jesus wrote on the ground.

b) Bruce Metzger notes, "In order to satisfy pious curiosity concerning what it was that Jesus wrote upon the ground, after ["ground"] several witnesses ... add the words ... (“the sins of every one of them”)."[31]

4) "When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court."

a) Jesus' judgment had pricked their consciences and the accusers left one by one until the woman was alone.

b) Jesus called them to judge themselves instead of the woman.[32]

c. Case dismissed for lack of accusers (John 8:10-11)

¹⁰Straightening up, Jesus said to her, "Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?" ¹¹ She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more" (John 8:10-11).

1) "Straightening up, Jesus said to her, 'Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?'"

a) The woman now had no accusers.

b) The Law requires two witnesses to confirm the crime (Deut 19:15).

c) The Gk. word translated "condemn" means "pronounce a sentence after determination of guilt, pronounce a sentence on."[33]

2) "She said, 'No one, Lord.' And Jesus said, 'I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more'"

a) With no remaining accusers, Jesus declines to condemn her also. The woman's case is essentially thrown out of court.

b) Grace and Law were both upheld.

i) Jesus could justly forgive the woman because He would one day soon die for her.

ii) It has been noted that "forgiveness is free but it is not cheap."[34]

c) However, grace is not license.

i) Jesus told her to sin no more, the same advice that Jesus had given to the former paralytic at the Pool of Bethesda (John 5:14).

ii) Barclay captured the sense of the Gk. grammar when he translated, "Go and from now on stop sinning" (Barclay).

d) One has commented, "Nobody was ever saved by keeping the Law, but nobody was ever saved by grace who was not first indicted by the Law. There must be conviction before there can be conversion."[35]

II. Applications

A. What this says about Jesus Christ ...

1. Jesus is the Prophet like Moses.

2. Jesus is the King Messiah.

3. Jesus will be every bit as gracious and forgiving to you as He was to the adulterous woman.

B. What this says to us ...

1. You may be a legend in your own mind, but God does not endorse your snobbery. Loose the attitude!

2. If you like judging, judge yourself.

3. Look before you leap to conclusions. Do not allow prejudices and superficial evaluations to blind you to the truth.

4. Forgiveness is free but it is not cheap.

5. Nobody was ever saved by keeping the Law, but nobody was ever saved by grace who was not first indicted by the Law. There must be conviction before there can be conversion.