SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/25/2016 9:24 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-3 His Wisdom
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: John 8:3-8
Message of the verses: “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?" 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.”
We have been
talking about how God has brought salvation through Jesus Christ in our last
SD, as this subject is seen in this passage when the Lord tells the woman “I do
not condemn you either; go and sin no more.”
Salvation is a part of the wisdom of God which is what this section is
entitled. When we compare the wisdom of
God with what the Pharisees were trying to do, and I have to believe that what
they were doing had something to do with Satan, there is no comparison. Paul writes about God’s wisdom and man’s
foolishness: “1Co 1:25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the
weakness of God is stronger than men.”
John MacArthur
writes “In Jesus Christ divine justice and mercy harmonize. Because His sacrificial death paid the
penalty for the sins of all who believe in Him, God can ‘be just and the
justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus’ (Rom. 3:26); in Him ‘lovingkindness
and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other’
(Psalm 85:10). God poured out His wrath
against sin on Jesus so He can pour out His grace and mercy on those who
believe. And Jesus was the lamb’ slain
from the foundation of the world’ (Rev. 13:8 NKJV), not only in the prophetic sense,
but also in the sense of application.
All though redemptive history, all who were forgiven and given eternal
life had the future sacrifice of the Son of God applied to their sins.”
No place
yourself as a part of the crowd in watching this scene unfold, as you are not
sure who this Jesus of Nazareth is, and as you watch the Pharisees bring this
woman caught in the very act of adultery, you perhaps feel sorry for her, and
yet you also may be ready to pick us stones to stone her. Then you look over to see that it seems like
Jesus is doing nothing at all and you wonder what the outcome of this will be
as you watch intently. Then you see
Jesus stoop down and begin to write something with His finger on the ground,
and although you are not close enough to read it you wonder what He is doing,
what He is writing.
Now we have
speculated earlier what Jesus may have been writing, perhaps “Those who turn
away on earth will be written down, Because they have forsaken the fountain of
living water, even the LORD (Jer. 17:13b).”
I have stated that if I had to guess what He wrote it would have to do
with “Ex 31:18 When He had finished
speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the
testimony, tablets of stone, written
by the finger of God.” Now I don’t
think that He wrote that verse, but I do think that He could have been writing
the same things that were on those two tablets, the Ten Commandment.
I suppose that
the Pharisees though that they had Jesus right where they wanted Him because of
His silence, but they continued to ask Him, wanting to know His response as
they “persisted in asking Him.”
There wait was
over, along with all those who were watching Him from the crowd as Jesus says “He
who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”
Now after He made that statement He once again stooped over and begin to write
on the ground again, but said no more.
Perhaps these Scribes and Pharisees who had sent the temple police out
to arrest Him earlier heard their word echo in their ears as they had said “never
has a man spoke like Him before.”
John MacArthur
writes “The Lord’s reply was simple, yet profound. It upheld the Law, since He did not deny the
woman’s guilt, and broadened the Law’s power by exposing the sins of the
accusers. It also avoided the charge of
instigating an execution in violation of Roman authority, since the Lord put
the responsibility back on the accusers.
And it mercifully spared the woman from being stoned for her sin.
“Jesus knew that
according to the Law, the witnesses to a capital offense were to be the first
to throw stones at the guilty person (Deut. 13:9; 17:7). Obviously, they could not have been
participants in the crime, or they too would have been executed. Jesus was not
making sinless perfection a requirement for carrying out the Law (or else no on
could have done so). It may be, then,
that the woman’s accusers were themselves guilty of adultery (if no the
physical ace, certainly the lust of the heart [Matt. 5:28]).
“Jesus’
masterful answer neither minimized the woman’s guilt, nor denied the Law’s
sanctity. But it cut the ground out from
under the scribes and Pharisees by revealing that they were unfit to be her
judges and executioners. They were guilty
of the hypocrisy that the apostle Paul condemned in Romans 2:1: ‘Therefore you
have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you
judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things’
(cf. Matt. 7:1).” “"Do not judge so
that you will not be judged.”
We are almost
through with this first section from the eight chapter of John’s gospel as we
have to next look at “His Indictment” and then “His Forgiveness” and perhaps we
can do both of them in our next SD as they are both short compared to what we
have been looking at.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I want to praise the Lord for His wonderful
wisdom, the wisdom that He has that brought about my salvation.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
It is my desire to continue to do things that cause me to better know
the God of my salvation.
Memory verses for the week: 2 Corinthians 12:7-8 “Because of the
surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting
myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to
torment me-to keep me from exalting myself.
8 Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave
me.”
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Gibeon” (Joshua 10:12).
Today’s Bible question: “Who was told he would not see death until he
had seen the Lord’s Christ?”
Answer in our next SD.
5/25/2016 10:14 AM
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