Where are your accusers?

Left hand doesn’t know what the right hand’s doing around here. Sorry about that. Hey everybody, good morning. Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers in the room and actually wives, sisters, daughters, aunts, cousins, grandmas. We’re just all of you. We’re so grateful for all of you and we want to celebrate you this day and hope that you feel valued and appreciated because you are. And thank you for choosing to include us in your Mother’s Day plans before brunch or lunch or whatever flower shopping you’re going to do or anything. Thank you guys for making us a part of your morning. It means a lot to us. Actually, on a day like Mother’s Day, part of the reason we even have Mother’s Day is because of Jesus. And it sounds like something a preacher would say, but it’s true. Because in history, prior to Jesus, women were commodities.

(01:00)
They were objects. They couldn’t vote and they couldn’t give a testimony in a court of law. They often were uneducated and Jesus comes along and values them and esteems women and gives them dignity and calls out who God made them to be. And so today it’s fitting on a day like Mother’s Day. We would stop and read one of those accounts where Jesus interacts with a woman and esteems her and gives her dignity. And we’re also in a series called Questions Jesus Wants to Ask You. So we’re looking at these questions that Jesus uses to teach. He’s a rabbi. This is how he teaches. And we’re asking those questions of ourselves. And today we’re going to look at this account that we just heard of this woman and Jesus and these accusations. And really her situation is distinct, but kind of universal is this idea of accusations that are in this account.

(02:03)
I mean, her story is unique, but we can all identify with this, this idea of being accused. And something happens in us when there’s an accusation brought against us. Whether it’s true, entirely true or partially true or not true at all. There’s something in us that wants to exonerate and abdicate. We play hot potato with guilt. We don’t. This week I had an old friend reach out to me and he was mad at me because I hadn’t contacted him and I hadn’t spoken with him for a while. And I was like, “You’re right.” But then he attached motive to it. And I’m like, “No, no, no, no, no. You can’t tell me how I feel about you. You’re right. I haven’t contacted you in a long time.” But it was interesting. As soon as that accusation came, something in me welled up to defend myself.

(02:58)
And we feel that whether it’s an accusation from a friend or a family member or a coworker of that something we did or something we failed to do, man. When we’re accused, we get in defense mode. And moms, you know, you’re sometimes your own worst critic. You make accusations about yourself all the time. I don’t clean the house well enough. I don’t spend enough time with the kid. I thought you were raising your hand there, Jen. You were just scratching your head. That was awesome. She’s like, “Yep, that’s me. I don’t spend time with my kids. I don’t clean my house. I don’t eat right. I don’t exercise right. I’m not enough. I don’t. And you’re your own worst critics.” And then we start to think about the accusations, especially in a church setting, accusations of spiritual things, not just that, “Oh, I don’t pray enough or read the Bible enough or go to church enough.” Yeah, I do lie.

(04:03)
I do cheat. I do steal. I am lustful. I am proud. I do gossip. And all of these accusations, again, when we hear these accusations, what wells up in us is something that wants to defend ourselves and to somehow rid ourselves of that guilt. And today as we look at this account, I want to change the way we respond to accusations.

(04:34)
Yesterday I was driving my son to a lacrosse tournament about an hour and a half away and we’re about 40 minutes down the road and it’s early in the morning. And my wife has this women’s event that we did yesterday and she needs to get to the church and she calls and she’s like, “Do you have my key fob with you? ” And I was like, “Yes, I do. ” And it was like that again, that immediate accusation of the guilt and I wanted so much to fix the situation, but there was nothing I could do. And then she texted back and she says, “Tomorrow morning when you’re getting ready for church, I’m going to hide your keys.” And that’s how she wanted to respond to my guilts, but I want to talk about how we respond to our … She didn’t hide the keys this morning, by the way.

(05:22)
She’s a better person than I. I got to church without a problem. She had a whole bunch of problems yesterday getting to church, but I was fine this morning. But anyway, I want to give us tools that we can use to respond to this accusation and respond to that guilt. I want to connect the dots specifically on how Jesus changes the way you respond to accusations. And I know that sounds like a really pious thing like, “Oh, Jesus changes the way you respond,” but it’s true. I know it sounds theoretical, but I want to connect the dots to practically how Jesus changes the way you respond to accusations when you fail to be what you need to be for your friends, your family members, yourself, or your God. And let me show you what I mean as we look at this account and then we can make some applications.

(06:13)
So in this account, as you just heard from the reading in John A, it says that very early in the morning, Jesus was in the temple teaching. And so you can kind of picture him there standing in this big temple courtyard in a horseshoe of people kind of gathered around him. I love the idea that you could wake up early in the morning and go hear Jesus speak. And I hope that you feel that a little bit in part when you come to St. Mark on Sunday mornings, that you hear Jesus speak and you’ll never walk out of here. I promise you, you’ll never walk out of here wondering what Jesus has to say about something, but he’s standing there in the temple courts and this group of people come and they gather to hear him. So it means that he does this regularly when he’s in Jerusalem and people know this and they go there.

(07:02)
But it’s not just as supporters that know this also his opponents know this and they use this as an opportunity. And you can kind of picture visually what’s going on in the city. The sun is coming over and it’s cloudless sky. So it’s a golden hour in the morning sun’s coming up over the city walls and the mountains and the city’s waking up, right? Shopkeepers are opening their shop, roosters are crowing, cats are darting into alleyways, but in the revelry of this morning and kind of the stillness of the morning, suddenly it’s interrupted by the sound of shouting and screaming because these religious leaders had a plan that they put together to catch Jesus and they go to assumedly the seedy part of town, the red light district and they grab a woman of the night and they catch her in the very act of adultery and they barely allow her to cover herself and she’s dragged, kicking and screaming through the city streets.

(08:19)
And you know that as she’s yelling and screaming that people kind of wake up and stick their head out the window to see what’s happening and then they keep watching, they gawk and they gooseneck at this scene unfolding and they clutch their pearls and shake their heads because people love the demise of others. There’s something about like the demise of others and women like watching the Kardashians or Real Housewives, like we love tearing each other down. It’s why we know who these people are. It’s why you know the name Monica Lewinsky, because something about scandal and affairs and adultery and it’s sorted and it’s delicious to us. And she’s brought into the temple courts and thrown down in front of Jesus as he’s teaching.

(09:24)
And they ask him, this woman was caught in adultery and the law commands that we are to stone her. And the law that they’re citing is from Leviticus chapter 20 where it says, “If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulterers are to be put to death, stoned.” Now, ladies, who’s conveniently missing from this scene? The man, right, right? The man, the man is missing from the scene and it kind of exposes that they aren’t so concerned with upholding the law. They want to trap Jesus and Jesus sees through this.

(10:07)
It’s like right away already there’s the setup, the premise is wrong to their argument and Jesus sees that. He sees that. Now their argument is this, okay, Jesus has been a friend of sinners and they want to stop this Jesus movement. So they assume though that a friend of sinners means that he also is tolerant of sin. It’s not the case. Jesus is unflinching and never mince his words about our sin and our failure to meet God’s standard for us, but doesn’t stop him from being a friend of sinners. And so their argument is, well, if we bring this woman to Jesus who is supposed to be stoned, Jesus will like pardon her sin and kind of be tolerant of it. And then we can say, “Ah, he’s a false prophet and they can discredit his ministry and be done with this whole Jesus movement.” But if Jesus commands that she’s to be stoned to death, then when we stone this woman, Jesus will be guilty and punishable of death as well because capital punishment and death is something limited to Rome and the Roman government.

(11:34)
Remember, Israel is occupied by Rome. Rome carries out capital and civil punishment. Jews can do a religious law all they want, but they cannot carry out public justice and an execution like this. To do so would be insurrection punishable by death itself. And so if Jesus says this woman can be stoned, then Rome would execute Jesus and we can be done with this whole thing. This is why the Jews need Rome to carry out Jesus’s execution. This is why he’s crucified and not stoned to death. And so they know this. Either we’re going to end the Jesus movement because he’ll be found out to be a fraud or we’re going to end this Jesus movement because he’ll be killed.

(12:26)
They’re using this woman to accomplish their ends just like one of her customers, right? And so they set up this trap, this entrapment for Jesus. “What say you, Rabbi teach us? “And he teaches them. And the first thing that he does in this moment is he hears their question. I love this. It’s incredible. He says,” Let the on who is without sin cast the first stone. “He cites the law and then stoops down and John says he begins to write in the ground with his finger. And I love this detail. I love it. And a lot of people over the years have tried to prognosticate about what is Jesus writing in the dirt. Is he making smiley faces? Is he like writing people’s sin? What is Jesus writing? But I think the more interesting thing is the fact that he chooses to do this and John says he uses his finger to write in the dirt.

(13:48)
Very few times does the Bible talk about God’s finger. When it mentions God’s arm, it says God’s arm is strong to save and it has to do with his power and his salvation. When it mentions God’s hand has to do with his involvement in our life, but when it mentions his finger, it has to do with God’s creative power. It talks about how he fashions the stars by his fingers. And the other time that it mentions God’s finger, this is so cool, is when he descends on Mount Sinai and take a look at what it says. When the Lord finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the covenant law, the 10 commandments, the tablets of stoned inscribed by the finger of God. And so Jesus in the temple cites the law that he wrote with his own finger and then stoops down to use that same finger to write in the dirt.

(15:00)
I think that’s exactly what Jesus is doing is he’s recreating the picture of God writing the law with his own finger. And these Pharisees and religious leaders, I think that pick up on him because the account says that the oldest to the youngest, so gray beards to dark beards to no beards begins to walk away. They drop their stones that they have a white knuckle grip on and they drop the stone thud, thud, thud, thud, dud, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, until no one has left. And it points out two things, by the way. It points out two things. One, that they never really cared about upholding the law in the first place because if they did, they would carry out justice, but Jesus is pointing out that they’re afraid of Rome. They fear Rome more than they fear God. They care more what Rome thinks of their actions than what God thinks of their actions.

(16:17)
They don’t want to be put to death themselves so they don’t carry out the justice.

(16:27)
The second thing I think also is that they just recognize their sin. I mean, when you’re old, all that means is you’ve just had more years to make mistakes. You’ve seen some things, you’ve done some things, right? And when you’re younger, I mean, you’re a little bit naive to think that maybe I’ll be different. And so eventually then it’s just Jesus in this woman and they’re crouching on the ground together. Just think of that. He’s down at her level and he stands up and he asks and he says four different things. And these fourth sentences are two questions and two statements and he circles the wagon around this idea of accusations and again, changes the way we respond to accusations and these questions and these statements, it kind of reframes, reshapes the way we would respond to accusations and guilt. And the first one is this really obvious question.

(17:37)
He goes, “Hey, where are your accusers?” And the point being is they’re gone. They were here.

(17:53)
They were saying some seething bloodthirsty accusations, but they’re gone, but he’s still here. Your accusers have left, but not me. Because eventually they run out of things to accuse you of. Eventually the accusations run out, but not his defense We read a response of reading earlier where it talks about how Jesus is at the right hand of God interceding for us. We say this in the creed all the time. He ascends into heaven and sits at the right hand of God. You know why he’s there? Because every time an accusation is brought against us, he’s right there defending us and he’s not going to leave no matter how many accusations are brought. And no matter what accusation is brought, there’s no accusation that can be brought against you where Jesus is like, “You did. What?” There’s nothing you can do that surprises him. He’s heard it all.

(18:58)
He’s never aghast and so appalled at what you’ve done. He’s like, “Okay, that’s it. That’s the last draw. I’m out of here. He’s still there. Amen. In fact, did you know that the name Satan, the name Satan isn’t like a name. It’s a title. It’s a role. It means accuser. That’s what the name Satan means. The accuser. He’s the prosecutor and all he does is cite the law.

(19:34)
He levies and lobbies the law of God against you. It’s what he does to Job, to people like Daniel all the way to the Book of Revelation. He’s called the accuser of God’s people, Satan. But he’ll run out of accusations, guys. There’s nothing he can say that’s going to shock God. And Jesus stays at the right hand of the Father interceding for you. No, no, no, no, no. Father, I died for that sin too.That one’s covered in my righteousness. I shed my blood for that one too, which gets to his second question. He asks the woman, “Does no one condemn you? ” And because of Jesus, no one can.

(20:32)
He alone has the power to condemn or to save. It’s his authority. They can make all the accusations they want, but he is the only one who could throw a stone. He is the one without a sin and he doesn’t condemn. He doesn’t condemn, which then gets to the two statements. There’s two questions and then two statements. And they’re kind of a mere image of each other like a bookend or a chaism because the first thing he says, she says, “No one, Lord.” And that’s actually what no one, Lord, she calls him Lord. And then he says, “Well, then neither do I condemn you. I don’t condemn you. ” He could, but he doesn’t. The apostle John says, “God so love the world he sent his only begotten son. Whoever believes in him shall be saved.” Happy eternal life. That’s John 3:16. 3:17 says, “For God to not send his son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through him.” Jesus’ brother James says that mercy triumphs over judgment.

(21:55)
It’s not that he looks and goes, “Ah, the law doesn’t matter. It’s fine.” He doesn’t abolish the law. He fulfills the law even to the point of the death that it demands.

(22:13)
The Christian life is this idea that you’re guilty and that’s a problem. There’s a perfection of heaven that is so perfect, so holy that any imperfection like you tarnishes it and it’s punishable by death and Jesus is willing to pay that death penalty in your place if you want him to. You get this image of a judge like pronouncing the verdict, guilty, bam, slams the gavel down and then takes off his robe, stands up, walks down from his chair, unlocks the handcuffs from you and puts it on himself. That’s the image we get. And I love the way the apostle Paul describes these accusations that are brought against you. Some of them are true. They might be half true or entirely true, but they’re true. And that’s the problem. But all of these charges, all of these accusations brought against you, Paul says, “God canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness.

(23:19)
Every accusation that stood against us and undemed us to death, but he took it away when he nailed it to the cross. Come on y’all. That’s awesome.” Said Jesus says, “Neither do I condemn you. ” And then he says one more thing. He’s not done. It’s not just to get you out of jail. There’s one more thing he says. He looks at this woman covering herself up covered in dust and shame, tear stained cheeks. And he says to her, “Now go and sin no more.

(24:04)
Leave your life of sin,” is what the NIV translated as. Go because it’s not just about forgiving her. He wants her to experience the whole full and holistic healthy life that God has designed for her and it’s not this lifestyle you’re living. You are so much more valuable than that. Don’t settle for something less than what God has designed for you. It’s incredible. It’s fulfilling. It’s life giving. It’s joyful and I want it for you. Now go. I’m dying in your place so you can experience it. Go. Leave your life of sin and leave your sin with me.

(24:59)
It’s interesting when we think about our accusations, right? Like how I should and I wish I did and I could. And okay, I should. And this guilt and then we know what we should do, but we just can’t seem to do it because we’re trying to be motivated by the law and the law is a terrible motivator. I can prove it. How fast did you drive to church this morning? What was the speed limit on capital? You were over the limit. I’ve seen all of you pull into our parking lots. You’re lawbreakers. You’re guilty. And the law is a terrible, terrible motivator. That’s why we struggle so much with the, “I wish I did and I could and I should, but I don’t and I don’t want to do enough because you’re trying to be motivated by the law telling you what to do. It modifies behavior, but it doesn’t inspire behavior.

(26:07)
You know what does though? Grace. Because grace, what’s her response when she stands up and dusts herself off and walks back through town with dignity? What is her feeling? Immense, incomparable, immeasurable gratitude for what God has done in her life for her. That’s the only response she has. I promise you. Who am I? Oh my goodness. I can’t believe he did this. I am so grateful and gives me a new lease on life. Now, which one do you think? I mean, she knew the law. She knew that she was a law breaker. That’s why she called him Lord. She was well aware.

(27:03)
But which one do you think brings about the life change that God wants? The law that condemns her or the grace that liberates her, which brings me to us and how? I gave away the punchline at the beginning, but honestly, Jesus changes the way you respond to accusations. He does. Because now, no matter how many accusations are brought against you, even if they’re true or partially true, they eventually run out of accusations, but your savior is by your side and they may try to condemn you, but they can’t because Christ who died in your place is sitting at the right hand of God interceding for you. You’re not alone and now he frees you to go live the life that he purchased for you. And this changes the way you respond to accusations because now when people … First of all, like before Christ, when people try to ascribe guilt to you, you’ll do everything you can to dodge it and to avoid it and to avoid responsibility and accountability.

(28:29)
But in Christ, you almost welcome it because once you confess it, you find freedom from it. You almost seek out where guilt is and be like, “Yeah, you’re right. I did that. I’m so sorry I had the key fob on me, honey. I’m sorry I didn’t call you. I should have called you more your rights. And it’s okay to be guilty all of a sudden. Now you’re not playing dodgeball. Can dodge a ranch, you can dodge ball.” You’re trying to find freedom and you’re not fighting, you’re not anxious, you’re not angry, you’re not getting defensive. When people talk to you, you’re like, “Okay, yeah, I’ll try better because you are walking forgiven and free.” And I can’t do this. I can’t connect the dot to your practical life any better. I would have to sit down with you and say, “Okay, where are the people accusing you in your life?

(29:33)
What are the accusations that people bring against you? How do you criticize yourself?” And then you would have to tell me and then I would say, “Okay, Jesus answers that, doesn’t he? ” And you have to connect the dots from this point on because I can’t sit down and have a conversation with all of you, but please take the time and the mental energy to just think through, where do I feel guilty? Where do I feel condemned? Who is accused Accusing me and find the freedom that Jesus want for you.

(30:06)
Let’s pray. Heavenly Father, first of all, thank you for all the women in this room, wives, sisters, daughters, aunts, mothers. In the way that your son stepped on the scene and affirmed their value and worth, I pray today they would feel not only our value and worth and appreciation for them, but yours. God, we are sorry. We have fallen short of others’ expectations of us, our own expectations of us. We have fallen short also of your expectations of us. We have sinned against you and thought word indeed by what we’ve done and what we’ve failed to do and we need your forgiveness.

(30:52)
God, the accusations will eventually be silent. We thank you that your son will still be there interceding in our behalf announcing to us your forgiveness. God, I pray that in grateful response we would leave our life of sin and be empowered and liberated to be transformed, not out of guilt, but out of gratitude. So accomplish in us what you accomplish in this young lady’s life. Let us experience the life that you have for us. We pray now the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray as we say together. Our Father who arts in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come and thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.

(32:13)
Amen.