Neither Do I Condemn you

 

John 8

King James Version (KJV)

1 Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.

2 And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.

3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,

4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.

5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?

6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.

7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.

8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.

9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?

11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

 

“Neither Do I Condemn Thee”

Greek Language “Katakrino” – 2632

To give judgment against, to judge worthy of punishment.

1. To condemn
2. By one’s good example to render another’s wickedness the more evident and censurable.

When we read this story…

It appears that some pretty religious people came together for the soul purpose of not only ridding their community of the influence of this woman, but to also trick Jesus to the extent that they could find him guilty of breaking the law and thereby have him condemned.

One of the things that has always bothered me about this story, is that the man who was also caught in the act was somehow not to be condemned as the woman was.

• Somehow his sin was not as bad as hers.
• Somehow the scribes and Pharisees were able to overlook and even forgive his sin, whereas they condemned her for it.

• Same sin = 2 different people = 2 different judgments.

We might call this a double standard, accept it was pronounced by people who were supposed to be teachers of the law.

• These were the preachers.
• These were the ones you were supposed to be able to trust when it came to handing down the judgments for not obeying the Word of God.

But apparently there is a different judgment for the man than there was for the woman.

• Maybe the man was someone of influence.
• Maybe he was a big giver to the church.
• Maybe he was somebody important’s brother or cousin.
• Maybe he a scribe or Pharisee himself.
• Who knows, the bible doesn’t tell us who he was, only that the religious people only sought to have the offending woman killed and not the offending man.

Now it’s important to understand something about God and sin and us.

• That is, if one is guilty of a certain sin, then all are guilty of it if they have done it too.
• There is no double standard in the Word of God.

• If two people have sinned in the same way, they are both guilty of that sin

But evidently this is not understood by the men who brought the adulteress woman to Jesus feet that day.

• Evidently, it’s also not understood by many church leaders today either.
• We all have seen double standards, which seem to do more to cause one to lose their confidence in the ministry than it does to create unity and brotherly love in the church.

• I remember an old saying that my Stepfather always said, “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.”
• Other words, if one person got caught and got punished for it, then anyone else who did it should get punished for it too.

If I said double standards does anyone know what I’m talking about?

• If you’ve been in the church for any length of time, you may know what I mean.

• Can I just say, double standards are a plague of the church.

• Nobody likes a double standard.

• And let me just tell you, Neither does Jesus Christ!

Here’s how I know, 7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.

Jesus let them know right off the bat that any of them that had no sin of their own to worry about should throw the first stone.

• He never tried to protect the woman.
• He never contested their law.
• He never said that the law might be too extreme.

But in His wisdom, he saved the life of this woman by reminding all the scribes and all the Pharisees and all the religious people gathered that day of their own sin.

• I’m sure they were all very confident that they were going to not only have the head of this woman, but also Jesus when they began formulating this perfect plan of theirs.
• But when it was all over, they walked away reminded of all the shameful things they had done in their own lives.

• Apparently, those religious people had been involved in a few things they shouldn’t have been involved in too.

• Apparently, there was a bit of sin going on in their lives too.

• Enough anyway, that they left there with their heads down and their conscious seared.

Here’s what I love about Jesus.

• He was the only one without sin who could have fulfilled the law, but instead of picking up a stone or even speaking ill towards the woman, He simply forgave the her and said, “Neither do I condemn thee.”

• “Wow”, this is amazing to me.

You see, human nature generally does not do this.

• Human nature usually condemns a person who’s righteousness does not equal their own.
• We do it all the time.
• And many times without even thinking about it.

Some people feel condemned simply because they think that others righteousness is so great.

• I’ve had people tell me, “Jim, I could never live for God like you.”
• “Jim, I will never be able to serve God like you.”

Sometimes, you don’t even have to say a word, your righteousness condemns them all by itself.

• Here me, there are people all around us who look at us and believe in their hearts that we are somehow better than them and that they will never be able to be as good as us.

• These people condemn themselves by assuming that we have no faults or failures in our own life.

But I have to ask the question this morning…

• Is there anyone in the house who is without sin today?
• Is there anyone here today who has never made a mistake in their life?

If there is one thing that I know beyond a shadow of a doubt.

• If there is one thing that is absolute in my understanding today, it is that I am without a doubt a sinner.
• I am fully aware this morning that I am completely dependent on the mercy and grace of God for every breath that I take.
• I am not perfect.
• I am a sinner.
• I have no bragging rights.
• I have no reason to think myself better than anyone in this room.
• Like the Apostle Paul said, “I am the cheifest of sinners.”

So if any of you are looking to me to condemn someone here today, you’re out of luck.

Understand something today.  The servant is no better than his master.

• Our master became our servant.
• And if our master has become our servant, who are we.

I’ll tell you who Jim Smith is…

• He is nothing.
• Without Jesus Christ’s forgiveness and mercy today, I am the worst of the worst.

I wonder if there is anyone else here today who hasn’t forgotten where they come from.

• I wonder if there is anyone else who knows how lost they would be without the help of God.

Have you ever seen one of those mirrors that also magnifies.

• I feel today that the Lord would want us to look into one of those here today spiritually.

• If we could ever understand our own frailty and sinful nature, we would never condemn or judge someone else.

• There’s a reason why much of Jesus ministry was spent telling people that they should not judge one another.

 

Matthew 7:1?Judge not, that ye be not judged.

Matthew 7:2?For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

Luke 6:37?Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:

 

Listen to what Jesus tells the Pharisees in the same chapter we read from already – Jn 8:15 Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man.

• Hear me today church, we’ve got no right to judge anyone.
• If Jesus Himself is not going to judge them in this world, neither should we.

When we see someone who’s life is not going the way God would want it to go…

• We are better to have empathy towards them than self-righteous condemnation.

Here me, you will never win that family member as long as you think yourself better than them

• This church will never reach anyone we feel ourselves superior too.

You know there is an attitude I pray we adopt.

In fact I’m going to keep preaching on this until we get it.

• That attitude is forgiveness.
• That attitude is grace.

• It’s the attitude that loves people in spite of where they are at spiritually.
• It’s the attitude that embraces and reaches out to anyone who would desire to know Jesus Christ.

If you’re here to tell people how righteous you are, you’ve come to the wrong church.

• If you’re here to condemn others with your own righteousness or self-righteousness, you really don’t belong in this church – or then again, maybe you do.
• Because we realize here that there is not a single one of us who are anywhere close to being perfect.
• We realize that without His grace, we are all condemned sinners.

I don’t know about you, but I want to love people like Jesus loved them.

• It might be someone caught in the very act.
• They might be as guilty as they can possibly be, but in the end, I want to be able to say to them, “This church loves you.”
• “This church cares.”
• “This church wants to help.”

As pastor, I want to know that I can pick up the phone anytime day or night and say to you, “I have someone who has made a real mess of their life, but they need our help.  Can you help me help them?”

I need to know that the church I attend and am part of is a church that will love people regardless of where they are coming from or what they’ve done.

• And I want you to know also that God is going to test us on this.
• We can say it all day long, but He is going to bring people into this place who He is going to use to test our willingness to love unconditionally.

• He’s going to put some folks in our path that some of us would find easy to judge or condemn, and He’s going to find out real quick if we genuinely love and care for them.

There’s an attitude that Jesus displayed constantly.

• It confounded the religious people of His day.

• It was a “Neither Do I Condemn Thee” Attitude.

Everywhere he went, people found that although He had reason to, He never condemned or judged them.

• Whether it was the adulteress woman,
• Or the divorcee at the Samaritan well
• Or Peter after he denied knowing the Lord on the day of His crucifixion.

• Even the thief on the cross although condemned by society found himself in the presence of God on the day of Christ’s death.

8 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

• If you’re ready to lay it all down on the altar today, Jesus is ready to forgive you.

• There’s no reason for you to leave here today bound by the oppression and weight and guilt of your sins, Jesus is ready to forgive you.