One time the
Pharisees brought a woman who had been taken in adultery to Jesus and asked
Him what to do about her. Should she be stoned as the law said? They were
not really interested in the law, nor right and wrong, nor the woman. They
were trying Jesus "that they may have whereof to accuse him"
(Jn. 8:6).
After a pause and further questioning Jesus said, "He that is without sin
among you, let him first cast a stone at her"
(Jn. 8:7).
The statement Jesus uttered on this occasion has often been violently and
blatantly misapplied. His reply was strictly in keeping with the law which
said, "At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is
to die be put to death; at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to
death. The hand of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to
death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So thou shall put away the
evil from the midst of thee"
(Deut. 17:2-7).
The case Jesus
dealt with was not simply one in which a woman had committed adultery. Jesus
always dealt with the primary issue and then with the subordinate issues.
Here the primary issue was the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and their
incredibly intense hatred of Jesus. There were actually three issues
involved in the episode: the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, the demands of the
Law of Moses, and the fate of the woman. When Jesus said, "He that is
without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her," He convicted the
Pharisees of their sin of hypocrisy, because not even they had the audacity
and gall to step forward and say, "Well, I'm perfect. I'll cast the first
stone." They particularly knew that in this matter they were not innocent.
One by one, beginning from the eldest, the people began to walk away. When
Jesus said, "Woman, where are they? Did no man condemn thee?" He satisfied
the requirement of the law because, with no witnesses, the woman could not
be stoned. Then Jesus dealt with the woman and her sin by saying, "Neither
do I condemn thee: go thy way; from henceforth sin no more."
Men and women
who are stubborn of heart and who desire to walk in their wicked ways very
often use this statement of Jesus to reply to any who would attempt to
rebuke them or to condemn their ways. Thus the drunkard, the adulterer, the
liar, the homosexual, the child abuser, and a host of others will defend
themselves by saying, "He that is without sin among you, let him cast the
first stone." Jesus' words in
Mt. 7:1
are similarly
used. "Judge not, that ye be not judged." Let us bring the question into
clear focus. Since all of us are imperfect and do sin, does any one of us
have the right in God's sight to condemn the actions of another or to rebuke
another for wrongdoing?
It was the same
Jesus that said, "And if thy brother sin against thee, go, show him his
fault between thee and him alone: if he hear thee, thou hast gained thy
brother. But if he hear thee not, take with thee one or two more, that at
the mouth of two witnesses or three every word may be established. And if he
refuse to hear them, tell it unto the church: and if he refuse to hear the
church also, let him be unto thee as the Gentile and the publican"
(Mt. 18:15-17).
It was Jesus who so severely condemned the Pharisees
(Mt. 23).
It was Jesus' forerunner, John the Baptist, who condemned the adultery of
Herod Antipas and Herodias
(Mt. 14:1-4).
When Jesus uttered the above condemnations He had the same awareness of
man's weak nature that He did when He said, "Let him that is without sin
cast the first stone." Therefore, when Jesus said this He did not mean that
it is wrong ever to rebuke anyone for sin.
The writings of
the apostles make the issues in this dispute very clear. Someone will
usually say, "I like Jesus, but I think His apostles missed it." It would be
humorous, if it were not so deplorable, that these people do not realize
that the only impression we have of Jesus is that which His apostles have
left us. Matthew and John were apostles. Mark was a personal disciple of
Jesus, though not an apostle. Luke was, seemingly, a later convert. Only
through these men's testimony do we have any record of Jesus' deeds and
words. The apostles who testified about Jesus, such as John, were unaware of
any discrepancy between Jesus' teaching and theirs. When people talk about
liking what Jesus said but not His apostles, they are speaking from
ignorance and prejudice rather than facts. Please consider the facts.
Jesus told His
apostles to go out and teach or preach. He said, 'Teach all nations." He
then said, "Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded
you"
(Mt. 28:20).
He said, "Preach the gospel to every creature"
(Mk. 16:15).
Earlier Jesus told His apostles, "But the Comforter, even the Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and
bring to your remembrance all that I said unto you"
(Jn. 14:26).
The apostles went out and did as Jesus commanded. What they taught was what
Jesus said to teach. If the Spirit did not guide the writers of Acts through
Revelation, then He did not guide Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. One may
reject Jesus and His apostles, but one cannot accept Christ and reject His
apostles. The apostles were inspired by the Spirit and they spake the truth.
No apostle
stressed the need for love, forbearance and forgiveness more than Paul, but
it was also Paul who said to the Corinthian brethren, "Put away the wicked
man from among yourselves"
(1 Cor. 5:13).
Consider the implication of Paul's statement, "Know ye not that a little
leaven leaveneth the whole lump?"
(1 Cor. 5:6).
In the context, the lump would be the church at Corinth. The church at
Corinth was, however, composed of imperfect people. Yet there was one among
the rest who was a danger. His example would be a leaven of bad influence.
Therefore he had to be purged out. There is a difference between sinning
occasionally through human weakness, repenting, calling upon God for
forgiveness and, on the other hand, wallowing in sin. Also it seems that
there are some sins which are more flagrant than others. In addition the
nature of some sins is such that they have a more pernicious influence on
others. Through all facts and all arguments one thing stands out clearly.
Paul told a church of imperfect people to put away a wicked man from among
themselves.
The brethren at
Thessalonica were told to withdraw themselves from every brother that walked
disorderly
(2 Th. 3:6).
To walk disorderly means to walk out of step with others who are marching.
The passage clearly implies that there are those who, though not perfect,
nevertheless do walk in order. Then there are those who walk "disorderly".
Those imperfect people who are walking orderly are commanded to withdraw
from anyone who walks disorderly. Paul told the saints at Ephesus to "have
no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather even reprove
them"
(Eph. 5:11).
He told Timothy, "Preach the word; be urgent in season, out of season;
reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time
will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. . ."
(2 Tim. 4:2, 3).
One wonders if Paul imagined that those who would not endure sound doctrine
would wrest statements of Jesus to attempt to silence the rebukes and
reproof that His word says must be given.
Condemned is
hypocritical judging. It is not required that one have a perfect record
before he has the right to reprove and rebuke. The commands we have studied
were given to flesh and blood people who were imperfect. Yet they were
clearly told to condemn, to reprove and rebuke. If one condemns another when
he himself is not even trying to do right or when he is doing something much
worse than the one whom he is condemning, he is guilty of the judging the
Lord condemned. When we must rebuke or reprove, let us look to ourselves,
lest we also be tempted
(Gal. 6:1).
Let us beware of Satan's influence when we ourselves are rebuked, lest we
give him an opportunity to close our eyes to the truth by causing us to
resent the reproof.
Truth Magazine - June 29, 1978
Other Articles by Bob Waldron
The Jewell of Consistency
Buy the Truth and Sell It Not
J W McGarvey as a Preacher and Teacher
Real Men
The Curse of Negligence
Speech Made at the Funeral of Irven
Lee
For Past Auburn Beacons go to:
www.aubeacon.com/Bulletins.htm
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