COME TO JESUS' COURTROOM

by Pastor Paul Naumann

"Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. But early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, 'Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?' This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, 'He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.' And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, 'Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?' She said, 'No one, Lord.' And Jesus said to her, 'Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.'" 

— John 8:1-11

In the Name of Jesus Christ, in whom we are justified, Dear Fellow Redeemed,

Do you like courtroom dramas? I do. I never miss a Perry Mason rerun. Even if I'm watching a movie that's deadly boring, I immediately perk up when the action moves to the courtroom. The only problem is, most courtroom dramas are pretty predictable. The judge is always a wise-looking older man. The defense attorney is brilliant, and cares deeply about his client. And the defendant...well, we find out later that the defendant had been completely innocent right from the beginning. Very predictable.

In our text for today we're presented with something of a courtroom drama, too. Only in this one, nothing is predictable. In fact, things are kind of upside-down! In this case the judge is a young Man - Jesus Christ, the Lord of the Universe. In this case the lawyers - the scribes and Pharisees - prove to be just as guilty than the defendant. And in this case the defendant - a woman caught in the act of adultery - is guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt; yet, amazingly, she is declared "not guilty" in the end. No matter who you are, you have a place in this unique drama, too. If you feel you're good enough to look down on sinners who are "worse" than you, then you need to hear Jesus' scathing words to the Pharisees. If you recognize your own guilt and feel the weight of your sins pressing down on your shoulders, then you need to hear the comforting words of pardon Christ spoke to the woman. In either case, today I invite you to...

"COME TO JESUS' COURTROOM"

I. Here everyone is guilty. II. Here anyone can be pardoned.

It was the Feast of Tabernacles, and Jerusalem was bustling with activity. A lot of out-of-towners had come in for the festival, including Jesus and His disciples. The Jewish religious leaders were envious of Jesus' popularity, and skeptical of His claims. The scribes and Pharisees decided that this might be a good time to try and take Him down a peg or two. So they approached Him with what turned out to be a rather cleverly-laid trap. They "brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, 'Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?' This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him."

Get the picture? Jesus said He was from God, and strictly upheld the sanctity of God's Word. If He told them not to kill the woman, they could accuse before the people of denying the Law and voiding the Word of God. On the other hand, Jesus was known to be gentle and merciful, One who welcomed sinners and offered them forgiveness. If He told them to go ahead and kill the woman (especially by the brutal method of stoning her to death), He would show Himself to be unmerciful and cruel, and the people would turn away from Him. They decided to make Jesus a sort of "judge-for-a-day", with a case that would spell disaster for Him no matter what verdict He rendered. Or at least that's how they had it figured. The only problem is, when you come to Jesus' courtroom, things are not quite that predictable...

I saw one courtroom drama once that had a unexpected twist; in the middle of an important trial, the defendant was suddenly released and the prosecutor was accused of committing the crime! This is just what Jesus did to the Pharisees that day. He turned the tables on them. One moment they were vigorously prosecuting the adulterous woman, and the next they found that they were ones being accused! "Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, 'He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.' And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground."

Yes, in Jesus' courtroom, things are rather different! In other courts there is always the possibility that injustice may occur, but not here. Here the real truth always comes out, and real justice is always done. Jesus led the Pharisees to recognize the facts of the case - that no one is innocent of sin before God. In Jesus' courtroom, everyone is guilty. John says, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." — I Jn 1:9. Jesus confronted the Pharisees with their own sin so clearly that they just couldn't kid themselves about it any longer. The older men got the point quickly, but eventually they all figured it out. They realized that they were sinners, too. And they walked away from Jesus.

Before God, everyone is guilty of sin. As Isaiah said, "We are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags." — 64:6. And when you become convinced of your own sin, you can do one of two things. You can do what the Pharisees did: you can turn away from Jesus in anger and denial. Or you do what that woman did: you can turn toward Jesus in repentance and faith.

As a pastor, I see both those reactions all the time. The toughest thing any pastor has to face in his ministry are those times when he must confront one of the sheep of his flock with sin. Frankly, it makes me extremely uncomfortable, and I wish I never had to do it. But it must be done. It must be done, not in the self-righteous way the Pharisees did it, but rather with God's Word, in a loving and concerned manner. Jesus exhortation not to cast the first stone doesn't release us from our Christian responsibility to condemn sin when we see it. Just the opposite, in fact: Scripture says that if you see a fellow believer sinning and don't say anything about it, you're showing hatred, not love for that person. God says, "You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him." — Lv 19:17.

And how do people react? Some folks I talk to react like the Pharisees, and turn away from the Word of Christ. They immediately deny their sin and go on the defensive. They get angry, try to change the subject, and even start "throwing stones" at me or at other church members. But thankfully, most Christians react differently. They react like the woman in our text did, by turning toward Christ for forgiveness. When we talk to them as one sinner to another, warning them in a loving way about their behavior, they freely acknowledge their guilt and seek the Lord's forgiveness. And that's a beautiful thing. Because they always discover the same thing about Jesus' courtroom that the woman in our text did - the wonderful truth that here, anyone can be pardoned!

After the Pharisees filed out one by one, "Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, 'Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?' She said, 'No one, Lord.' And Jesus said to her, 'Neither do I condemn you.'"

Was it a question of guilt? No, the defendant was guilty beyond the shadow of a doubt. The only thing left was to pass sentence. In her case we'd expect to hear a harsh and immediate condemnation. Instead, we hear the merciful words of Jesus, "Neither do I condemn you." You are pardoned. You can go free!

But is this justice? Is it fair for God to let guilty sinners completely off the hook? Yes. Every sin must be punished, but the Lord has taken care of that by laying the punishment for our sins upon His Son. When Jesus suffered on the cross of Calvary, He bore the complete punishment for every last one of our sins - yours and mine. He paid for them all! It doesn't matter who you are. It doesn't matter what sins you have in your background, or how black your record is, you can hide yourself in the wounds of Jesus Christ. The precious blood that flowed from those wounds is the currency with which He paid for your pardon. I'm urging you, my fellow Christians, come to Jesus' courtroom today. Here, anyone can be pardoned! Bring your sins to Jesus - confess them, forsake them. And drink in the comforting words your Savior, "Neither do I condemn you!"

We have a law in United States jurisprudence, that a person cannot be tried for the same crime twice. Once you've been acquitted you remain acquitted, and no other court has the right to bring you to trial on the same charges. Similarly, in Jesus, the great problem of your sin has been solved for good. Once you are pronounced "not guilty" in Jesus' courtroom, no one else has the right to condemn you - not God or the devil, not your fellow man or your own conscience. "Where are those accusers of yours?" Who can possibly condemn you, now that Christ Himself - the judge of all the universe - has granted you a pardon? No one can. The very idea, when you think about it, is ridiculous. Paul concludes, "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus." — Rom 8:1. That's why we say that, in Jesus' courtroom, anyone can be pardoned. That's why we sing, in one of our favorite communion hymns,

Who can condemn me now, for surely The Lord is nigh Who justifies. No hell I fear; and thus, securely, With Jesus I to heaven rise!

It happens once in a while that a death row prisoner receives a pardon from the governor just hours before he is to be executed. You've probably heard of such cases. Well, you can guess how they usually react. After coming that close to death and suddenly being set free, he is understandably ecstatic. He is often so grateful to the man who pardoned him that he promises to do anything in his power to serve him show his gratitude. You see the connection, I'm sure. Sin is our death row, and hell is our electric chair. By pardoning us from our sin, Jesus has delivered us from the eternal condemnation of hell, and has opened to us, instead, the gates of heaven! Can we possibly not react to our Savior's love? Can we keep from clicking our heals in joy and singing out in pure relief? Is is possible that we might not want to serve the Lord who saved us? NO! "The love of Christ COMPELS us" to serve Him! Jesus told the woman, "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more." That's one of the ways we can say thank you to Jesus. We can bring forth the fruits of repentance. We can do our best, with God's help, to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light...to "go and sin no more." When we stumble, our Lord will forgive us. And one Day, when we meet Jesus face to face in heaven, the battle against sin will be won for good, and He will hand to each of us the crown of glory purchased with His blood. When that happens, I'm convinced that we're going look back and be very thankful indeed...that we came to Jesus' courtroom! AMEN.