God's Church Bus [HR][/HR] This message was something that I have had on my heart for many years.I never really sat down & put this into words before,but God said that this was the day to actually write this.If there is anything here that is of worth,give the glory to God,for the thoughts came from Him.Any roughness or inelegance or mistakes in it,well those I will take responsibility for.Since it was a sermon so to speak,it was originally written as an outline,so it may not have the style of something written for a reading audience.I was going to do more of a rewrite,but it was actually put on my heart to change just a few words & correct some misspelling & leave it at that.My hope is not that this will entertain,but that perhaps there will be those that it will speak to.God loves you in a way words cannot even approach,& I hope this will in some minor way help to convey that truth.Get ready for a ride on God's church bus.Jesus paid the fare already,so hop on board
Tonight we are going to talk about The story of the woman caught in adultery that is found in John chapter 8 starting in verse 2.The title of the message is God's church bus.I am not going to explain that now,& I am liable to forget it,so please remind me at the end of this message.We have so often heard this passage of scripture,but it is my hope tonight that we can see it in a little more depth,& perhaps even see a bit of God's perspective in this tonight.
At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
Now at this point Jesus could have ended the foolishness of these religious types by asking the words,"Where is the man?" The law,as stated in Leviticus 20 verse 10 says
10“‘If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.
That would have ended it right there.This was probably a contrived thing,& the man was probably acting at the behest of the scribes & Pharisees.But even if this was not the case,the law had to be carried out as written.Jesus,however,does not think in terms of the legalities.Jesus had much bigger ideas in mind.Let's see what Jesus does next.Jesus goes on in verse 6:
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.
What was Jesus writing?This issue that the Bible is silent about has been a source of debate for centuries.Some have said that Jesus was writing the 10 commandments on the ground for the crowd to see.Others have said that Jesus was writing names & dates & events that revealed the sins of those who were wanting to stone the woman .Still others have said,& I kind of like this one for it's sheer elegance, is that Jesus was writing the law of the lying witness,found in Deuteronomy19:16-19.It reads this way:
16If a malicious witness takes the stand to accuse a man of a crime, 17the two men involved in the dispute must stand in the presence of the LORD before the priests and the judges who are in office at the time. 18The judges must make a thorough investigation, and if the witness proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against his brother, 19then do to him as he intended to do to his brother. You must purge the evil from among you.
I like that,because there was certainly falsehood going on,& anyone testifying against the woman would be liable to stoning because of their false witness.This falseness could be established if there was anything left out of the story.The burden of truth was just like our oath in court today.The truth, The whole truth (nothing omitted),& nothing but the truth (no additions,spinning,or twisting of the facts) Next we see Jesus saying the words we all remember from this passage.We read on in verse 7.
7When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”
How easy it is to throw stones.We probably do it without realizing it.We talk about how the neighbor doesn't keep his or her yard up without possibly realizing that they may need help with it.We talk about how flat the singing was at church,or that the pastor's sermon was uninspired or worse,how dare he speak about things in my life that are none of his business.We see people involved in things that are clearly against scripture,& we think "how dare they affront God & society this way,but we do not think about praying for them,& possibly bringing the gospel to them.I hope this has not offended you.It was not intended to.I was just kind of wondering out loud not if I do this,but how often do I do this without even realizing it.Let's see what Jesus does next.
8Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
Here we see Jesus writing on the ground again.I never really told you my thoughts about what He might have been writing there.I have always imagined Jesus writing down my sins there.Every one of them.Writing them in the sands of time,so that as the wind blew,they would be erased,forgotten forever.Maybe He wrote down all of your sins there also.So now we go back to our story.We all know what happens next,but let's read on.
9At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
11“No one, sir,” she said.
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
How easy was it for Jesus to make this statement? How much did making this statement cost Jesus?Let Us look at the gospel of John chapter 19 verses 16b through 30.
So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. 17Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). 18Here they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.
19Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. 20Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. 21The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.”
22Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”
23When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.
24“Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.”
This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled which said,
“They divided my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing.”a
So this is what the soldiers did.
25Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Dear woman, here is your son,” 27and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
The Death of Jesus
28Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” 29A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. 30When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
Was there something I said at the beginning of the message that maybe I have forgotten? Oh yes.The title.God's church bus.What is that all about?
So many of us in life have walked a very hard road.We have found condemnation among religious people.We have been confronted with God's 10 commandments & found that we come up so short.We have lived a life of sin & been battered & bruised in it.In this Gospel account we find a woman trapped probably by economic conditions into a life of sin.She does what she does because it seems to be the only way to pay the bills.She is set upon by a group of religious types who could literally care less whether she lives or dies,they only want to trap a Godly man who loves sinners.But what was God's perspective in this?What did God have in mind?The Pharisees & scribes thouht they were doing God a favor by getting rid of their own competition.They were in fact being used by God,but not in the way they thought.Jesus had an appoitment with this woman.She needed mercy & grace,& she never would have come to Jesus on her own.She was probably too ashamed,if she thought of it at all.Perhaps she did not even care up to this point.Perhaps all the care she had in life had been wrung out of her by the cruel circumstances of her life.God used these evil men to bring this needy woman to Jesus.They were in effect God's church bus.My question to you tonight is this.Are you on God's church bus? Are things very hard & you don't even know where life is taking you? Do you ask God why things are so difficult?Do you even care?This message may have absolutely nothing to do with you tonight.Perhaps you have known Jesus for many years.Perhaps you are in the perfect center of God's will for your life.What I absolutely do not want to do tonight is to cause guilt in anyone.My question to you tonight is this.Are you broken hearted?Are you far away from God?Do you even believe in the God of the old & the new testament?Has there been a time in your life when you came to Jesus & you gave Him your life,but that fire that was so awesome & so fresh & so alive is now just a dying ember?Maybe you have been involved in ministry,& you have given & given & given but have not taken time to be alone with God & let Him fill you back up,& you are running on spiritual fumes.God uses all kinds of circumstances to draw people to Him.You can call these circumstances "God's church bus" in your life.God loves you too much to let you go out into the desert without hope & without Jesus.If the circumstances in life are so very hard right now,don't give up hope.They may be God's church bus,& the next stop is Jesus. God bless you.
Tonight we are going to talk about The story of the woman caught in adultery that is found in John chapter 8 starting in verse 2.The title of the message is God's church bus.I am not going to explain that now,& I am liable to forget it,so please remind me at the end of this message.We have so often heard this passage of scripture,but it is my hope tonight that we can see it in a little more depth,& perhaps even see a bit of God's perspective in this tonight.
At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
Now at this point Jesus could have ended the foolishness of these religious types by asking the words,"Where is the man?" The law,as stated in Leviticus 20 verse 10 says
10“‘If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.
That would have ended it right there.This was probably a contrived thing,& the man was probably acting at the behest of the scribes & Pharisees.But even if this was not the case,the law had to be carried out as written.Jesus,however,does not think in terms of the legalities.Jesus had much bigger ideas in mind.Let's see what Jesus does next.Jesus goes on in verse 6:
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.
What was Jesus writing?This issue that the Bible is silent about has been a source of debate for centuries.Some have said that Jesus was writing the 10 commandments on the ground for the crowd to see.Others have said that Jesus was writing names & dates & events that revealed the sins of those who were wanting to stone the woman .Still others have said,& I kind of like this one for it's sheer elegance, is that Jesus was writing the law of the lying witness,found in Deuteronomy19:16-19.It reads this way:
16If a malicious witness takes the stand to accuse a man of a crime, 17the two men involved in the dispute must stand in the presence of the LORD before the priests and the judges who are in office at the time. 18The judges must make a thorough investigation, and if the witness proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against his brother, 19then do to him as he intended to do to his brother. You must purge the evil from among you.
I like that,because there was certainly falsehood going on,& anyone testifying against the woman would be liable to stoning because of their false witness.This falseness could be established if there was anything left out of the story.The burden of truth was just like our oath in court today.The truth, The whole truth (nothing omitted),& nothing but the truth (no additions,spinning,or twisting of the facts) Next we see Jesus saying the words we all remember from this passage.We read on in verse 7.
7When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”
How easy it is to throw stones.We probably do it without realizing it.We talk about how the neighbor doesn't keep his or her yard up without possibly realizing that they may need help with it.We talk about how flat the singing was at church,or that the pastor's sermon was uninspired or worse,how dare he speak about things in my life that are none of his business.We see people involved in things that are clearly against scripture,& we think "how dare they affront God & society this way,but we do not think about praying for them,& possibly bringing the gospel to them.I hope this has not offended you.It was not intended to.I was just kind of wondering out loud not if I do this,but how often do I do this without even realizing it.Let's see what Jesus does next.
8Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
Here we see Jesus writing on the ground again.I never really told you my thoughts about what He might have been writing there.I have always imagined Jesus writing down my sins there.Every one of them.Writing them in the sands of time,so that as the wind blew,they would be erased,forgotten forever.Maybe He wrote down all of your sins there also.So now we go back to our story.We all know what happens next,but let's read on.
9At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
11“No one, sir,” she said.
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
How easy was it for Jesus to make this statement? How much did making this statement cost Jesus?Let Us look at the gospel of John chapter 19 verses 16b through 30.
So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. 17Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). 18Here they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.
19Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. 20Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. 21The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.”
22Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”
23When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.
24“Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.”
This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled which said,
“They divided my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing.”a
So this is what the soldiers did.
25Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Dear woman, here is your son,” 27and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
The Death of Jesus
28Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” 29A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. 30When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
Was there something I said at the beginning of the message that maybe I have forgotten? Oh yes.The title.God's church bus.What is that all about?
So many of us in life have walked a very hard road.We have found condemnation among religious people.We have been confronted with God's 10 commandments & found that we come up so short.We have lived a life of sin & been battered & bruised in it.In this Gospel account we find a woman trapped probably by economic conditions into a life of sin.She does what she does because it seems to be the only way to pay the bills.She is set upon by a group of religious types who could literally care less whether she lives or dies,they only want to trap a Godly man who loves sinners.But what was God's perspective in this?What did God have in mind?The Pharisees & scribes thouht they were doing God a favor by getting rid of their own competition.They were in fact being used by God,but not in the way they thought.Jesus had an appoitment with this woman.She needed mercy & grace,& she never would have come to Jesus on her own.She was probably too ashamed,if she thought of it at all.Perhaps she did not even care up to this point.Perhaps all the care she had in life had been wrung out of her by the cruel circumstances of her life.God used these evil men to bring this needy woman to Jesus.They were in effect God's church bus.My question to you tonight is this.Are you on God's church bus? Are things very hard & you don't even know where life is taking you? Do you ask God why things are so difficult?Do you even care?This message may have absolutely nothing to do with you tonight.Perhaps you have known Jesus for many years.Perhaps you are in the perfect center of God's will for your life.What I absolutely do not want to do tonight is to cause guilt in anyone.My question to you tonight is this.Are you broken hearted?Are you far away from God?Do you even believe in the God of the old & the new testament?Has there been a time in your life when you came to Jesus & you gave Him your life,but that fire that was so awesome & so fresh & so alive is now just a dying ember?Maybe you have been involved in ministry,& you have given & given & given but have not taken time to be alone with God & let Him fill you back up,& you are running on spiritual fumes.God uses all kinds of circumstances to draw people to Him.You can call these circumstances "God's church bus" in your life.God loves you too much to let you go out into the desert without hope & without Jesus.If the circumstances in life are so very hard right now,don't give up hope.They may be God's church bus,& the next stop is Jesus. God bless you.
