The Woman Caught in Adultery

Well, take your Bible this morning. Turn to the Gospel of John. John chapter 8. We're still in our series, Christ the Son of God, Believe and Live. We are seeing the evangelistic purpose and heart of Christ as we're just going verse by verse. And we finished up John chapter 7 as Jesus was there at the Feast of the Tabernacles. And He was presenting Himself as that living water to those who were thirsty, that they could come and that they could drink and that they could have that living water, those rivers of living water flowing out of their innermost being. Now, remember the picture that we had last week.

Remember that picture that was given of that water. The priests, remember, they poured out water around the altar on that great last day, that great day of celebration there at the Feast. And looking back, we saw that that water was a picture. It was a picture of the Jews and their journey through the desert between Egypt and the Promised Land. And then it was a picture of the Promised One, the Messiah, Christ the Son of God. He is that living water. So we have finished up John chapter 7. And now we are transitioning into John chapter 8. But in this transition, we really won't venture very far in the ministry of Jesus.

Now, what I mean is that Jesus does not leave Jerusalem, and He does not leave His teaching time there at the temple. He just continues teaching the people and, of course, engaging those religious leaders as they sought to trap Him, they sought to destroy Him, they sought to arrest Him, they sought to kill Him. That's this ongoing saga there in the ministry of Jesus. Now, in our verses this morning, some of you might realize we have a little bit of a controversy. We have a little bit of a debate over the authenticity of these verses. Now, if you have a modern translation, most of us have something called the English Standard Version.

Some of you have the New American Standard. Some of you have the King James. The King James doesn't note this like some of the modern translations. But if you have a modern translation, you will notice that there is a notation about these verses. Some note it at the bottom. Some will note it at the top. I know in many of the English Standard versions, there is a notation at the top. I know in the New International version, there is a notation there as well. Now, what am I getting at? What am I alluding to? There is some debate over the authenticity or the placement of these verses right here between chapter 7 and verse 12.

There is some debate as to whether it needs to be here even at all. Now, let me share with you some of the reasons why some doubt the authenticity of these verses. The first reason is the vocabulary and the style of the writing. If you study John and the Gospel of John very diligently and you study these verses, you will notice that these verses in some places are not consistent with some of the parts of John's Gospel. I'll give you an example. In verse 3 that we're going to look at this morning, there is the mention of the scribes and the Pharisees. There is no other language like this in the Gospel of John.

John never lists the scribes and the Pharisees together except for right here. This is very common in the synoptic Gospels, but nowhere else is this found in John. That is one of the discrepancies that some see in the vocabulary. Second, the early church fathers, many of them did not see these verses as authentic. Many of them pass from verse 52 in chapter 7 on to chapter 8 verse 12. As a matter of fact, the very reputable scholar and church father Augustine was one of these early church leaders who did not see these verses as authentic.

The third reason why many question the authenticity of these verses is that many early manuscripts do not contain these verses. That is why you will see the notation in many of the modern translations. Now, I know all that I've been saying leads us to a question that's in your mind and heart. How are we going to deal with these passages? A lot of conservative commentators are inclined to accept it as part of the apostolic tradition or the tradition of belief that is here, that is in this event. Although some still do doubt that John wrote these verses. One of the commentators that I use is a very reputable commentator. His name is D.A.

Carson. He points out that there are parallel events just like this in the synoptic gospels and there are very similar stories found in other writings from the time. John MacArthur, who I reference very often believes this was not part of the original text, but he points out there are not any contradictions within these passages and that there is not absolute certainty that if this was added at a later time. Now, why do I mention all this? Many conservative commentators point out some of these questions, but they do not move to move these verses from the text. I'm inclined to accept it. I'm inclined to accept these verses.

I'm inclined to accept these verses because there are no contradictions within these verses. It would be different if there were theological problems, contradictions within these verses. And we see that there are very similar events taught in the synoptics. So I'm inclined to fall in line with many of these Bible commentators who raise an eyebrow and have questions, but yet they do not move to remove these verses. So what I'm saying to you is this. In your study, you will run across some of these notations. You will run across some who will question the authenticity of these verses.

But as your pastor, I will say to you, I receive these verses. I hold to these verses. I'm just like these other commentators that I mentioned. There are no contradictions and there's not enough evidence to remove them. And that is some of the difficulties that we have in Bible translation as we study the scriptures. But we will receive these as inspired. We will deal with these verses as part of the holy canon, the written Word of God. So what are we looking at this morning? We're looking at verses 1 through 11 in chapter 8, and we're going to be looking at the woman caught in adultery. This woman who was caught in adultery.

Now you see the main truths that we're going to explore out of these verses. We're going to look at the intermission. There's an intermission in the ministry of Jesus. When you look at chapter 7 and chapter 8, you look at the continuing ministry there in Jerusalem, you'll see this intermission. We're going to look at the interruption by the scribes and the Pharisees. And we're going to look at the interaction there at the end. The interaction of Jesus with this woman. And we'll see several main characters. We'll see Jesus. We'll see the scribes and the Pharisees, the religious leaders. And we will see this woman.

The disciples are not necessarily mentioned, but we would assume that they are there. But we're going to see this familiar story, the woman caught in adultery. Let's look at chapter 8 and we'll read together these verses. But Jesus, he went to the Mount of Olives and early in the morning, he came again to the temple and all the people were coming to him and he sat down and he began to teach them. And the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery and having set her in the midst, they said to him, "Teacher or a rabbi, this woman has been caught in adultery in the very act.

Now in the law of Moses, it commanded us to stone such a woman. What then do you say?" And they were saying this, testing him in order that they might have grounds for accusing him. But Jesus stooped down and with his finger wrote on the ground. But when they persisted in asking him, he straightened up and he said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." And again, he stooped down and he wrote on the ground. And when they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones and he was left alone in the woman where she was in the midst.

And straightening up, Jesus said to her, "Woman, where are they? Did they not condemn you?" And she said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you, go your way. From now on, sin no more." Now you see the main truths that we're going to explore. So let's dive into the first main truth and that is this intermission. This intermission out of verses 1 through 2. Now look at the intermission. "But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives." Jesus went to the Mount of Olives and then early in the morning, he came again to the temple and all of the people were coming to him and they sat down and he began to teach them.

Now what I mean by intermission, there is a break here. There is a break between this ministry event there at the feast and his return to the temple. But even in his return to the temple, there's a break between his interaction with these religious leaders. And we're going to examine this break. First of all, notice he went away. What does the verse say? "He went to the Mount of Olives." He went away. He went to the Mount of Olives. Now we really do not know what Jesus was doing during this break, this overnight break in the ministry. Some commentators and Bible writers speculate that he spent the night alone possibly in prayer.

Even one Bible writer that I read, commentator said that he possibly spent the night in one of those booths that would have been out in the wilderness. We don't know that. Some have suggested that he even stayed with his friends, Mary and Martha and Lazarus. They lived near the Mount of Olives. Because if you know the geography, the Mount of Olives was a mountain, a small mountain, about a mile directly east of Jerusalem, which is where he was. Now there's really no way of knowing what Jesus was doing.

If we were to examine this type of language in light of what we've learned in other gospels and the gospel of Luke, it could be very easily assumed that Jesus was spending time alone, time in prayer. But we really don't know. We can speculate, but we can't say that definitively. But he did go away. And then second, Jesus returned. Look at verse two, "And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all of the people were coming to him. And he sat down and he began to teach them." Now notice the text reads early. Early in the morning he returned to the temple. His reason is soon discovered in that the people, they flocked to him.

We can say it like this, simply, "He went to the people and the people came to him." This phrase coming to him in the original, the construction, pictures a very enthusiastic approach. What do we see? "The people had an enthusiasm as they approached him to sit at his feet." Notice the manner in which he taught the people. The text reads that he sat down. He sat down to teach. Now this is the way the rabbis, the teachers of the day would have taught. So he assumed the place of a teacher among the people just by his posture. So here we see Jesus assuming this place of authority and teaching the people.

We need to see the need for teaching the truth here. "Jesus knew that the people needed what? They needed the Word of God." So with that explored, go back to the verse, "Jesus went to the Mount of Olives and then early the next morning he came again to the temple and all of the people were coming to him and he sat down and he began to teach them." So there is this intermission between chapter 7 and the very public ministry that he normally has or seems to have with the crowds and with the religious leaders. Now what do we need to see here? We need to see the need for the teaching of the preaching of the Word of God.

Jesus was faithful to teach the multitudes and teach the crowds the truth. We need to see the crowd's reaction because they came in a very enthusiastic manner to hear the Word of God. For us, for me, for you, there's a little bit of information here that could encourage us. There's a little nugget of truth here that might correct us a little because we need to make sure that we come faithfully Sunday morning, Sunday night. We need to be faithful to come Wednesday night, every opportunity that we have, and come in a very enthusiastic manner, eager to learn the Word of God, eager to grow, and eager to be taught, even corrected.

Now I want to say to you, I understand that sometimes you are providentially hindered. I understand that some of us have struggles in our lives at times that can hinder us, but there is some who can just ease their way over to a little laziness. There are some sometimes that can become apathetic. They can allow the worries of the world, the cares of their life to just encroach in on this desire that we need to have to come, this desire that we need to have to be faithful. I want to say to you that Brother Keith and I work hard. We try to continue to work hard. We try to work hard at working hard at bringing you the truth.

We meet together and we pray often. We evaluate the ministries here. We want to see the ministries grow. Now why am I talking like that? I want you to see that we desire to be faithful to preach and to teach and to give you the truth and we need to make sure that we are faithful. We need to make sure that we come with our hearts open, our minds open, just like these people to receive the Word of God. Occasionally, I will talk to friends. Occasionally, I will listen to people bemoan to me as they are in situations where the Word of God is not preached. The truth is not preached.

I know people who come and they come with their plate empty and they leave with their plate empty. These people, they came and their plate was full. Why? Because Jesus gave them the Word. There are two areas I want to encourage you to be faithful in. First of all, I want to encourage you to be faithful in your home. It's not enough just to come to preaching, if I can use that language. It's not enough just to come and have your plate full. We need to be faithful to study the Word in home. There are always things that will crowd in on that time. It takes discipline. It takes work.

We must die to the flesh to be faithful to study the Word, to pray, to be in the Word together as our families. We need to be faithful in our home. Second, we must be faithful to assemble together. There's no substitute. You can't replace one with the other. So I want to encourage you, just in this intermission, learning from the crowds to be faithful. Let's move on. Let's look at truth number two. I want us to notice the interruption. Notice this interruption. See, Jesus is there at the temple with the crowds. He's teaching. Then verse three, on down to verse nine, is this interruption.

The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman called in adultery and having set her in their midst, they said, "Teacher, this woman has been called in adultery." In the very act, very descriptive there. "Now the law of Moses commanded us to stone such women. What do you say?" And they were saying this, testing him in order that they might have grounds for accusing him. Jesus stooped down with his finger and he rode on the ground. When they persisted in asking him, he straightened up and he said to them, "He who is among you let him be the first to throw a stone at her." And again he stooped down and he rode on the ground.

When they heard it, they began to go out one by one beginning with the older ones and he was left alone and the woman where she was in the midst. Now the text says that the scribes and the Pharisees, they just barged in. They pushed in. They pushed in their way to Jesus there at the temple. Remember who these people are. The scribes, they were the experts in the law. They were the ones who were the lawyers of the day, expert in Judaism, the law of God. While the Pharisees, they were the most influential of the religious groups of the day.

They were known for their obedience to the law of Moses and they were known of their obedience to the written traditions and the oral traditions. They the Pharisees had a great ministry among the common people. This will come into play into this situation. But here in this setting, they bulldozed their way into Jesus' time teaching the people and they bulldozed their way with this woman really in tow, throwing her in the midst of this situation. Now a question. What kind of woman was this? It's pretty obvious here when we look at the verse.

The scribes and the Pharisees brought this woman, called in adultery and they brought him into his midst. And what did they say at the end of verse 4? She is called in adultery in the very act of adultery. So verse 3 and verse 4 tell us that this was an adulterous woman. Now all of the translations say the word "caught." They say the same thing. The King James says the word "taken." Now in the original language, this means "caught" or "overcome." So she was caught. She was taken. She was overcome somehow, someway while in the very act of adultery. Very descriptive. Very condemning. This is an interruption. They dragged the woman.

They bulldozed their way. They throw her before Jesus and then they interrupt. Now with this interruption, there are four things I want us to see. First I want us to see their accusation. Their accusation. Verse 4 and 5. In the future, this woman has been caught in adultery. Verse 5. "Now the law of Moses commanded us to stone such women." Question. What do you say? Now given that verse 4 says that she was caught in the very act of adultery, one would assume that this accusation was against the woman. That would be the obvious assumption. But here, we'll see this as a two-sided accusation. I want you to get that.

There is a two-sided accusation here. The first accusation is against the woman. She was caught. She was brought and she was accused before Jesus. Now legally, under the law of Moses, she was to be stoned. Leviticus 20 verse 10 says that those who commit adultery are to be put to death. They were to be stoned. Exodus 2014 and Deuteronomy 5.18 forbid adultery. So she was caught in the very act of adultery, breaking the law of God and under the law of Moses, she was to be stoned. These leaders were right in accusing this woman according to the law. So there's the first accusation. But the second accusation was really against Jesus.

Simply they were trying to trap Jesus. Go back to the text and they were saying this, testing him. That's verse 6. So there's a trap here. There's an accusation here. This was part of their ongoing argument that he was a false teacher. Notice there's a question at the end of verse 5. Did we not see that? What do they say? What do you say? They said she is to be stoned. What do you say? And I want you to see that in the original, this question is in the emphatic. That means that they were asking a very forceful question really in a very accusatory manner. They're saying the law says this, accusing the woman.

Now they're saying, now what do you say? They were trying to force Jesus to put his money where his mouth was. You see? There's this accusation, twofold accusation. Second, they were testing. They were testing. We've covered this, but I want us to see this a little more in depth. The first part of verse 6 and the first part of verse 7 say that Jesus was tested. The King James reads, "Tempting." Now this testing was done at two times, back to back. Go back to the verses. The beginning of verse 6, what do we see? And they were saying this, testing him.

And then verse 7, after he had written in the dirt or on the ground with his finger, verse 7, but when they persisted in asking him, see this testing, this temptation was two times. First in the text, there was a test, twofold. They were testing, they were tempting him so that they could find a reason to accuse him and ultimately so that they could destroy him and to kill him. That was their habit. Haven't we seen this pattern all along? All along they were trying to destroy Christ. So this is a test right here. Third, notice Jesus responded. Jesus responded.

Now just like he was tested two different ways, two different times, he responded two different times. Look at the end of verse 6 and the end of verse 7. What did we say? And they were saying this, testing him in order that they might find the grounds to accuse him, but Jesus stooped down and with his finger he rode in the ground. See there's the response. They persisted there in verse 7, and he straightened up and he said to them, "He who is without sin among you let him be the first to stone her or throw a stone at her." Jesus responded really almost in a strange way. Just like they're testing, Jesus responded twofold.

After the first test, he stooped down and he rode in the ground. Now there's a great discussion here as to what he was rotting. Probably many of you have heard a debate, heard a discussion, heard speculation as to what he wrote, but no one really knows. The Scriptures do not tell us. One of the most common ideas is that Jesus was riding the sins of the accusers on the ground. Perhaps this is true. Perhaps this is true in light of the response that he gave because we will see that his second response was to respond verbally and what does he say?

"You who are without sin, you can throw the first stone." But we see that he responded by riding in the ground. We don't know what he wrote, but obviously it was effective. Now the second response, the second response was truly brilliant in that he stood up and he spoke. What did he say? "He who is without sin among you let him be the first to throw a stone at her." I like how John MacArthur helps us see what Jesus did. He says that Jesus did three things in this response. First, he upheld the law. Second, he did not deny the woman's guilt. And third, he broadened the law's power by exposing the sin of the accusers. You need to see that.

I'm going to repeat that. MacArthur helps us see that Jesus did three things. First, he upheld the law. He didn't contradict the law. Second, he did not deny the woman's guilt because if he would have denied the woman's guilt, he would have been guilty of sin. And third, he broadened the law's power by exposing the sin of the accuser. MacArthur goes on to say that Jesus masterful answer neither minimized the woman's guilt nor denied the law sanctity. You see? That response is very important. That response is very important. Then fourth, notice their departure. Look at verse nine.

And when they heard it, they begin to go out one by one beginning with the older ones and he was left alone in the woman where she was in the midst. Here we see the accusers begin to leave the scene after Jesus' response. Notice that it was the older ones first who departed. Perhaps they, being wiser, understood their powerlessness and the powerlessness of their position. Either way, they were disarmed in their accusation of the woman. They were disarmed in their seeming test of Jesus. Notice that Jesus was left alone with a woman for the accusers departed.

And we must see that this entire situation is a hypocritical circumstance set up by these leaders. Where was the man? I ask you. Where was the man who was involved in this hypocrisy? I mean, in this adultery, they did not bring him hypocrisy, you see. What was their motives? Their motives were to get at Christ, not to deal with the woman properly. Were they seeking mercy and grace for this woman or was she just a reason to get at Jesus? Were they simply using this woman to advance their power and their position and their authority? Yes. This is the great hypocrisy in this circumstance. They interrupted Jesus.

They bulldozed into this situation. And then they began to accuse Jesus, accuse the woman. They began to try to tempt Jesus and trip up Jesus. And Jesus' masterful response disarmed the entire situation. Now for us, there are two important lessons that I want you to see. First of all, the right use of the law. The law is to lead people to Christ. It's not an end in and of itself. You see, their accusation was an abuse of the law. Their use of the law was an end in and of itself. If they were to use the law property, they would have brought the woman to Christ not to stone her, but to forgive her and extend mercy and grace.

They were trying to lead her to Christ, but to accuse her before Christ. And there is a dramatic difference. Galatians chapter 2 verse 24 says that the law is a schoolmaster to lead us to Christ. The law is what shows us our great need for Christ. So they abused the law and we must see the right use of the law. The law of God shows our utter sinfulness and our depravity before God and it shows us our great need of a savior. I've said it like this. That is the bad news of the gospel because the good news of the gospel must always come behind the bad news of the gospel. We must see the right use of the law.

Second, we need to see the motives of these false teachers. If they were true teachers of God, they would have accepted Christ, surrendered to Christ, would they not? They were false teachers and they are examples of what false teachers, many false teachers do today. And I want you to listen up. Many false teachers will use people to further their own personal cause. Isn't that what they were trying to do? Those scribes and Pharisees wanted to hold on to their power and wanted to hold on to their position. They wanted to hold on to their authority over the people and they did not want anybody rocking the boat.

And Jesus was a threat to everything that they were. And if they could discredit Jesus, it would solidify their position. And so they used this woman to further their cause. Teachers and ministers today will either further a cause or they will further Christ and there's a big difference. And many false teachers will use people to further their cause and they'll use people to prop up their power and their position. I don't know if you've known anyone like that, but when you do, you will know it. We learned about an individual like this in the book of 3rd John when we studied diatrophies, remember?

He was one who wanted to propagate his own cause. He wanted to lord over the people and he would use people to further what? His cause. So there's two important lessons here. We must understand the right use of the law and we must see the motives of these religious leaders. They were destroying a woman who needed grace and mercy and forgiveness for what? Selfish motives. The third truth, notice their interaction. Notice their interaction. The last two verses, verse 10-11, "And straightening up, Jesus said to her, 'Woman, where are they?' Did no one condemn you?' Jesus said to her, 'No one, Lord.' Jesus said, 'Neither do I. I condemn you.

Go on your way. From now on sin no more.'" All throughout this saga, all throughout this event, no one has addressed the woman nor has the woman responded to anyone. You see? She's just been there all alone in the midst of this contentious situation. Here in these verses, we will have a short but powerful conversation. Two things. First, Jesus deals with their accusations. Isn't that what we see in verse 10 and the beginning of verse 11? "Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?" She said, "No one, Lord." And he says, "Neither do I." Jesus deals with their accusations. Notice he addresses her as woman.

Now all of the translations use this word woman. I want us to see that this is not a rude way of speaking. This is not a rude address. In that day, in that culture, this was a respectful way to address a woman in that day. We saw this back in chapter 4, verse 21, when Jesus addressed the woman at the well, the Samaritan woman. What did he call her? Woman. He used this. This language is used all through the Gospels. But I want you to see in dealing with this woman's accusers and those accusations, the way he addressed her. He was not rude. It was a normal address. Notice her response. She acknowledges that her accusers are gone.

But she does not make any excuse for her sin. See? She acknowledges that those people are gone. Now does this mean that she sees her guilt? Absolutely. She understands the accusations. And she understands the accusers. And Jesus deals with their accusations properly. Then second, Jesus deals with her. Look at verse 11. She said, "No, Lord, they've gone." Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you. Go on your way, and from now on sin no more." Here in verse 11, we see two things. Jesus does two things. First, he does not condemn her. All of the translations read the same, that he does not condemn her.

He is saying that he does not condemn her as these religious leaders had condemned her. He is not making an excuse for her sin. He's not overlooking her sin. He is just not passing judgment on her as they sought to pass judgment on her. And then second, as he deals with her, he commands her to go and sin no more. Literally, the language reads from this point on, "Sin no more." Jesus has used language like this before. At the pool of Mosaeda in chapter 5, verse 14, he tells the crippled man the very same thing. From this time on, go and sin no more. So notice how he deals with her.

He does not condemn her as they condemned her, but yet he does not absolve her of her guilt. But he commands her to go and sin no more. Here Jesus is offering her the opportunity of what? Forgiveness. Like the man at the pool and others, he is revealing himself, but here we see that she had to confront her sin just as the Samaritan woman had to confront her sin. Now for you, for us, what do we need to learn in application? We must see that for any person to properly interact with Christ, they must first confront their sin and their sinful condition. Jesus was not taking her off the hook in this interaction.

He was just not coming to her in the same spirit of the scribes and Pharisees. And when we deal with people, we must deal with people in their sin and in their sinful condition. You must always deal with who you are when you come to Christ. And any interaction with Christ must first start with self. A lot of these modern teaching, a lot of this modern day presentation of the gospel, that's left out. You can't make people feel uncomfortable about their sin. You might alienate them. And in that, people are taught to add Jesus to their life. Jesus never does this. He deals with this woman in her sin. That's the interaction.

And we must see that for any person to come to Christ, they must deal with themselves. Did you know that's why it's so hard sometimes for some people to come to Christ? Because they go through a process of revelation of God revealing who they really are. Did you know that? I've watched that through the years as people sometimes will come in contact with Christ and Christ will begin to reveal layer by layer who they really are, revealing their religion and revealing their hypocritical works and what God is doing by the power and the work of the Spirit is revealing them for who they are.

A lot of times it's even tougher for those who are religious. Isn't that what Jesus did with Nicodemus? He dodged all of his interaction and what did he do? He just said, "You must be born again." He was revealing Nicodemus for who he was. That's what we see in this interaction. Now in conclusion, we must see the importance of dealing with people properly. What did the religious leaders do? They wanted to use this woman. They didn't care if they destroyed her. They didn't care if they embarrassed her and ruined her life. They didn't care if at the end of the event she was worse than she was before. They didn't care if they destroyed her.

They wanted to use her. But yet Jesus, we see how he dealt with her. He wanted to forgive this woman and he wanted her to have a new life, a life of forgiveness. Now as I close, I want us to see several things but I want to move it on down to one word. Yes, we see how Jesus went to the people. Yes, we see how those religious leaders wanted to use a woman, being hypocrites. Yes, we see that Jesus wanted to give her grace and love and forgiveness. But for you, for me, I want to move it on down to one word. And that word is motive. Why do we want to see people come to Christ? Why do we want to interact with people?

Why do we want to take the gospel to Christ? If we're not careful, we can have some of the very same motives that these religious leaders had. We might not want to destroy them, but we might want to bring people to Christ to make ourselves look better. Maybe to make ourselves feel better. Maybe to seemingly better our position before God. All those motives are selfishness. Our motives to bring people to Christ must be glory of God, centered. It must be for what God can do through them and in them for His glory and His honor. We must be nothing more than a facilitator to bring people to Christ.

Look, when we go out and when we desire to bring people to Christ, let me tell you, we will end up having to bring people just as dirty and sinful as this woman. We will have to go out and we will have to touch people that are just as dirty and sinful as this woman was. Because is it the gospel for sinners? Is it Christ for the unrighteous? Is it the love of God for those whose lives are destroyed by sin? Yes. So as we close, I want to ask you, what are your motives? Our motives must be purely and totally for Him.

Most of us, I believe, when we read about these religious leaders, in our hearts and in our minds, we think, "No, we are not like them." But if we're not careful, we can be more like them than we know. Motives, the woman called in adultery. Lord Jesus, thank you for these verses. Thank you for this story.