Where's The Man?
By David J. Stewart
John 8:3,“ And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?”
The religious scribes and Pharisees dragged a woman before the Lord,
claiming that they caught her in the very act of adultery. They tried to catch
the Lord in His Words by asking Him whether or not she should be stoned. They
reminded Jesus that the Mosaic law says yes, but what was His opinion?
John 8:5-6, “Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? 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.”
The Bible doesn't tell us what Jesus WROTE on the ground; but whatever He wrote, it cut them to the heart and convicted them...
John 8:9, “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.”
I believe I know what Jesus wrote, that is, “WHERE'S THE MAN?” You brought the man, whom you say you CAUGHT IN THE VERY ACT (John 8:4), but where is the man. Was not the man also caught in the VERY ACT? Why did you not bring the man.
If this is what Jesus wrote, they would have been utterly convicted no doubt, for it is evil to condemn one person to death while letting another go free for committing the same offense worthy of death.
Certainly, we do not know what Jesus wrote on the ground. This is simply an opinion, not for certain. Perhaps Jesus drew the symbol of a man on the ground, and then they figured it out. The Bible says that the woman's accusers, from the eldest to the youngest, departed in shame. They dropped their rocks and quietly went away. They were convicted, which I believe is a strong indication that Jesus asked where the man was. They didn't bring the man caught in the very act of adultery, but they brought the woman in one hand with a stone in the other to kill her.
The scribes and Pharisees thought their little scheme was bulletproof. They thought for sure that Jesus had no way out and would be made to look foolish. They thought He had no way out of this one. Well, the Lord thought of something that hadn't even crossed their minds.
Judge not that ye be not judged (Matthew 7:2-5). That is, condemn not that ye be not condemned. People love to condemn others, especially do they love to condemn followers of Christ (John 15:19). The world hates Christ and followers of Christ. The wicked gnash upon the righteous with their teeth.
May we all put our stones down and stop biting and devouring OTHERS who sin. As Dr. Jack Hyles used to say, “The First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana, will become a great church when we stop saying, 'he has sinned' or 'she has sinned,' and we start saying, 'we have sinned'.” Yes, we have sinned, all of us. There's much slander and malicious accusations on the internet today—publishing people's divorce records on the internet for all to see, uploading personal letters never intended for the world to view, deriding and accusing one another like the Devil (Revelation 12:10) and assassinating OTHERS any way possible! It is wickedness!!! May we not be like the Devil, accusing OTHERS...
Revelation 12:10, “And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.”
There is much hypocrisy in society
today. Sadly, churches are war zones these days—not war between the saints and
the Devil—war between the saints! The average believer is not worthy of the
titled of Christian. It was the heathen world that labeled Christ's faithful
followers as “Christians” (Acts 11:26). Backslidden believers technically aren't
Christians. Most people today understand the term Christian to mean anyone who
believes in Christ. Biblically, only those people who've been born-again by the
Spirit of God are truly saved.
Thus, I dare say only 10% of all professed Christians are truly saved. Albeit, even amongst those who are truly saved, the Biblical meaning of the word Christian refers to not only someone who is saved; but rather, a saved person who is living like the Lord and reminds the unsaved world of Jesus Christ. From this perspective, I dare say that 1 out of 25,000 people are truly a Christian these days.
Anyway, I love sharing this precious truth with others. Jesus wrote on the ground and to this day the world wonders what He wrote. God wanted us to be in suspense...lol. No, I believe that it is so obvious what Jesus wrote on the ground that God left it to us to figure it out... WHERE'S THE MAN? I think it's likely that Jesus drew the symbol for a man. Whatever Jesus wrote, it required a moment to grasp the meaning, because they didn't all leave at once. The eldest left first, and then one-by-one the younger Jews departed. I believe they saw the symbol for a man and thought, “What does that mean?” And then it suddenly dawned on them, “Oh, we only brought the woman, not the man. We said we caught her in the act, which means we should have also brought the man. We're hypocrites!” What could they say in defense? They were all holding rocks, ready to kill the adulterous woman.
May we all learn a lesson from this account of the adulterous woman in John 8:1-11, that we have all sinned. Let no man or woman say, “He has sinned” or “She has sinned”; but rather, “We have sinned.” Put your rocks down!
