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2 circles: Emphasize they are not equal. Ask: Which do you think is bigger? Explain, they are the same size but not equal in color.

When it comes to sin, all sins are equal in size for how they cause us to be guilty of condemnation before a holy God. Yet not all sin is equal in color. Sin comes in different shades, and some that are darker, or more evil than others.

Today’s message will continue our series of Confronting Cultural Creeds. In some sense, these last two messages are summary of the previous messages. Yet, the aim of these messages is more pointed inside the church than outside it. In specific, instead of focusing on the cultural creeds, we will focus on the confronting aspect of this series. Christians, and the church need not only to understand the what of their beliefs, but why and how to put them into practice.

EXAMINE   Balancing Grace & Truth (John 4:1-20; 8:1-11)

Our passages today are highly pertinent to today’s cultural creeds. Reasons why people do not believe the Christian creed are variety – but most topics are smokescreens for the reality of simply rejecting authority. One of the strongest rejections of authority relates to a desire for sexual freedom.[1]

When a person discovers Christian belief on sexuality, they respond in a form of 1 of 3 ways:

1. They live as secretive hypocrites – – – but God knows.
2. They persevere with holy conflict (sanctification – Amen.)
3. But most simply change their beliefs to forsake Christianity.

The agnostic philosopher Aldous Huxley described his beliefs about God saying, “I had motives for not wanting the world to have a meaning… For myself, as no doubt for most of my friends, the philosophy of meaninglessness was essentially an instrument of liberation from a certain system of morality. We objected to the morality because it interfered with our sexual freedom. The supporters of this system claimed that it embodied the meaning – the Christian meaning, they insisted – of the world. There was one admirably simple method of confuting these people and justifying ourselves in our erotic revolt: we would deny that the world had any meaning whatever.”[2]

Sexual desire is so strong that some consider it their sole identity. They do not know who they are apart from giving of their body to someone or something else. They define their sense of value and purpose by whether someone else can use and accept them, or not. Ultimately, they confuse temporary pleasure for eternal fulfillment; mistake the gift for the Giver; and fall deceived to idolatry apart from true worship of whom they were created.

Don’t misunderstand, God is the Creator of sex. He designed it for intimacy and joy. He isn’t surprised by how much we enjoy it. But God does have boundaries for how to use this wonderful gift. Yet, if we go outside of God’s principles for sex, then there are few actions that have the capacity to dull our spiritual appetites, damage our circumstances with consequences, and destroy our faith.

So, let’s turn to John 4 & 8 t examine how Jesus related to two individuals for whom sexual desire strayed from God’s design.

John 4:4-6 ⁴ And Jesus had to pass through Samaria. ⁵ So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.
⁶ Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.

While geography dictated that Jesus had to pass through Samaria, we know that Jews avoided Samaritans.

• In OT, 931BC Israel was split into 2 kingdoms – North Israel and South Judah. North fully drifted from God.
• 722BC, God punished Israel with invasion by Assyria and taken captive back to their homeland. Over time, some intermarried and Jews looked down upon Samaritans as racial half-breeds, political rebels, and religiously unclean.
• About 400BC, Samaritans built a rival temple on Mt Gerizim. It was destroyed around 100BC but remnant worship sites existed.

To avoid Samaria meant another 6-days in your journey, but many Jews did avoid it: a) To avoid physical hatred and danger. B) To avoid spiritual defilement. Yet, John’s Gospel implies a divine compulsion for Jesus to enter Samaria. Jesus was never afraid to interact with those who appeared disturbing physically or spiritually.

John also notes a landmark in the town with Jacob’s well. Not only was this a familiar site geographically, but it would also provides the spiritual setting for Jesus’ interaction with this woman.

John 4:7-20 ⁷ A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” ⁸ (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.)
⁹  The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)
¹⁰ Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” ¹¹ The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? ¹² Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” ¹³ Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴ but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” ¹⁵ The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.” ¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” ¹⁷ The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; ¹⁸ for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” ¹⁹ The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. ²⁰ Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.”

John notes that Jesus was wearied from travel, and it was the 6^th hour (noon); so not a wise time to be out and under the heat of day. But this unnamed woman from Samaria (let’s call her Sammy) must draw water during this time to avoid interacting with the public.

What we hear from Sammy is what we see all around us. Just like she wakes up thirsty each day and must continually travel to the well for water, so she has gone to the well of romance and sex to satisfy her thirsty soul. She marries one man but that satisfaction shrinks. So, she walks away from that relationship to another believing this time she knew better what she was seeking in a mate. However, the emotional high and romantic intoxication dissolves, and she’s on to the next; – and then another, and another, – and another. What she did every day with the water bucket for her physical thirst she was doing for her soul thirst. And she was left feeling used up, dried out, and empty internally.

I wonder how many people have a past story like Sammy… or who presently attend our church… or people you know and perhaps have compassion and empathy for their soul. For Christians, the key is to reflect on how Jesus relates to this woman.

To confront cultural creeds we must be willing to cross uncomfortable bridges.

Jesus is unfazed by the woman’s introversion. He turns figurative walls into bridges to connect with this woman.  

• Jesus crossed social bridges: Culture frowned upon a man to speak to a woman in public who was not their wife; even more a woman of loose living. (Some Jews known as “bleeding Pharisees” bc they walked w/ heads down bc of lust but they’d smash their head). Yet, Jesus initiated communication with her. More, Jesus asked the woman a question to inspire meaningful interaction.
  > When is the last time you initiated communication with a stranger or unsaved person? Would you pray for and look for these opportunities as Christ followers seeking to save souls?
  
  
• Jesus crossed racial bridges: Jews hated Samaritans. Yet, Jesus was unafraid to speak and share fellowship with this woman.
  > When was the last time you had meaningful fellowship with someone of a different ethnicity? Would you pray for and look for these opportunities as Christ followers to reflect God’s heart for all people?
  
  
• Jesus crossed moral bridge: The woman had an immoral lifestyle whom no other woman trusted (hence she was alone gathering water). She had 5+ husbands and implied to Jesus she was available being no longer married (4:17).  
  
  *Note: when Jesus focuses discussion and probes her soul regarding moral behaviors, she transitions conversation. She tells Jesus, “You’re a prophet.” Um… yea, that’s an understatement! And then she wanted to have theological discussion.
  – Do you notice that people do that when you start talking about Jesus and their lifestyle? They change the subject and become creatively hypothetical. Or, all of a sudden they pretend interest in academic and theological debate.
  – – What about evolution… and dinosaurs?
  – – Why did God make the tree of knowledge of good and evil?
  – – How could the whole world have flooded?
  – – How do we know Jesus really existed… and did miracles… and resurrected from the dead???
  – – Aren’t there errors in the Bible?
  – – What’s up with Revelation and end times?

And while these are good questions worthy of discussion and answers, often they are smokescreens for avoiding discussing God’s Lordship over one’s behavior.

1Cor 6:18-20 “Flee sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside their body, but the sexually immoral person sins against their own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”

Jesus did not treat people as inferior but as incomplete. He validated wise wants but spoke against underwhelming objects of worship. We see the opposite of Christianity is not atheism but idolatry. And God is seeking for worshipers in spirit and truth not routine and duplicity.

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• Jesus crossed religious bridges: Jesus also respected her beliefs to discuss differences of faith, and answer her religious questions in a composed manner. He did not treat her as inferior but more as incomplete. Jesus validated her wise wants to worship, but He helped her to see the object of her worship was underwhelming. God is seeking for worshipers in spirit and truth not routine and duplicity.
  
  The Samaritans mixed Yahweh worship with other pagan gods. The prophet Amos preached to Samaria saying “… they profane my holy name in the marriage bed, they lay themselves down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge and in the house of their god they drink the wine of those who have been fined… I despise your feasts and solemn assemblies… take away from me the noise of your songs and I will not listen to the melody of your instruments.” (A 2:7-8; 6:21-23)
• In OT they were disallowed to rebuild Jerusalem temple (Ezra 4:1-4), so they worshiped at a different temple (4:20-24).
• But again, Jesus sorted through her religious questions to help her understand that every issue of the mind and heart is ultimately an issue of worship.
• Everyone worships. The opposite of Christianity is not atheism but idolatry. The question is not: “Do we worship? BUT WHO/what do we worship?”
  àWho do you worship – giving: attention and time, affection and commitment, actions and provision toward? Idols always require sacrifice but the true God offered Himself as the sacrifice. God is jealous and Jesus wants our worship because He loves us and wants the greatest good for us – not the world’s counterfeit of God’s satisfying joy.
  
  We see this in Sammy’s testimony from John 4:39-42 ³⁹ Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” ⁴⁰ So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days.

⁴¹ And many more believed because of his word. ⁴² They said to the woman,
“It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”

Jesus knew Sammy’s sin and instead of being repulsed, He related to her with forgiving grace and firm truth.

In all, Jesus crossed religious bridges and we must too.
> When is the last time you had a meaningful and composed discussion with someone from a different faith? Would you pray for and look for these opportunities to discuss the uniqueness of Jesus Christ the mighty Lord and merciful Savior.

APPLY/THINK

There’s more to be discovered, digested, and applied in John 4. But I want to turn our attention to another passage a few pages away to John 8:1-11.

To start, you will see this passage contains a footnote saying the earliest manuscripts do not include John 7:53-8:11.

• If you are a Christian who values Scripture, then you might find this footnote confusing or have some questions.
• If you are not a Christian, you might find this footnote as a conspiracy proof that Scripture is not reliable.
• Here is what you/we should know[3]:
  1) The Gospels were written by eyewitnesses, not anonymous authors. They heard, saw, and touched Jesus, and the narratives could have been easily dispelled then if there were errors. As shared before, the Gospels are proof of Scripture’s reliability because they show the frequent faults and failures of Jesus’ followers rather than upholding themselves as heroes. What authors would attempt a conspiracy by telling the lengths and depths of their fallenness, unless they were simply retelling the truth?
  2) Secular writings have embarrassingly less manuscript evidence than Scriptural books. Ancient manuscripts of Plato (7), Caesar (16), Roman historian Tacitus (20), Greek writer Homer’s Illiad (634), and even the Quran (60 fragments of 2,000 folios/pages). Yet, there are over 5K complete early copies of the whole Bible, and a total of 23,986 ancient manuscripts, thanks largely to the Dead See Scroll discovery; with some fragments dating circa 125AD. And out of all these manuscripts there is 99.99% textual accuracy, with textual variants amounting to mere spelling errors or accidental scribal omissions/additions of words and letters. In each textual variant, no doctrine is at risk of proclaiming errant theology. The historical facts of having so many manuscripts over a large geographical area (Greece/Rome/France/Spain/ Egypt/Africa/Turkey/Armenia/Asia/India)[4] during a time that lacked the speed of travel or technology, affirms the authenticity – and thus our trust – of the biblical books. Those who suggest a secret scribal/monk society across vast regions over hundreds of years to change all 24K copies in exactly the same manner is a greater leap of blind faith than the facts of history.

One of those textual variants is John 7:53-8:11. We can be thankful that our modern Bibles do not hide but highlight the variant. At worse, this narrative was an oral tradition that was not included in the original manuscript John wrote but other scribes thought it deserved to be remembered and placed it in – whether in John’s or Luke’s Gospel. Regardless, nothing that Christians believe about Jesus and salvation stands or sinks on this passage. Yet, I believe one possible reason it was left out is indicative of our culture today.

Christians have a love/hate perspective of sexuality. Our culture, even within the church, is inundated with the topic of sex. It drives public economics as well as personal choices within general social interaction and specific relationships. Unfortunately, Christians have shied away from, or worse silenced discussion of sexuality. Thus, the world’s perspective and voices on the topic have grown perverted and prominent.

It’s possible John 7:53-8:11 was left out of manuscripts so that women (and men) would not feel the freedom to indulge sexual pleasure. Yet, Jesus’ interactions with this woman are far from encouraging indulging sin but rather how to confront it with grace and truth. This is why Christians and the church need to recover clarity and communication on such relevant topics in culture. Scripture is not silent regarding sex, and thus we must understand this and every topic with a biblical framework.

While I do not personally believe this passage was in the original manuscripts, it is still worthwhile to consider in parallel fashion to John 4. So, let’s read the passage and see how Jesus relates to this woman, and make final applications for our culture today.

John 8:1-11 ¹ Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. ² Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. ³ The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst ⁴ they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. ⁵ Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” ⁶ This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. ⁷ And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” ⁸ And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. ⁹ But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. ¹⁰ Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” ¹¹ She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

In John 4 the woman has an immoral reputation, while in John 8 the woman is caught in the very act. Interestingly, the religious leaders only bring the adulterous woman to Jesus to judge. But, my understanding of adultery is that one cannot be guilty alone. The guilty male was either fleet of foot, or worse the entire scenario was setup with the woman being manipulated to sin to score points against Jesus before public onlookers.

Jesus responds with self-composure to write in the sand. Some scholars believe Jesus started writing the 10 Commandments. Others suggest Jesus wrote the sins of all the onlookers. We will never know unless God decides to reveal that in heaven. But what follows is that Jesus hears enough from the religious leader’s accusations, and He says, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And then Jesus returned to writing in the sand, thus we could imagine how either of those speculations could have been legitimate.

Interestingly, one by one, from the oldest to the youngest of men, they stop their questions, drop their rocks, and walk away. Perhaps the oldest walked away because they knew how much more they were guilty than those who lived less time. Regardless, the next statement of Jesus stands out powerfully:

“Woman, there is no one to condemn you; and neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

What we see is Jesus, the one person who remained and who could have been the first to throw a stone, chose to mediate between the judges and offer mercy.

Jesus is not softening or skipping adultery as a sin.[5] In other teachings, Jesus heightened the sin of adultery with lustful looks at another you were not married (Mt 5:27-28). So, Jesus was not creating loopholes in God’s law but tightening the tourniquet so that His followers would rather amputate limbs if they caused you to sin than a person’s whole body being thrown into hell (Mt 5:29-30).

Nevertheless, with this woman, Jesus has two noteworthy statements, and their order seems significant:

• No condemnation.
• Sin no more.

We usually reverse those: “If you stop sinning, then I won’t condemn you.”

But Jesus was teaching us that we cannot correct our behaviors or change our heart without first experiencing the unconditional grace of Jesus Christ. Religion orders we must obey to be accepted, but the gospel announces that we are accepted, therefore we can obey. Tim Keller said, “The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.”

We/people need God to give us a new heart. Therefore, as Christians, when we are confronting cultural creeds, we do not approach people with our own wisdom or power. To confront cultural creeds we must approach people with humility and prayer to call upon God to do what we cannot in changing hearts, transforming minds, and saving souls.

Respond to grace

• Repent, and sin no more.
• Pray for deliverance of strongholds on people whose identity is defined by idols rather than the fresh water, thirst-quenching, soul-satisfying grace of Jesus.
• Pray for wisdom and cross some bridges as we go to be salt and light in our mission fields.

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[1] Some inspiration from J.D. Greear sermon on “The Sexually Captive” John 4; 8:1-11.

[2] Aldous Huxley, Ends And Means.

[3] For brief information on this topic, see my sermon https://growinggodlygenerations.com/2021/05/15/why-believe-in-christianity-can-we-trust-the-bible-john-2030-31/ along with other resources listed in its footnotes.

[4] See Richard Bauckham, Jesus: A Very Short Introduction.

[5] This paragraph is inspired by Rebecca McLaughlin, Jesus Through The Eyes Of Women, pp.142-143.