Jesus: A Picture of Perfection (John 8:1-11)

My name is Miles, one of the elders here at Garden City, and for the past twenty years, I’ve been a teacher at various schools in various countries in various capacities. 

●      And I’ve seen two mistakes when it comes to classroom management. They live on opposite ends of the spectrum — and both miss the mark in different ways.

○     On one side, it’s the all justice, no mercy classroom. 

■      Teachers in these classrooms are like police—everything is about rules, consequences, and control. The kids behave, but there’s no joy. It feels less like school and more like prison with a whiteboard. 

○      On the other hand, it’s the all-mercy, no justice classroom. 

■      These teachers believe in second chances. And third chances. And fourth. They’re deeply kind, and they believe that if students just feel loved, they’ll naturally do the right thing. And for some students, it works. But other students, like me in middle school, gladly take advantage of the endless grace, and what starts as kindness descends into chaos, and before you know it, you’ve got kids eating glue in the corner.  

○      We see this same conflict play out in society, too.

■      On the justice side, we’ve got the cancel culture crowd — modern-day Pharisees with Wi-Fi. Watching and waiting for someone to post the wrong opinion, and then it’s trial by Twitter. The goal is never restoration; it’s destruction. 

■      Then, on the mercy side, there’s the everyone has their own truth segment of society. Their motto? “If it makes you happy, then it must be OK.” They mean well, but taken to the extreme, this all-mercy approach leads to moral mush. In the end, everyone feels good about their choices…even if their choices are objectively bad. 

●      Both sides of the justice or mercy debate offer interesting talking points. Those who seek justice above all else, rightly argue that without justice, we are left with evil unchecked, while those on the mercy side rightly argue that without mercy, we are no better than a bunch of rule-following robots acting out of fear. 

●      So who’s correct? 

●      Another way to ask this might be: what would Jesus do? Where on this spectrum would He stand? And where should we stand for that matter? These are essential questions with enormous implications. Is Jesus team justice, or is he team mercy? 

●      Turns out, He’s both. Rather than compromising and meeting in the middle with 50% justice and 50% mercy, Jesus goes to the extreme ends of the spectrum, like this, and gives us complete justice and complete mercy, and in doing so, He gives us all a new way forward, a new path for us to consider.

Today, we’re reading a story where Jesus’ radical approach is on full display—John 8:1–11. Your Bible may note that these verses weren’t in the earliest manuscripts of John’s gospel. Still, despite questions about the authorship, most scholars agree the passage is worth our attention.

●      John Calvin puts it this way: since the passage “contains nothing unworthy of an Apostolic Spirit, there is no reason why we should refuse to apply it to our advantage.” In other words, these verses don’t add anything new to our theology. Rather, they serve to highlight the radical nature and profound beauty of Jesus’ gospel. So, let’s have a look.

1 but 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.”

●      Before we start, I’ve got some bad news and good news. 

○      First the bad news: I won’t be explaining what Jesus wrote in the sand. I’m afraid you’ll have to wait until you meet him face-to-face to ask him what he wrote. 

○      The good news? If you’re not sure you’ll get the chance to meet him, I’ll show you how in a little bit.

○      But first, today’s outline.

●      I have three talking points today, each one centered on a different character and directed to a different audience.

○      Point 1 focuses on the Adulterer. This point is directed to new believers or non-believers; think of it like Christianity 101. We’ll call it A Picture of Us All. 

○      Point 2 focuses on the Pharisees, and it’s for those who would proudly call themselves Christians. Let’s call this point “A Picture of What We Must Avoid” 

○      Point 3 is all about Jesus. We’ll call this point “A Picture of Perfection,” and it’s a message that the whole world needs to hear. 

Point 1: The Adulterer: A Picture of Us All

●      Here’s a summary of what happens to the women in our passage:

○      Caught in sin. 

○      Covered by grace. 

○      Called to holiness. 

○      I would like to suggest that this story is not only about a woman caught in adultery, but also a story about every Christian. Let me explain.

●      Caught in sin – In v. 4, the Pharisees say to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery.”

○      The Pharisees then correctly identify the punishment for her sin. Leviticus 20:10 says that anyone “caught in the act of adultery” should be put to death by stoning. Therefore, we know two things about the woman: she sinned; she deserves death. 

○      In other words, this woman is no different than any of us.

■      According to Romans 3:23, “all have sinned.” And Romans 6:23 says that the penalty for sin is…death.

■      So, according to the Bible, we are all like the woman caught in adultery.

○      If you’re not a Christian, you might be thinking, wait! All sin deserves death? That seems unfair. 

○      It does seem unfair—if you don’t understand the nature of God. So let me explain: God is perfect, and we are not. That makes us incompatible with Him; our natures don’t mix. It’s like oil and water—no matter how much you wish or hope they could combine, they stay separate by nature. And it doesn’t change if you add just a little oil. Oil is oil and sin is sin. Since sin separates us from God—and God is life—the outcome is clear: sin leads to death. Because of our sin, we are all condemned to die.

○      And yet, Jesus makes sure that the woman doesn’t die. 

●      Covered by grace – In the first part of verse 11, Jesus responds to the woman’s sin with an act of amazing grace. He says, “Neither do I condemn you.” In other words, “I will not give you the punishment you deserve.”

○      And this is where we get to the heart of Christianity. Christianity says that we are guilty, but not condemned. We deserve death, but get eternal life. 

○      Now if you don’t think you deserve death, then Jesus doesn’t have much to offer you other than some radical teachings about morality. But once you comprehend the cost of sin—-that’s when Jesus becomes your savior and His grace becomes amazing.

○     Tim Keller says it better: “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.” This is what it means to be a Christian.

○      But the passage doesn’t end there. Jesus doesn’t just forgive her past sin, he also shapes her future self. 

●      Called to holiness – In the second half of v. 11, the last words of our passage, Jesus says to the woman, “go, and from now on sin no more.”

○      This is what makes Christianity so radically different from every other religion. Notice the order of Jesus’ statements. He does not begin with a demand for moral improvement. He does not say, “Sin no more, and then I won’t condemn you.” Instead, He starts with, “Neither do I condemn you” and only then adds, “Go and sin no more.”

○      In the Christian faith, it’s not behavior that leads to acceptance, but acceptance by Jesus that leads to new behavior.

●      Story: Here’s what it looks like in a more modern context: in the 1990s, Rosaria Butterfield was a professor at Syracuse University. She was also an atheist and LGBTQ activist.

○      While researching the “religious right” for an academic paper, she had dinner with a local pastor to discuss his views. 

■      Although she knew that he disagreed with her views and her lifestyle, she was struck by his humility and hospitality. As their friendship developed, she began reading the Bible—not because she agreed with it, but because she saw that it was shaping him into a loving, gracious man.

○      Eventually, Rosaria walked away from her former identity and relationships, not because someone demanded she clean herself up first, but because the grace she received from the pastor opened her heart and called her to holiness.

○      Like the woman caught in adultery, Rosaria first met a Savior who didn’t condemn—and that grace made holiness both desirable and possible. Butterfield said, “I didn’t leave everything because I had to. I left everything because Jesus is better.”

●      Application: I’d like to end each point with two applications, two ways we can apply these verses to our lives.So what do these verses mean for us? What can we take from the adulterous woman and apply it to our lives? Well, if you are not a follower of Jesus, the application is pretty clear. Whether you want to admit it or not, death is coming. The only way to escape it is to do what this woman does. 

●      1. Acknowledge your sin and own up to the consequences. 

●      2. And then, turn towards Jesus. He’s the only one who can save you from this situation. Ask him to take your penalty and let the reality of His saving grace transform you forever. This is what it means to be born again: Jesus takes your penalty of death and gives you new life. If you want this; if you want a complete pardon from your sins, if you want life forever, the choice is yours. You can have all of this today. But you have to make a choice. If you don’t know how to do that or what that means, you can come and talk to me or any of the pastors or maybe the person who brought you to church. Just ask. 

○      By the way, this is also how you can eventually meet Jesus face-to-face and ask him about the whole writing in the sand thing. Just saying. 

Point 2: The Pharisees: A Picture of What We Must Avoid

●     This part of my lesson is meant for the church, and if you’re sitting there thinking, it’s not for me. I’m not like the Pharisees, then, it’s especially for you. 

○      The issue with the Pharisees isn’t their actions or knowledge. As usual, they know Scripture well. They are correct in verse 5, here, when they say that the Law of Moses commands that a woman be stoned, so they are acting in accordance with the law. But as Jesus so often does, He looks past the actions and into the heart.

○      And what He sees in the Pharisee’s heart is pride and self-righteousness. 

○      Instead of drawing people to the glory of Yahweh, their knowledge of the law is weaponized. They’re trying to “test Jesus,” it says in verse 6, shame the woman, and bolster their own reputations. They’re using correct theology not to honor God, but to win an argument. 

■      Unfortunately, this happens in churches, too. We are gifted Christ’s righteousness, then turn around and use our new life and our correct theology to win online debates and gossip about groups of people who disagree with us.  

●     Let’s see what Jesus thinks about this type of behavior, starting again in verse 7. Jesus says, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” [And] 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.”

○      Let these verses be a warning to our church. Jesus would rather stand alone in the dirt with a broken, repentant sinner than stand in the presence of proud, self-righteous saints.

○      This doesn’t mean the church should never correct behaviors. 1 Corinthians 5 makes it clear that God’s people are supposed to hold God’s people accountable. But again, the problem is not in the behavior of the Pharisees; the problem is always about the heart. 

●      Application: How do we avoid becoming like the Pharisees? How do we correct with a “right heart”? Here are two things to consider: 

●      1. Add Mercy to Your Spiritual Disciplines

○      When we talk about spiritual disciplines, we usually mention Bible reading and prayer—and rightly so. They help us draw closer to Christ and are easy to measure and stay accountable for. Mercy, on the other hand, is not so easy. It shows up in interruptions, inconveniences, and people we try to avoid. It’s time-consuming and messy.

○      So how can we begin to make space for mercy in our daily spiritual rhythm? Here’s one idea: Get out of your Christian bubble.

○      Throughout the Gospels, Jesus consistently stepped outside his inner circle to be with outcasts, sinners, and the forgotten. If we want to be Christ-like, we should do the same.

○      Rosaria Butterfield puts it this way: “Jesus dined with sinners, but he didn’t sin with sinners. He lived in the world but didn’t live like the world. His love for outcasts and misfits was not a license for sin but an invitation to transformation.”

○      Of course, this takes wisdom. If you’re a new believer or recovering from addiction, you may need firmer boundaries. But for the rest of us, stepping into the brokenness of the world can humble our pride and grow our mercy.

○      So make space: schedule a lunch with a coworker, join a gym, talk to someone outside your church circle. It will be hard, frustrating, and messy. But it will also be worth it.

●      2. Second, learn to see sin for what it really is: not just a list of wrong actions, but a destructive disease that corrupts everything it touches—relationships, desires, hope. To follow Christ is to hate sin, not simply because it’s wrong, but because it devastates the very people God loves.

●      When we view sin through this lens, it should break our hearts. Rather than rejoice when another pastor falls from grace, we should pray. Instead of getting angry when our kids are disrespectful, we should grieve the sin, love the sinner, and gently lead them back to truth.

○      This isn’t to say we don’t punish our kids. But with a right understanding of sin, punishment becomes a way to help them grasp the seriousness of their actions—not just to correct behavior, but to lead them toward forgiveness and reconciliation. Your kids should know—without a shred of doubt—that they are both terrible sinners and deeply loved.

●      In conclusion, don’t be like the Pharisees. Be like Christ. Step toward sinners, not away. See sin as destructive, not infuriating. Mercy should shape our rhythms, soften our hearts, and move us to love people like Jesus loved the adulterous woman: with truth in one hand and compassion in the other. And this leads us to our final point. 

Point 3: Jesus: A Picture of Perfection Let’s look at three ways that Jesus is perfect.

●      First, Jesus shows Perfect Justice Because He Does Not Ignore Sin

○      As we’ve already seen in Romans 6:23, the penalty for sin is death. And Exodus 34:7 makes it painfully clear that no one is exempt from this rule: “God will by no means clear the guilty.” In other words, sin carries a real and unavoidable cost. 

○      Jesus shows perfect justice by fully upholding these truths. He doesn’t downplay the woman’s sin. He doesn’t make excuses: “Adultery isn’t that bad,” or, “Maybe Moses overreacted. Those were different times.” He doesn’t rewrite the law or explain it away. No—He acknowledges the seriousness of what she’s done. The woman was guilty, and, like all of us, the wages of her sin was death. 

●      Second, Jesus shows Perfect Mercy By Not Condemning the Woman to Death

○      When the woman is brought to Jesus, the law demanded death. But Jesus—who fully sees her sin—offers a new life instead. She did not get any part of her penalty. No death. No jail time. No court-ordered therapy. No public shaming. Nothing! She was completely forgiven and fully restored to life. This is perfect mercy.  

●      This is also the Great Dilemma: By the definition of perfect mercy, there is no more punishment. So how can God still display perfect justice? The answer is found on the cross. 

●      Third, Jesus shows Perfect Love when He goes to the cross in her place. 

○      If you keep reading the book of John, you will eventually see Jesus hanging on a cross, starting in chapter 19. This is precisely when he solves the great dilemma. At the cross, Jesus takes the punishment for all sin (her sin and your sin) so that we, like the woman, would not be condemned to death, but given eternal life instead.

■      At the cross – Sin is punished by death = perfect justice

■      At the cross – Jesus takes our punishment = perfect mercy

○      This, ladies and gentlemen, is what perfect love looks like. 

○      “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” — Romans 5:8

●      The story of the adulterous woman points us to the cross where justice and mercy are perfectly reconciled in the greatest act of love the world has ever known. 

Application: So what does this mean for us? What can we take from this picture of perfection and apply it to our imperfect lives? Here are two ideas. 

1. Hold Fast to the Cross

●      The Cross isn’t just a cool story—it’s the only way forward. Only through Jesus can we reconcile justice and mercy without contradiction. Without the gospel, we’re stuck choosing between two broken paths:

○      All Justice leads to shame and judgment—with no way out. It leads to more fear and less love. 

○      All Mercy leads to excusing sin—even when we know better. It opens the door for sin and perverts the truth.

●      But now there’s a third way: The Bible says that sin must be taken seriously—so seriously that Jesus had to die for it. Yet mercy is offered so freely that no one is beyond redemption. That’s the gospel message—and it’s not just for you to grasp at the moment you first believed, but for every moment after.

●      The moment we forget the cross, we drift into pride, despair, legalism, or approval-seeking. That’s why Scripture says: Hold fast.

○      Hebrews 10:23 (ESV): “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.”

●      Our story today is a vivid reminder of the cross. It helps us hold fast. 

○      Forget the woman, and you lose compassion.

○      Forget the Pharisees, and you lose humility.

○      Forget Jesus, and you lose truth and hope.

●      So hold fast to the cross. Preach it to yourself daily. Meditate on it. Marinate in it. Let it shape how you see yourself, others, and the world. 

●      2. Point People to the Cross. 

○      As we saw today, the cross is a picture of perfect justice, mercy, and love. When we strive for these, we point people to the cross and give them a glimpse of Jesus.  

■      Justice means we must call sin what it is. We don’t minimize it, excuse it, or justify it. We speak truthfully about what is right and what is wrong. 

■      Mercy means we do not condemn. We offer grace, we extend forgiveness, and we open the door for restoration. Mercy sees the sinner and says, “You are not too far gone.”

■      Love means we move toward others with the same posture Jesus had toward the woman. We don’t just call out sin; we walk with people in the messy work of restoration.

○      I’d like to end with a personal story that illustrates what it looks like to live a life that points people to the cross. I shared part of this story last year when I preached, but it’s the best example I could think of, so I’ll share part of it again. 

○      Story: When I was a toddler, Jesus rescued my mother from the bondage of drug and alcohol addiction; He rescued her from certain death. And for the rest of my life, I got to watch the saving power of Jesus at work in my mother’s life. Over the years, her life became marked by justice, mercy, and love. 

○      But then, when I was 19, my older brother was brutally murdered, and my family, my mother especially, was left broken by this act of evil. 

○      Again, I watched. What would my mother do? 

○      For me, the answer was easy: I was Team Justice. I dreamed of revenge. I couldn’t attend the trial because I was afraid of what I might do if I saw my brother’s murderers face-to-face. 

○      The trial lasted for months. At the end of the trial, on the day that two of the murderers were sentenced, my mother was invited to read a statement to them before they were shipped off to jail. It’s called the Witness Impact Statement, and it is common practice in the U.S. court system. So my mother stood up, broken and hurting from the pain of losing her oldest baby, and this is what she said:

■      I forgive you both. God has mercifully lifted all anger from me as only He is able to do, and I give your souls over to Him. I hope and pray that you might also come to know His mercy and grace through Jesus Christ. Though you will spend many years behind bars, you may know a freedom greater than many on the “outside”. The Bible says, free is free indeed.” In Him is your only hope.

■      I commend you to take your punishments like men, to stand accountable for this horrific act of murder and I commend your souls into the hands of a God who is righteous and the final judge of us all. May you come to know His mercy and salvation.

○      This is what it looks like to point people to the cross. My mom didn’t minimize sin. She called it what it was: “a horrific act of murder.” But she also didn’t condemn; she forgave and prayed for their souls. This act of obedience was only possible because my mother knew that she, too, deserved the same penalty as these young men, but was freely given a new life at the cross. Who was she to deny the free gift of salvation? 

●      At least two people were impacted by my mom’s words on that day. 

○      Dave Myland, one of the young men charged with my brother’s murder, knew he was wrong. Like the woman in our story, society had caught him in his act of sin and deemed him guilty. 

○      My mother pointed Dave to the only one who could look at a murderer and tell Him that He is still worth dying for: Jesus. And when Dave eventually encountered Christ in his jail cell, he asked Jesus to save him from his ultimate penalty, death, and Jesus (as always) responded. Later, upon hearing this news, my mother visited Dave in jail. 

○      Dave wrote about the visitation:

■      I reached out to shake Robin’s hand and instead she embraced me with a hug. The forgiveness I felt in that moment, the love I felt, can only be explained by God’s grace through Robin. Today, I have never felt so free, and I owe it all to the power of forgiveness. Today I am a servant of God.

○      Last summer, I met Dave face-to-face for the first time. He had just been released from prison after 20 years. When he saw me, he wept, and we hugged. The power of the cross had changed him. But it had also changed me, too. 

○      My mother’s words also pointed me, the Pharisee, back to the cross. It reminded me that justice was not mine to give. And in choosing the way of Jesus, I too found freedom. I released the anger and bitterness that had gripped my heart, and in that space, Jesus took residence.

○      Like my mom and like Dave, I am a sinner who deserves death. And I am constantly reminded that the cross is not just for the lost. It’s for those who forget what the gift of salvation means for them. 

○      That is what happens when we point people to the cross. We don’t just bring the sinners of this world to the cross. We also bring the Pharisees among us to the cross. Jesus, the picture of perfection, is for all of us.