The Bible, Homosexuality, and a Christian Response – Part 10

Vasily Polenov, Jesus and the Sinner Woman, 1888

The Woman Caught in the Act of Adultery and the Parable of the Unforgiving Debtor

² And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them. ³ And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, ⁴ they say unto him, “Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. ⁵ Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?”

⁶ 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.

⁷ So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.”

⁸ And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. 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.

¹⁰ When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, “Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?”

¹¹ She said, “No man, Lord.”

And Jesus said unto her, “Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.”

– John 8:2-11

In John 8, you can see the hypocrisy. The woman was caught in the act of adultery, but where was the man? Doesn’t it take two to Tango? Maybe the man was there, on the sidelines. Whatever the case, the religious leaders weren’t calling for the stoning of the man whoever and wherever he was.

What was the test for Jesus exactly? What did these hypocritical religious leaders think they were going to be able to accuse Jesus of?

Judaea was under Roman rule and the leaders of Judaea could not exact the death penalty without approval from the Roman authorities and even then it had to be carried out by the Romans. That’s why the Sanhedrin took Jesus before Pilate instead of just crucifying Him on their own.

If Jesus had said, “You’re right! Everybody grab a rock!” He would have been in violation of Roman law and they could have had Him thrown in Jail.

If Jesus had said, “Nah. That’s ok. Let her go,” He would have been in violation of Mosaic Law, the Pharisees could have spread the word and Jesus would have lost His authority as a teacher.

If Jesus had said, “You are correct. She is guilty, but we are under Roman rule, so we must deliver her to the authorities,” He would have been seen as a Roman collaborator and Roman collaborators were despised almost as much as Samaritans.

Instead, Jesus called them out and revealed the hypocrisy of the situation. “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”

Any Jewish person knowledgeable of the scriptures would know they couldn’t say they were without sin. They would have known Psalm 14:3, “There is none that doeth good, no, not one.”

Verse 11 is hugely important in our attitude toward any kind of sin. Jesus had every right to be self-righteous because, as God, He is all righteous. Because the woman had broken God’s Moral Law, Jesus had every right to be upset. He could have created a miracle where she would have been struck dead on the spot!

Instead of getting angry, berating her, or worse, Jesus simply says, “Neither do I condemn you.”

“Neither do I condemn you.”

Let that soak in for a minute.

She was guilty and worthy of capital punishment.

“Neither do I condemn you.”

THIS! This should be our attitude toward homosexuals. Just because their sin is different from ours, just because their sin makes us more uncomfortable than our own sin, just because our sin is more acceptable in society than theirs is, we still sin, we are still guilty of sin, and our sin is just as heinous in the eyes of God as everyone else’s.

Notice that Jesus didn’t say the woman was without sin. In fact, at the end of the story, Jesus acknowledges the fact that she did sin when He said, “Go and sin no more.”

"Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more."

Adultery was punishable by stoning under the Mosaic Law. While adultery in the Moral Law meant any kind of sexual sin, the adultery in John 8 was the kind we are used to thinking about — consensual heterosexual activity between two people who are not married to each other.

My experience has been that most pastors — liberal and conservative — are not in favor of returning to the civil code in the Old Testament where punishment for violating the Moral Law is concerned. The majority of pastors who believe in graceful forgiveness as a response to sin do so on the basis of John 8:2-11.

Unfortunately, there is a fringe group of Christian leaders and their followers who believe that we should set up a Christian theocracy based on the Old Testament. Some of them are modern day Judaizers who think that it is necessary for Christians to keep The Law in order to earn salvation. This issue was covered in about 50 A.D. at what has become known as the Council of Jerusalem. The decisions made by the Council are recorded in Acts 15 and referred to in Galatians 2. The writers of Acts and Galatians said these decisions were guided by God and were recorded through inspiration in the Scriptures. The decisions made at the council dealt with whether it is necessary to keep The Law and to what extent. Ultimately, the record of Scripture is that we are still bound by the Moral Law, but not the Civil, Ceremonial, or Holiness Laws.

Fringe Christians and their leaders will happily, almost gleefully call for the stoning of homosexuals, but people who commit heterosexual acts outside of marriage seem to get a free pass. When was the last time you heard a Christian religious leader call for both the stoning of adulterers. I did a lot of research and couldn’t find a video, an article, an OpEd, a book, or any other kind of media where a pastor called for the stoning of heterosexual adulterers.

What about divorce? Jesus said if a person gets divorced and remarries, they are committing adultery (Matthew 19:9). Yet, where divorce is concerned, the Church has become a microcosm of the rest of society.

I’m not talking about people who were divorced before they became Christians, I’m talking about Christians couples who are getting divorced. Sure, a pastor might say something about the sanctity of marriage, recommend counseling or therapy, and they might even recommend church disciplinary action, but to date, I have never heard of a pastor who calls for the stoning of homosexuals also calling for the stoning of people who violate their vows or divorced people who remarry.

“He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.”

Rembrandt, The Unmerciful Servant, 1660

²¹ Then came Peter to him, and said, “Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?”

²² Jesus saith unto him, “I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.

²³ “Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. ²⁴ And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. ²⁵ But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.

²⁶ “The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, ‘Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.’ ²⁷ Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.

²⁸ “But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me that thou owest.’

²⁹ “And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.’ ³⁰ And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.

³¹ “So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. ³² Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him,’ O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: ³³ shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?’ ³⁴ And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.

³⁵ “So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.”

– Matthew 18:21-35

Probably one of the most well-known verses from the Bible, if not the most well-known, verse is John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” What is missed too often is the very next verse, “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”

Without Christ, we are all condemned. We don’t magically become uncondemned simply because we keep The Law or change our lifestyle. Even if it were possible to earn salvation, none of us ever could because none of us can keep The Law. We fail everyday simply because our thought life betrays us, not to mention when we are weak enough to act on our thoughts. The only way free of condemnation is through Jesus Christ. That’s the whole reason he died on the cross – to free us from the condemnation of sin.

In the parable of The Unforgiving Debtor, we read about a guy who was in deep debt. He owed ten thousand talents which as of today (October 7^th, 2015) would be the equivalent of more than $12.5 billion. That’s a lot of money! There was no way that guy would be able to pay it all. He knew it and the king knew it. When the man begged his king’s forgiveness, the king gave it to him. The king just forgave a $12.5 billion debt!

Then the guy who had just been forgiven $12.5 billion turned around and tried to collect a debt from one of his debtors. This guy must have been a congressman, being $12.5 billion in debt and still loaning people money.

The debtor’s debtor, who only owed the modern equivalent of about $18 thousand, begged to be forgiven. The unforgiving debtor earned his name. You would think the unforgiving debtor would have forgiven everyone since he had just been forgiven. It could have been a clean slate for everybody. Instead, he refused to forgive the man and threw him in jail. When the king found out, he got angry and threw the unforgiving debtor in prison until he could pay off all of his debts. That’s a life sentence.

As Christians, we are privileged with everlasting life. We have been forgiven an unpayable debt. When we are unforgiving toward people because they have sin different from ours, we are just as unjust and guilty as the unforgiving debtor. Instead, we should recognize what we have been forgiven and be a little more forgiving toward others.

⁹ After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. ¹⁰ Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. ¹¹ Give us this day our daily bread. ¹² And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. ¹³ And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

¹⁴ For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: ¹⁵ but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

– Matthew 6:9-15

³¹ Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: ³² and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

– Ephesians 4:31-32

We don’t have to overlook sin. Churches should still practice biblical church discipline. Churches should also remember that the purpose of church discipline is reconciliation. When a person comes humbly, asking for forgiveness, the Church corporately and Christians individually have a biblical obligation to forgive such a person regardless of offense.

I’m not suggesting that we should just let people who have committed egregious sin back into church with good standing. Let them in, yes, but they should be back at square one, on the bottom rung.

When a person is caught in sin, they need to understand that trust has been broken. Forgiveness doesn’t heal the wound. Forgiveness is like stitches – it helps begin the process of healing. Just like a stitched wound takes time to heal, it takes time for broken trust to be rebuilt.

Even after the wounds have been healed, there are still scars. Scars can be a good thing, though. Scars can serve as a reminder not to make the same mistakes.

In all cases, we all need to humbly recognize that none of us is without sin.