Sunday Gathering - John 7 : 53 - 8 : 11 - Andy Holingum - Sermon Only

Andy Holingum continues the series in the Gospel of John, reading John 7:53-8:11 (the woman caught in adultery). He opens by recalling two questions Micah raised two weeks earlier — “Who do you say Jesus is?” and “Who does your life say Jesus is?” — and moves into the passage as a fresh answer to that challenge. The teachers of the law and Pharisees drag a woman caught in adultery before Jesus, using her as a trap. Andy notes that Deuteronomy 22:22 demands the death of both parties, yet only the woman is brought: the man is missing, exposing the crowd’s true motive. They are not upholding the law but manipulating a vulnerable woman to entangle Jesus. Jesus bends down and writes on the ground, then offers a third way — “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone” — and the crowd disperses, older ones first, leaving Jesus alone with the woman. He neither condemns nor excuses her: “Neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin.”

The heart of the message is what this episode says about how we handle sin — ours and others’. Andy traces finger-pointing back to Genesis 3, where Adam blames the woman and Eve blames the serpent. It is the same instinct that drives workplace blame, politics, and social media. Jesus’ response in Matthew 7 — the speck and the plank — turns the gaze back on ourselves. The calling-out of sin in this passage produces two responses: the woman stays, is forgiven, and receives freedom; the crowd admits sin in general, refuses to name it, and walks away still condemned. Only Jesus frees from the grip of sin, not just its penalty. Andy ties this to 1 John 1:9 — confession brings forgiveness and purifying — and to Philippians 2, where the attitude of Christ means laying down our ego rather than protecting it. Isaiah 58:9-10 adds that God answers when we do away with the pointing finger and malicious talk and instead spend ourselves on behalf of the hungry and oppressed. The Sully film anecdote drives it home: Jesus looks at us and says, “Can we get serious now?”

Bible passages

• John 7:53-8:11 — the woman caught in adultery, the sermon text
• Deuteronomy 22:22
• Genesis 3:6-13
• Matthew 7:3-5
• Philippians 2:5-8
• Romans 1:16
• Isaiah 58:9-10
• 1 John 1:9

Key points

• Finger-pointing is everywhere — homes, workplaces, politics — and we all do it to protect ourselves.
• The Pharisees are not upholding the law of Moses; Deuteronomy 22:22 requires the man as well as the woman, and he is absent.
• Jesus offers a third way that exposes the trap: only the sinless may throw the first stone.
• The crowd’s slow departure — older ones first — is an admission of guilt; they remain under condemnation.
• The woman stays and receives both grace (“Neither do I condemn you”) and truth (“go and leave your life of sin”).
• Confession before Jesus, with nothing hidden, is where condemnation and shame are lifted.
• 1 John 1:9 is John recalling this very episode: confession brings forgiveness and purifying.
• Philippians 2 calls believers to the attitude of Christ — laying down ego, not preserving it.
• Isaiah 58:9-10 links God’s answering prayer to putting away the pointing finger and serving the oppressed.
• Andy challenges believers to “get serious” about sin, moving beyond celebration to daily self-denial and cross-bearing.

Calls to action

• To believers: stop pointing fingers; get serious with Jesus about the plank in your own life rather than the speck in others’.
• To believers: do away with pointing fingers and malicious talk; roll up your sleeves and serve the hungry and oppressed around you.
• To believers: deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and let Jesus change your life — not just celebrate what he has done.
• To believers: come before Jesus with everything laid bare, confess, and receive his forgiveness and freedom from sin’s grip.
• To anyone who has never professed faith: stay before Jesus as the woman did; do not walk away like the crowd, but find freedom from sin and condemnation in him alone — “let’s make good choices.”

Watch the video: https://youtu.be/KpFza3UEMww