Senior Seminar Daily Submission 4

Ben Currin
Senior Seminar: Gospel of John
Dr. Dwaine Greene
Oct. 17, 2002

A NARRATIVE OF CONFLICT
(John 7:53-8:11)



“Information and Insights:”

John 7:53-8:11 did not belong originally to the Gospel of John...but found its way into some manuscripts of the Gospel at a later date (O’Day, 627).
D. Moody Smith, Jr. skips this passage all together (Smith, index).

In Nelson’s outline of John, Nelson states that the events of this passage takes place between these two periods of Jesus’ ministry: C. In the Last Day of the Feast of Tabernacles 7:37–53 (and) D. After the Feast of Tabernacles 8:1–10:21#(Nelson, Nelson’s Electronic Bible Reference Library/Logos Library System: Nelson’s complete book of Bible maps and charts: Old and New Testament---Section heading: John: Outline of John).

In the King James Bible Commentary, the author states that this passage is about the division of the people and Jesus is still working in His public ministry. 53. The Sanhedrin adjourns and the people go home.# (Falwell, Nelson’s Electronic Bible Reference Library/Logos Library System: KJV Bible Commentary---Section heading: John 7:53).
Falwell goes on to explaining this passage in further detail as such: H. Christ as the Light of the World. 8:1–9:41. There has been debate over the authenticity of this story of the woman taken in adultery. Many older manuscripts do not include it. However, it is included in the AV and will be dealt with here. 1. Adulterous woman forgiven. 8:1–11. 8:1–6. These verses are closely connected to 7:53. When everyone went home, Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.
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# -Thomas Nelson, Inc., Nelson’s complete book of Bible maps and charts: Old and New Testament [computer file], electronic ed., Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, c1996.
#-Jerry Falwell, executive editor; Edward E. Hinson and Michael Kroll Woodrow, general editors, KJV Bible commentary [computer file], electronic ed., Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, c1994.

Afterward He returned to the Temple to teach. The scribes and Pharisees brought to Christ a woman who had been caught in adultery. The Feast of Tabernacles had just been celebrated and acts of immorality during that festive week were not unusual. The scribes attempted to put Christ in a dilemma. If He answered that the woman should be stoned, He would be violating the Roman law which forbade such acts. If He answered that she should not be stoned, He would be violating Moses’ law (Deut 22:24). They did this to tempt Him (Gr peirazo, “to entice to sin”).There are several theories about what Christ wrote on the ground. First, that He wrote the sins of the scribes and Pharisees. Second, that He wrote the Ten Commandments. Third, that He wrote a message to the Pharisees.# (Falwell, Nelson’s Electronic Bible Reference Library/Logos Library System: KJV Bible Commentary---Section heading: John 8:1-9:41).
These events take place before Jesus was going to the Mount of Olives, which is: Olives, Mount of [Mount of Corruption; Olivet], a ridge east of Jerusalem and separated from Jerusalem by the Kidron Valley (2 Sam. 15:30; Mark 11:1; Acts 1:12). It is called the Mount of Corruption in Second Kin. 23:13.# (Packer, Tenney and White, Nelson’s Electronic Bible Reference Library/Logos Library System: Nelson’s illustrated manners and customs of the Bible---Section heading: Olives, Mount of).
The point of this passage comes to heart when reading George MacDonald’s views on life: I have been speaking as if life and the consciousness of it were one; but the consciousness of life is not life, it is only the outcome of life. The real life is that which is of and by itself—is life because it wills itself—which is, in the active, not the passive sense: this can only be God. But in us there ought to be a life correspondent to the life that is God’s; in us also must be the life that wills itself—a life in so far resembling the self-existent life and partaking of its image, that it has a share in its own being. There is an original act possible to the man, which must initiate the reality of his existence. He must live in and by willing to live.# (Nelson, Nelson’s Electronic Bible Reference Library/Logos Library System: Heritage of great evangelical teaching: Featuring the best of Martin Luther, John Wesley, Dwight L. Moody, C.H. Spurgeon and others---Section heading----George MacDonald: Life: God Is Life). God is the Light and the Light of Life and God is Life itself as stated earlier.
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#- Jerry Falwell, executive editor; Edward E. Hinson and Michael Kroll Woodrow, general editors, KJV Bible commentary [computer file], electronic ed., Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, c1994.
#-James I. Packer, Merrill C. Tenney and William White, Jr., editors, Nelson’s illustrated manners and customs of the Bible [computer file], electronic ed., Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, c1995.
#- Thomas Nelson, Inc., Heritage of great evangelical teaching: Featuring the best of Martin Luther, John Wesley, Dwight L. Moody, C.H. Spurgeon and others [computer file], electronic ed., Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, c1996.

“Explorations and Implications:”
John 7:53-8:11 is a difficult passage to read, because if it wasn’t originally in John then one needs to know what the reason for including it is---to do this one needs to dig deeper into the details available. The main message of this text is to illustrate how Jesus is the Light and the Life which directs us towards God, when we are trapped in the darkness of sin. It also shows that we are all sinners and we cannot judge others for that reason because we are the same as them. Jesus, however, has no sins. This is why he is the Light. Jesus also is an example of not condemning anyone for their actions. He expects us to do the same. Jesus said He didn’t come to condemn the world but save it and in that way He tells the disciples and the readers a little bit more about His character. This text takes place near the whereabouts of Jerusalem close to the Mount of Olives and shows how Jesus was traveling throughout Ancient Israel in those days. This shows a tad instance of the universal appeal of Jesus and His recognition, although this is only an indirect connotative layer in the text and can only be found by sifting through all the layers.
Another element of this text is the issue between God’s Grace and the Law or the Old Testament covenant and the New Testament covenant. This issue is resolved through Jesus. He is above the Law, He is the Law fulfilled. Jesus shows the link between Him and Moses as He explains the true meaning behind the Law. This goes back to not condemning anyone, because we are all sinners, except for Jesus.
In conclusion, this text is difficult to deal with reading, unless you dig through all the layers and elements it is comprised of. Once you look at the key details and discover all the layers and elements of the passage then and only then does the difficulty subside itself. Despite the difficulty, however, this passage is pertinent to our understanding of Jesus’ character and ourselves. It is perhaps one of the most well-defining passages in the Bible.