John 8:3-11 And the scribes and Pharisees brought to him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the middle,… I. NOTWITHSTANDING A BOLD AND CONFIDENT APPEARANCE. Innocence has boldness, so has guilt. Hides in imaginary concealment. But let there be a sense of impossibility of prevarication, as under the searching eye of God, and conscience condemns — 1. As to any special sin: Achan, David. 2. Sill generally. What a spectacle would the hearts of an assembly possess under the full persuasion of Divine omniscience l II. OFTEN BY THE SIMPLEST THING. No fierce reprobations necessary. Calm, quiet words, enough, e.g. — 1. "Son, remember." The burial places of memory give up their dead. 2. "Even thou wast one of them." Christ rejected. 3. "What dost thou more than others?" Slothful professor. When the rocks out of the "hell gate" in New York harbour were to be cleared away, the explosion of dynamite required no army to effect it, only the touch of a child on the battery. III. LEADS TO WITHDRAWAL FROM OTHERS. 1. Sometimes for sullenness and anger, as probably here. 2. Sometimes for disastrous results, suicide, e.g., Judas. 3. If wise, for penitence and prayer.Learn — 1. The helplessness of the law admits no excuse or escape. 2. The method of the gospel begins with forgiveness. 3. The blessedness of the mission of Christ. He came not to hear accusations, but to save. (G. McMichael, B. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,WEB: The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman taken in adultery. Having set her in the midst, |
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