Pints With Aquinas - "Has No One Condemned You?" | Bible Study w/ Aquinas

Episode Date: August 27, 2020

This is the third and final part of a three-part series we've been doing on John 8:1-11 (The woman caught in adultery). 🔴 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mattfradd 📖 Here is the text from the ESV: but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning, he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” 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. 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.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. 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. Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” **If you want to join me live on YouTube for our next Bible Study, then become a subscriber >> https://bit.ly/2XKORXA SPONSORS EL Investments: https://www.elinvestments.net/pints  Exodus 90: https://exodus90.com/mattfradd/  Hallow: http://hallow.app/mattfradd  STRIVE: https://www.strive21.com/ GIVING Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mattfradd This show (and all the plans we have in store) wouldn't be possible without you. I can't thank those of you who support me enough. Seriously! Thanks for essentially being a co-producer coproducer of the show. LINKS  Website: https://pintswithaquinas.com/ Merch: https://teespring.com/stores/matt-fradd FREE 21 Day Detox From Porn Course: https://www.strive21.com/ SOCIAL  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mattfradd Twitter: https://twitter.com/mattfradd Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pints_w_aquinas/ MY BOOKS  Does God Exist: https://www.amazon.com/Does-God-Exist-Socratic-Dialogue-ebook/dp/B081ZGYJW3/ref=sr_1_9?dchild=1&keywords=fradd&qid=1586377974&sr=8-9 Marian Consecration With Aquinas: https://www.amazon.com/Marian-Consecration-Aquinas-Growing-Closer-ebook/dp/B083XRQMTF/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=fradd&qid=1586379026&sr=8-4 The Porn Myth: https://www.ignatius.com/The-Porn-Myth-P1985.aspx CONTACT Book me to speak: https://www.mattfradd.com/speakerrequestform

All right, g'day, g'day, g'day. Welcome to another Bible study with Aquinas. My name is Matt Fradd. This is the third and final week that we're spending on John chapter 8, the verse about the woman caught in adultery. If you haven't listened to the first two Bible studies, you might want to go back and do that. Why don't we just sort of recap where we are? As I say, this is probably one of my favorite stories in all of Scripture here. We'll read through this, and then we'll wrap up today of this lovely story. Why don't we begin by making the sign of the cross together? If you want to close different browser windows, turn your phone to silent, it might help you with this Bible study, just so you can concentrate on

the Word of God with me. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning, he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst. They said to him, teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say? They said this to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 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. And once more,

he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones. I cannot wait to see what Aquinas has to say about that. Why the older ones first? Just I think it it was last, yeah, just last week, we actually addressed the issue of what Christ was doing when he wrote on the ground. So I'm not going to repeat that here. Go back and listen to last week's episode, if you're interested to see what Aquinas has to say about that. Yeah, so they went away one by one. Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? Jesus said, No one, Lord. Sorry, she said, No one, Lord.

And Jesus said, Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on sin no more. A beautiful passage. You know, as I say, I haven't actually read this before reading this Bible study or going through this Bible study. I'm doing it with you. So I'm learning as you're learning. But already I know that he's going to say something. Aquinas is going to say something about Jesus stood up. Like I love that he reads the word

of God and not a word gets dropped to the floor. He sees the word of God. You know, if this is the word of God, then everything is going to speak to us. And so even that line there in, you know, John 8 verse 10,esus stood up and said to her i bet you all right i haven't read it but i bet you he's gonna have something really cool to say about that jesus stood up all right here we go all right let's continue jesus let's up there sometimes this camera goes out of focus and I don't know how to fix it. So we'll get there one day. Jesus continued to write.

And again, bending down, he wrote, He did this first to show the firmness of his sentence. Second, he did it to show that they were not worthy to look at him. Because he had disturbed them with his zeal for justice, he did not think it fit to look at them but turned from their sight. Third, he did this out of consideration for their embarrassment. To give them complete freedom to leave. That's nice of Jesus to do that.

People are condemning this woman and he's concerned about embarrassing them. The effect of this justice is their embarrassment. Why? Because we read, hearing this, they left one by one. What on earth happened? Well, again, go back last week to see what he wrote on the ground or what Aquinas suggests could have been that he could have written. Well, they left one by one, both because they had been involved in more serious sins and their conscience gnawed them more, and because they better realized the fairness of the sentence he gave. I will go therefore to the great men and speak to them, for they have known the way of the Lord and the judgment of their God. Jeremiah 5.5

Okay, so it doesn't look like he's going to say a great deal about them leaving. But if it were the case, all right, how about I just tell you what he said, just in case you don't want to go back and listen to that other one. If it were the case that he wrote on the ground there's a couple of suggestions he offers but uh let's see he he could have written the words he said that's that's one one interpretation of jesus and what he wrote on the ground he could have actually wrote on the ground he who is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone. And something about that maybe caused these men to realize that Jesus was perceiving their sins and they didn't want them to be, you know, said aloud and so began to leave. So that's really interesting.

Okay, so they were embarrassed and they left is what Aquinas says. All right. And Jesus alone remained and the woman standing in the midst. Imagine yourself as the woman right now. Again, think of that sin that you go back to, or that sin that you have committed earlier in your life. Maybe when you were young, maybe last year, last week, last night, maybe it was fornication, maybe it was the sin of abortion or procuring abortion for somebody else. Maybe it was pornography, maybe it was adultery or something like that. That sin that you are ashamed of,

just put yourself there. It's been found out, it's been discovered. ashamed of. Just put yourself there. You know, it's been found out. It's been discovered. You know, you've been, and just not only has it been discovered, but then you have been used again by these people just to get at Jesus. And you're not really sure what's going on, except it seems like Jesus is on your side at this point, because those who are going to stone, you have turned and left and you are alone with Jesus. Jesus alone remained and the woman standing in the midst. That is, says Aquinas, mercy and misery. Jesus being mercy, the woman being misery. Jesus alone remained because he alone was without sin. Oh, that's awesome. Yeah, those who had sinned left. And so the only one remaining was Christ with the woman.

Jesus alone remained because he alone was without sin. As the psalm says, So perhaps this woman was afraid and thought she would be punished by him. If only Jesus remained, why does it say that the woman was standing there in the midst? That's interesting, isn't it? So if we take the scripture prima facie to mean that, okay, Jesus was alone with her, right? Because that's what it says. Why would it say she was standing in the midst?

In the midst of what? I've never thought about that. But Aquinas says this, I answer that the woman was standing in the center of the disciples. Wow. And so the word alone excludes outsiders, but not the disciples.

That's really powerful. Have you had that image before? I've never thought about that. The men who are going to stone her leave, and there's Christ, and then there's the disciples around her. I'd still be kind of nervous, right? Like, now what's going to happen? Okay, fair enough. Good, good, good, good, good. Or, he says, we could say, in the midst, that is, in doubt whether she would be forgiven or condemned. And so it is clear that our Lord's answer preserved justice. Then, at Jesus lifting himself up, I told you he was going to do that, said to her, what is it meant by this? He shows that Jesus did not abandon

mercy, but gave a merciful sentence. First, Jesus questioned the woman, then forgives her, and finally cautions her. Isn't that lovely? He questions, forgives, and cautions. Jesus questions her about her accusers. Thus, he says, that's John, that Jesus lifting himself up. What does this mean? That is, turning from the ground on which he was writing and looking at the woman. Said to her, woman, where are they who accused you? He asks about her condemnation, saying, has no man condemned you? And she answers, No one, Lord. Jesus forgives her.

And so it says, Then Jesus said, Neither will I condemn you. Oh. I think, you know, we have to be very careful, I think, you know, to not react against deficiencies in a way that make our reactions over-pronounced. So in a day and age where people say things like hell doesn't exist or hell is empty, we naturally want to push against that, and I think rightly so, to emphasize what the church

has always taught and what Christ has taught, and that is that hell is a real possibility for you and for me. But I think we have to be very careful that as we emphasize what we believe is being de-emphasized or obscured, that we don't take it too far. Because sometimes, right, like we start listening to people who are talking about how real the possibility of hell is for us, and then we can fall back into the trap of thinking that God is like a policeman in the clouds who wants us to mess up, who's waiting for us to mess up so he can slam us. But this is not, if you've read the Gospels, this is not at all the case. Rather, you have Jesus, the merciful Savior, who protects you from the accusations of the enemy. John 12, 10, Satan is called the accuser of our brethren.

So just like these men were accusing the woman, right? We have our enemy far more mighty and powerful and eloquent than these men, namely Lucifer, accusing you and me. He accuses us. And we have to be careful that we don't begin to listen to and agree with the accusations of the evil one. But instead, we look to Christ and we listen to what He has to say of us. Because no matter what you've done in your life, no matter how many times you've fallen into serious sin, no matter how many times you've said,

I'll never do that again and then have done it again, the one who faces us, provided that we repent of our sin, looks at us and he says, neither do I condemn you. Aquinas says, I, who perhaps you feared, would condemn you because you saw that I was without sin. You could substitute world with yourself, right? Let me do it. God did not send his son into the world to condemn matt frad but that matt frad might be saved through him oh glory praise you lord jesus christ i thank you for your mercy i thank you for your kindness which i do not deserve and which you choose to give anyway

why don't you do that if you if you if you feel like the Spirit might be leading you? God did not send His Son into the world to judge, but that might be saved through Him. And we also read in Ezekiel, I do not desire the death of the sinner. All right. Aquinas continues, And he forgave her sin without imposing any penance on

her because since he made her inwardly just by outwardly forgiving her, he was well able to change her so much within by sufficient sorrow for her sins that she would be made free from any penance. This should not be taken as a precedent for anyone to forgive another without confession and the assigning of a penance on the ground of Christ's example, for Christ has power over the sacraments and could confer the effect without the sacrament. No mere man can do this. Finally, Jesus cautions her when he says, go and sin no more. There were two things in that woman, her nature and her sin. Our Lord could have condemned both. For example, he could have condemned her nature if he had ordered them to stone her.

And he could have condemned her sin if he had not forgiven her. He was also able to absolve each. For example, if he had given her license to sin, saying, Go, live as you wish, and put your hope in my freeing you. No matter how much you sin, I will free you even from Gehenna and from the tortures of hell. But our Lord does not love sin and does not favor wrongdoing. And so he condemned her sin, but not her nature, saying, Go and sin no more. We see here how kind our Lord is because of his gentleness

and how just he is because of his truth. We're going to wrap up there. But just that final line, right? She said, no, Lord, and Jesus said, neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more. This is how, if we're thinking of other people, this is how we should treat them, right? And Aquinas kind of sums it up beautifully there. Like, we have a couple of options, right?

When we're dealing with somebody who's sinning, right? And maybe it's a family member. Maybe it's someone we have authority over. Maybe it's a friend. And charity leads us to say something. And we can do a couple of things. Suppose our friend is involved in some serious sin and we say to them, look, I just want you to know that I don't judge you.

And maybe what we mean by that is, I don't judge you. I don't know where you've been. I don't know what's led you to do this. And I don't really judge the sin, each to his own. We don't want to do that. We do not want to do that. On the other end of the spectrum, we could say, you are an awful person. Like you are a garbage heap of a human person.

I can't believe you would be involved in this shameful behavior. We could do that. Christ brings both mercy and truth together, right? And that's what we should do, right? He says, I don't condemn you. And then he says, sin no more. That should be how we respond to people who are involved in, let's say, sexual sins. Because obviously this is regarding a sexual sin.

It's sort of like somebody who's struggling with or has same-sex attraction. And maybe they're engaged in homosexual activity. And you say, listen, homosexual activity is wrong. So you say to them, look, I don't judge you. I love you. You are my brother in Christ. You are my sister in Christ. You are a beloved son, a beloved daughter of the Father.

But you shouldn't be sinning, right? So don't do that anymore. He brings the two together. I think that's how we should treat other people if we're in a place where we have to correct them, that we love them, that we're gentle with them, that we treat them as better than ourselves. I often think this, you know, like sometimes I'll fall into the trap of judging somebody like, oh, why are they so much like this? And maybe I've got some good reason to judge the action, right? Because maybe they're

gossiping. And I'm like, ah. But then I think to myself, like, Lord, help me to see other people as better than me. So I think, yeah, like that's not good, but I'm not going to get on my horse and be like, wow, look how much better I am than this person. Because like, no, I am like a big, big fat sinner and I shouldn't be. And so I try to see, you know, I think it's good. God gives us the grace to see the good in that person and look at ourselves and like bring our sin to the Lord. I think that anyway, now I'm beginning to ramble. God bless you. Thank you so much. I hope that was a help. Let me know in the comment section below what you got out of this Bible study, what you learned from Thomas Aquinas today. I do read the comments and I'd be really interested to see what you have to say. If you haven't subscribed to this channel, it really does support it. So

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