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IF JESUS LIVED TODAY
HOW WOULD HE HANDLE HYPOCRISY
(John 8:3-11; Matthew 7:1-5)

During World War II, a very devoted mother received a picture of
her soldier son marching with his company. "Why, look!" she
exclaimed to her friend. "Every one of those men are out of
step except my Johnny."

Well, all of us are pre-occupied with ourselves. We think
everybody is wrong except us. An old verse describes our
attitude. It says:

I hate the guy who tries to beat the traffic light.
But if it happens to be me; well, that's all right!
I grow indignant at risks another takes.
But I drive 80 miles an hour and trust my brakes.
I wonder why those other folks can never see,
That all those laws were made for them and not for me!

Blaming others for all their faults and mistakes while ignoring
our own shortcomings is human nature; but it leads to hypocrisy.
An incident in Jesus' life illustrates this. Once, "Jesus went
to the Mount of Olives. At dawn he appeared again in the temple
courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat
down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees
brought in a woman caught in adultery" (John 8:1-3a).

Instead of listening to Jesus' words and learning how to live a
better life, these busy bodies were out looking for someone to
condemn. The Scriptures say, "They made her stand before the
group and said to Jesus, 'Teacher, this woman was caught in the
act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such
women. Now what do you say?' They were using this question as a
trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him" (John 8:3b-6a).

They didn't bring the man involved. We don't know if he ran
away or if he became part of the hostile crowd; but we do know
they wanted to humiliate the poor woman before everyone. Of
course they justified their cruelty by quoting Scripture. So
many self-righteous do-gooders try to use Scripture to judge
everyone but themselves. Shakespeare said, Even "the can cite
scripture for his purpose."

As usual, their purpose was not to improve morals, but to
ensnare Jesus with a theological question. "But Jesus bent down
and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they
kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them,
'If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw
a stone at her.' Again he stooped down and wrote on the
ground." (John 8:6b-8).

That was the perfect response. Jesus was saying, "Sure! Stone
her. Follow the commandment to the letter; but just be sure you
are qualified to be the judge, jury and executioner."

When Jesus avoided the trap and returned the problem to the
accusers, they suddenly lost their arrogance. Every member of
that crowd knew he had broken the laws and committed sins. Such
self-examination is very unpleasant. These eager critics
obviously did not even want to discuss their own personal
situation. Instead, they ducked the issue. The Scripture says,
"At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the
older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman
still standing there" (John 8:9).

We don't know what she was thinking or expecting, but she didn't
run away. Instead, she stayed near the only person who ever
showed her tolerance and forgiveness.

After the hypocritical judges backed down and left, Jesus and
the woman were alone. He treated her with kindness. The
Scriptures say, "Jesus straightened up and asked her, 'Woman,
where are they? Has no one condemned you?' 'No one, sir,' she
said. 'Then neither do I condemn you,' Jesus declared . . ."
(John 8:10-11).

It's so easy to throw stones. It's so easy to see our friend's
flaws. It's so easy to point out other people's problems. It's
so easy to place blame. It's so easy to censure and reproach
and accuse. It's so easy to see a smudge on our neighbor's face
and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on our own. It's so easy to
say, "Let me wash your face"; while your own face is distorted
with contempt. It's the Pharisee mentality all over again,
It's playing a holier-than-thou role instead of conscientiously
living your own role.

Judgment is a common human failing. Someone said, "Constructive
criticism is when I criticize you! Destructive criticism is
when you criticize me!"

Why do you suppose Jesus treated this woman as he did? What
lessons can we learn from this incident? What point does it
make about hypocrisy?

I. FIRST, IT SHOWED THAT HYPOCRITES ALWAYS HAVE ULTERIOR
MOTIVES.

It pays to take criticism with a grain of salt. These people
didn't care about that woman's soul. They didn't care about the
morals of their community. They didn't care about solving a
social problem. They just wanted to trap Jesus, and they didn't
hesitate to use this poor woman as a pawn in their scheme. Both
Jesus and Paul warned against such judgment. Jesus said, "Do not
judge and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you
will not be condemned . . ." (Luke 6:37).

Paul said, "You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass
judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the
other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass
judgment do the same things" (Rom.2:1).

2. NEXT, THIS INCIDENT SHOWED THAT HYPOCRITES CAN'T BE
IMPARTIAL.

Since all of us are sinners, it's impossible for us to be
objective. We have blind spots. We have personal prejudices.
We have human weaknesses. We have hidden shadows. We tend to
evaluate sins by our own standards. In short, the things I do
are justified and excusable; but the things you do are denounced
and condemned. Jesus said, "You hypocrite, first take the plank
out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the
speck from your brother's eye" (Matt. 7:5).

When we get rid of our own problems we can understand others. A
poet said,

If I could only see the road you came
The jagged rocks and crooked ways,
I would more kindly think of your mis-step,
And only praise.

If I could know the heartaches you have felt,
The longings for the things that never came,
I would not harshly judge your erring then,
Nor even blame.

3. FINALLY, THIS INCIDENT SHOWED THAT THE RIGHTEOUS DO NOT
CHOOSE TO JUDGE.

There's a paradox involved. Those people who are mature enough
to be fair don't want to judge. Truly righteous people don't
have a need to point fingers at others. People who judge are
miserable. People who condemn are fearful. People who look for
flaws in others are bitter.

Insecure individuals criticize others to make themselves look
better. But, it doesn't work. Hostile individuals are only
revealing their own inner spiritual condition. Our judgment
about others tells more about our own weaknesses and flaws than
it does about the other person's weaknesses and flaws.

Jesus said, "You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no
one" (John 8:15).

Now, what if this were today? What sinner would the moral
majority bring to Jesus? Would it be an AIDS victim? Would it
be a pornography star? Would it be a drug addict?

We don't know who they would choose, but again, it wouldn't be
out of honest concern. Even though Jesus' accusers would be
different if he lived in America today instead of in Palestine
2000 years ago, his basic responses would still be the same.

1. FIRST, JESUS WOULD STILL RECOGNIZE THEIR ULTERIOR MOTIVES.

Things aren't always what they seem to be. Those who are
outwardly moral may be inwardly immoral. Jesus said to the
Pharisees, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes
of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among
men is detestable in God's sight" (Luke 16:15).

Few people judge and criticize others out of honest concern!
Most of us point fingers to justify our own flaws. Paul said,
"If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he
deceives himself " (Gal. 6:3).

2. NEXT, JESUS WOULD STILL CONFRONT THE JUDGES.

In fact, the bigots, the hypocrites and the self-righteous
Pharisees were the only individuals Jesus ever really accused.
He stood up to these particular individuals because their habits
are so destructive to families and communities and churches.
Jesus' story about the tares emphasizes this. "The servants
asked him, `Do you want us to go and pull (the weeds) up?'
`No,' he answered, `because while you are pulling the weeds, you
may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until
the harvest . . .' " (Matt. 13:28b-30a).

Furthermore, as long as they are judging others and pulling
weeds, they don't have to deal with their own shortcomings.
Jesus said, "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in
the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the
measure you use, it will be measured to you" (Matt. 7:1-2).

3. FINALLY, JESUS WOULD STILL AVOID JUDGING.

Jesus knows attacks never accomplish good. People can't be
threatened into the Kingdom, or frightened into the Kingdom, or
shamed into the Kingdom. When some men asked him to decide who
was right and who was wrong in a certain situation, He "replied,
'Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?' "
(Luke 12:14).

In fact, he summarized his entire life mission this way: "As
for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do
not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to
save it" (John 12:47).

If it was not Jesus' purpose in this world to judge, why do we
think it's ours. A poet said,
In men, who folks condemn, as ill;
I find so much of goodness still.
In men who folks pronounce divine
I find so much of sin and blot.
I do not dare to draw a line
Between the two, where God has not.

Now, if we're to take the Gospel seriously, what does this mean
for us?

Remember the Scripture says, "Whoever claims to live in him must
walk as Jesus did" (I John 2:6).

If Jesus lived today, he would still denounce hypocrisy. Once,
at a Spiritual retreat, the participants were asked to find a
smooth rock and personalize it. On one side they were to paint
their own name; and on the other side they were to write, "He
that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone" (John
8:7).

One woman said, "I chose a stream pebble, just the right size to
tuck into my pocket or purse. It was fun to decorate it with
small forget-me-nots. But, not so much fun-startling in fact-to
carefully print my name: "FAY'S first stone.

The opposite side had the simple words, "He that is without sin
among you, let him first cast a stone."

Then she continued, "In all the years I've carried the stone,
I've touched it; I've clenched my angry fist around it; but I
have never been able to cast it! God knows I've tried. I''ve
wanted to throw a big rock at someone else's mistake. I've
wanted to hurl a crushing boulder at someone who has hurt me.
But, then, something makes me reach for that "first stone," and
read my name on it. Looking within myself, I've found that I
don't meet the requirements for judging and punishing another
person."

Do you understand that people who judge usually have hidden
motives. Jesus understood!

Do you realize that human beings can't judge fairly because of
their own weaknesses? Jesus knew this.

Do you try to treat others with as much consideration as you do
yourself? Jesus did!

Benjamin Disraeli said, "It's much easier to be critical than to
be productive." It's always more productive to give the other
person the benefit of the doubt.

***
(Word Count 2015)
****
My ministry has been blessed immeasurably by reading other
people's sermons. When I started preaching 54 years ago, I
waited for "inspiration" before I began my sermon preparation
(usually Saturday night, about midnight). Then, I discovered it
wasn't inspiration at all-it was sheer PANIC. I would have
welcomed this service.

Comments are always welcome. (Please indicate if you do not want
your comments to appear in New Perspectives).

Miles E. Wesner