John 8:2-11—The Stunning Kindness of Jesus
John 8:2 CSB – At dawn he went to the temple again, and all the people were coming to him. He sat down and began to teach them.
John 8:3-5 CSB – Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, making her stand in the center. 4 “Teacher,” they said to him, “this woman was caught in the act of committing adultery. 5 In the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?”
John 8:6b CSB – Jesus stooped down and started writing on the ground with his finger.
John 8:7 -8 CSB – When they persisted in questioning him, he stood up and said to them, “The one without sin among you should be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Then he stooped down again and continued writing on the ground.
John 8:9 CSB – When they heard this, they left one by one, starting with the older men. Only he was left, with the woman in the center.
John 8:10-11 CSB – When Jesus stood up, he said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
11 “No one, Lord,” she answered.
“Neither do I condemn you,” said Jesus. “Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.”
- Kindness is not Unprincipled Relativism
- Kindness clearly tells the truth
- Kindness lifts the chin
- Kindness turns condemnation into redemption
Abby Johnson’s Story
Stunning Kindness
1 Corinthians 13:4 CSB – Love is patient, love is kind.
What Motivates Kindness?
1) Empathy Motivates
Matthew 7:12 ESV – “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them”
2) Social Pressure Motivates
3) Biblical View of People Motivates
Genesis 1:26-28, 31 CSB –
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.”
27 So God created man
in his own image;
he created him in the image of God;
he created them male and female.
28 God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.”
31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good indeed. Evening came and then morning: the sixth day.
The Biblical Foundation for Kindness
The Imago Dei = the Image of God
Psalm 139:13 CSB – For it was you who created my inward parts;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Job 31:15 CSB – Did not the one who made me in the womb also make them?
Did not the same God form us both in the womb?
Jeremiah 1:4-5 CSB – The word of the Lord came to me:
5 I chose you before I formed you in the womb;
I set you apart before you were born.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 CSB – You are not your own, 20 for you were bought at a price. So glorify God with your body.
Getting Practical about Kindness, Love in Action
- Experience Jesus’ Kindness for You
Romans 3:23-24 CSB – For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 24 They are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
Romans 8:1 CSB – Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus,
- Express Jesus’ Kindness to Everyone
Ephesians 4:29,32 No foul language should come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in need, so that it gives grace to those who hear.
And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.
- Express Kindness Through Making Disciples
James 1:27 CSB – Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
Pray. Abortion is a substitute for prayer
James 4:1,2 CSB – What is the source of wars and fights among you? Don’t they come from your passions that wage war within you? 2 You desire and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and wage war. You do not have because you do not ask.
