Article of Faith: Holding captivity captive (2), By Femi Aribisala

The accusers of the woman caught in adultery were foolish, in addition to their ignorance. They did not know that Jesus came from heaven to earth precisely because of this adulterous woman.

Jesus says:

“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” (Matthew 9:12-13, NKJV)

These people came to trap Jesus using the Law of Moses. What they did not know was that the Law of Moses did not come from Moses. Jesus Himself gave the Law of Moses.

Jesus is the God of the Old Testament who gave Moses the law. Jesus is the God who gave Moses the law that says adulterers must be stoned to death. So how can they use the law that originates from Jesus to trap Jesus?

It is impossible!

Moreover, why would Jesus contravene His own law? Jesus was the One who said adulterers must be stoned to death. So, obviously, Jesus cannot but agree that this adulterous woman should be stoned to death.

Jesus said:

“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfil. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.” (Matthew 5:17-18, NKJV)

But how would Jesus fulfil the law that insists this adulterous woman should be stoned to death? That is the fascinating part of this crucial gospel episode. The battle was joined between devilish wisdom and the wisdom of God from above.

Jesus agrees that the woman should be stoned to death. He agrees that all adulterers must die. But He is going to fulfil the law by dying the death of this adulterous woman. He is going to die the death of all adulterers.

He is not going to say she is innocent when He knows she is not. He is going to die in her place. That is the whole point of the Law of Moses.

“The law was our tutor to bring us to Christ.” (Galatians 3:24, NKJV)

The law was designed to show us the length and breadth and height and depth of God’s love and grace which surpasses knowledge,

“For our God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.” (Ephesians 3:20, NKJV)

WHY DID JESUS COME TO THE JORDAN RIVER FOR BAPTISM?

This is one big riddle. Why would the sinless Jesus go for baptism so that His sins would be washed away?

John the Baptist objected. He said:

“I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me? But Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfil all righteousness.'” (Matthew 3:14-15, NKJV)

Why did Jesus, who had no sin, come to be baptised for the remission of sins?

Isaiah provides the answer:

“Because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many.” (Isaiah 53:12, NKJV)

Jesus must be baptised because He came to be numbered with transgressors. He was numbered with sinners. He came on earth to represent sinners. He came to take our sins on Himself.

Paul says:

“For (God) made (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21, NKJV)

Significance of the Jordan River

“Known to God from eternity are all His works.” (Acts 15:18, NKJV)

God’s plans, purposes, and promises are carefully woven together from Genesis to Revelation.

Therefore, the Jordan River, where John was baptising for the remission of sins, was the same river where Naaman the Syrian was cleansed of his leprosy.

Jordan was a river that God had long appointed for spiritual and physical cleansing. With Naaman, it was leprosy. But leprosy is a synonym for sin. Only God can cleanse both leprosy and sin. Therefore, as God appointed Elisha for the cleansing of leprosy, so did He appoint John the Baptist for the cleansing of sin.

The Accusers Violated the Law

The woman’s accusers wanted to stone her because her adultery contravened the law. But the irony here was that the accusers themselves contravened the law because of their blatant hypocrisy.

Moses says:

“He who commits adultery with his neighbour’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress, shall surely be put to death.” (Leviticus 20:10, NKJV)

“If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then both of them shall die, the man that lay with the woman, and the woman; so you shall put away the evil from Israel.” (Deuteronomy 22:22, NKJV)

Both the adulterer and the adulteress were caught in the act. However, the Pharisees only brought the woman, the adulteress. They did not bring the man, the adulterer. This made them false witnesses.

I wonder who the adulterer that they did not bring must have been. Who were they shielding from justice while pretending to uphold the law? The Bible does not tell us who he was, but I have a very good idea.

Do you know who he must have been? I think he must have been one of the Pharisees. Don’t you think so? Birds of the same feather flock together.

If you only bring the adulteress without the adulterer, then the woman is not guilty. That is the understanding from this scripture where God says:

“I will not punish your daughters when they turn to prostitution, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery, because the men themselves consort with harlots and sacrifice with shrine prostitutes.” (Hosea 4:14, NIV)

The Answer of the Finger of God

The accusers asked Jesus, “Should we stone this adulterous woman to death according to the Law of Moses or not?”

Jesus ignored their question. Instead of answering them, He stooped and wrote on the ground with His finger.

What is the meaning of this?

In the Scriptures, men do not write with their fingers. God is the only person who writes with His finger in the Bible. As with everything that pertains to God, God’s finger is extraordinary.

When Aaron’s rod performed miracles before Pharaoh in Egypt, Pharaoh’s magicians initially duplicated those miracles. Like Aaron, they turned their rods into serpents, although Aaron’s rod swallowed their rods. Like Aaron, Pharaoh’s magicians also turned water into blood. Like Aaron, they also made frogs appear miraculously out of nowhere.

But when Aaron stretched out his rod and the dust of Egypt turned into lice, covering all the land, Pharaoh’s magicians could not duplicate the miracle. Instead:

“The magicians said to Pharaoh, ‘This is the finger of God.'” (Exodus 8:19, NKJV)

God engraved the Ten Commandments on stone tablets miraculously with His finger. Moses said to the Israelites:

“The Lord delivered to me two tablets of stone written with the finger of God, and on them were all the words which the Lord had spoken to you on the mountain from the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly.” (Deuteronomy 9:10, NKJV)

So, when instead of answering the accusers of the adulterous woman, Jesus stooped and wrote on the ground with His finger, this act was pregnant with meaning.

The woman’s accusers were scribes and Pharisees, people learned in the Scriptures. They knew for sure about the finger of God, and Jesus had told them before that His finger was the finger of God.

When they accused Jesus of casting out demons by Beelzebub, the king of demons, Jesus told them He casts out demons by the finger of God. He said:

“If I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.” (Luke 11:20, NKJV)

Now, instead of answering them immediately, He stooped and wrote on the ground with His finger of God. Jesus was telling these ragamuffins again that He is God. CONTINUED.