Second Chances
John 8:1-11, Mark 16:6-7, 14:66-72
____________________________________________________
A woman comes home one afternoon and tell her husband that the car won’t start. She says it is water in the carburetor. Her husband not wanting to be rude said "Dear are you sure? I’m not trying to be mean but you don’t know a carburetor from a spark plug." But the wife being ever so persistent said "I’m sure there is water in the carburetor." The husband finally says " Okay dear I’ll take a look at it where is at." She said in the lake. (ha ha ha)
Ever had something you wish you could take back. Something you could do over. I’d bet that wife does. Has anybody given you a second chance? What about at work? Have you ever messed things up that you got to do over. I know I have plenty of times at work. The best kind is the one that the boss never finds out about. There’s plenty of things in our lives that we wished we could do over. Maybe it is to correct a wrong or a missed opportunity. Maybe, just maybe you did not heed some advice. Maybe there is some sins in your life that the devil keeps hounding you about. Don’t worry Jesus will hold you up. God offers forgiveness no matter what you have done.
When we think about forgiveness there is a plenty of stories that are in the bible that we could share. There is two I want to talk about. The first is the adulterous woman. The well known story of a sinful woman caught in the act of adultery and how she came before Jesus. (read scripture John 8:1-11)
Jesus had went to the Mt. of Olives into the temple area to teach to the people. The scribes and the pharisees brought in a woman and placed her in front of everyone. They began to tell Jesus that the woman was caught in the act of adultery. They were testing him to see if he would reject Moses’ law. This was a trap to set him up. He could have lost his crediability. His compassion and forgiveness would have been questioned. They were trying to discredit Jesus.
I can see her now. Of course totally embarssed. Everyone staring her down. She couldn’t even look up at the eyes. It is possible that some in that crowd she has sinned with. No doubt that she felt the unfairness because they did not even bring in the man. Maybe she didn’t know Jesus and his compassion and was fearful of him. She did when she left! I can only imagine the shame she felt standing before the group and Jesus.
They were trying to push Jesus into a corner. In verse 6
"They were using this question as a trap in order to have a basis of accusing him." If Jesus said "Don’t stone the woman," then he would condone sin and seem to be against Moses’ law or so they thought. If he said "stone her," He would have violated the Roman law. Roman law would not permit a woman to be put to death without a trial. They thought they had him trapped. He would be condemn either way regardless of what his answer was. But of course the son of God is way to smart. He knew the hearts of those men. He knew their motives and knew they were not concerned about the woman. He knew they didn’t care about Moses’ law. The Messiah knew.
I love the way Jesus responded. It is a way that we should all respond in adversities. Cool, calm, and collective, yep Jesus was one cool cat. He didn’t stare at the woman to embarrass her. He stooped down to ground started drawing in the dirt. Then the enemies of Jesus kept shouting for an answer. I can hear them now "she committed adultery, she should be put to death" or "she’s not worthy to live anymore." What did the savior do? In verse 7 he stood straight up stared them in the eyes and said "If anyone of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." Then he stooped back down began to draw in the dirt again. Now we are not privleged to know what he drew in the dirt but evidently it convicted the men because they began to leave with the eldest first. Remember some other people were there and they left too. In verse 9 the bible says "until only Jesus was left with the woman still standing there."
Maybe they felt some convictions also? Just moments earlier they were shouting with the scribes to stone the woman. Did they feel the guilt of their sins?
Now only Jesus and the woman remained. Wonder what was going through the woman’s mind at this very moment? One was a sinner the other a savior. The condemned woman and the Messiah that was uncondemning. In verse 10 Jesus stood up and looked at the woman and asked "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" Her reply was "No one sir." The lord spoke to her "Then neither do I condemn you. Look in verse 11 it says the lord declared "Go now and leave your life of sin." Go now woman and live your life this is your second chance. Go and sin no more! Leave the past and that bedroom of sin. Here was a woman with sinful ways and the lord did not condemn her. Ephesians 1:7 says " In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins.’’ He basically gave a second chance to her. They were going to have her stoned to death. What she did with her second chance we don’t know. Has the Lord given you a second chance?
Another second chance in the bible is the one Peter got after the resurrection. If you will please turnin your bibles to Mark 14 starting with verse 66. Then we will flip over to chapter 16. (read scripture). Peter denied Jesus just like he said he would. He denied the man he said he would die with. He denied the one he saw perform miracle after miracle. He denied the savior. But before we get to down let’s look in chapter 16 verse 5 (read scripture).
Look at verse 7 one more time. "Go tell, his disciples and Peter."
And Peter, wow that had to mean something. The angel wanted Peter to know that it wasn’t over. He’s getting a second chance. A new at bat. The game wasn’t over. The lord he denied has risen and wants to see him. Peter had been in torment since Jesus had died. Now he had a second wind. That very second wind to him all over proclaiming the Gospel. That second chance took him to his death. Now that is making good on a second chance. Peter would never deny the savior again.
