Bible+ St. John and St. Luke?

Question

Hello.
I was wondering if I could get some help in analysing:

St. John 8:1-11

St. Luke 15:11-32

I need to explain and think what this extract from the bible is saying about punishment and justice.

Can anyone help?

Any Contribution will be appreciated.

Thankyou

Answer 1

The passage in John tells about a woman who was caught in the act of adultery. By Mosaic law, she could have been stoned to death for that act. The scribes and Pharisees were the ones that brought this woman before Jesus. It is interesting that these men did not bring the man with whom the adultery was committed, just the woman. The whole purpose of this was so they could get something against Christ. (verse 6) But Christ didn't look at the letter of the law when making His decision. He saw the whole truth...the evil motives of the scribes and Pharisees. ( verse 9) They were convicted by their own conscience. In this whole story, we see Christ's mercy and wisdom. He was aware that the woman had truly sinned, but He told her he didn't condemn her. Then He gives her the command to go and sin no more. The law allowed punishment, but Christ, seeing the hearts of all involved meted true justice along with mercy.

The Luke passage is often called the story of the prodigal son. This son who takes his inheritance and squanders it finally comes to His senses. He repents of the wrong he has committed and hopes, not for the position of son, but that of servant, and returns to his father. His father had compassion on him.
The son had suffered the consequences of his actions. He was living in sordid conditions prior to returning and upon returning, he was repentant. The father could have turned him away. But once again, mercy was shown, just as it was to the adulterous woman.

In life, we all sin. There are usually consequences of some sort for that sin. If we never turn to Christ, we will die in that sin. But when we turn to Christ, with a truly repentant heart, He sees that we are truly sorry. He also sees in that repentance, that we are turning away from that sin. We are trusting in His atoning death to cover that sin. In that He extends His mercy to us.

So, yes punishment is due. God is just. So to reconcile us to Him and to free us from the punishment that must be given, God offers a way out. Jesus.

Answer 2

John 8:1-11 reveals that God prefers to NOT operate on the basis of crime and punishment.
On occasion, He has been obliged, however, what He truly looks for is repentance.
Repentence means a 'u-turn'.
A turning away from the previous course of wrongdoing and actually desiring to live up to a higher standard.
Note Jesus, who was perfect (without sin) did not throw a stone either.
He said to her: "From now on, practice sin no more."
So, the idea is not to dwell on punishments, but to dwell on repentence.
Luke's account of the Prodigal Son shows that foregiveness in a large way is better than being miserly and trying for revenge.
Of course, one can be forgiving only to those who appreciate the foregiveness.

Answer 3

Both describe a higher level of life to be displayed by 'Christians'. All make mistakes (sin) (Romans 3:23), the woman in adultery, the prodical son, but they were forgiven (part of the higher level), Jesus not 'throwing the stone, the father taking back the prodigal.