In our study of the gospel of John on Sunday mornings, I have intentionally not been preaching through every single passage, verse by verse. One reason is I’ve tried to focus on the larger theme of John’s gospel which is that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, sent by God to do the work of God in redeeming his people, and that by believing in him we will have true life, eternal life in his name. By necessity a broader approach like this means that we will skip over some passages in our study of this gospel.
One of those passages is found at the beginning of chapter 8, Jesus’ encounter with the woman caught in adultery. The unique thing about this passage and the reason I mention it here is that you may have noticed that in most of your bibles, it is bracketed off with a note that says something like, “The earliest manuscripts do not include 7:53-8:11.” (ESV) Well what does that mean? Is this part of the God’s inspired word? Should we preach on passages like this? Does this raise questions about the authority or integrity of the rest of Scripture?
Rather than try to go into a lengthy discussion about textual criticism, I’d like to point you to a sermon by Dr. John Piper on this passage that I found very helpful both in explaining why the footnote is there and what we can gain from the account recorded here. If you’re interested, I encourage you to read or listen to his message.
You can access the sermon by clicking here or going to Piper’s website at www.desiringgod.org. Enjoy.
