John 8:1-12

Jesus had healed a man on the Sabbath, and the Pharisees had already decided that He deserved to be put to death (John 5:16-18). They sent a delegation of officers to arrest him following the Feast of the Tabernacles (John 7:45-53) but they were unable to. There was a division among them and the people had already attempted to make Jesus a king. The rulers of the Jews had a real problem.

They reasoned: if we sin against God, God will punish us. We must be holy. There are sinners out there who care nothing for the law. If we allow this lawless behavior to continue, then we are going to be in real trouble. Law and Order will go down the tubes; immorality will be rampant, and chaos will triumph. And so, they had a great zeal for the Law-or so they thought.

They reasoned further: but someone might accidentally break the Law. If a man touched a dead body he was unclean. But, if a man touched something that had touched a dead body, he also would be unclean. There would be no way to know if you were really clean or unclean so you must ceremonially wash yourself continually. Someone might accidentally break the Sabbath. So the Pharisees guarded the day. You may walk so far and no more. You may do this and no more. The Sabbath was the center of the rigorous life of a pious Jew. Did not God say that the reason He sent Israel into exile was because they did not keep the Sabbath?

The Pharisees looked forward to the coming of Messiah. He would take care of those ‘others' who were sinners. He would take care of those oppressive Romans. Righteousness (and we, of course) will reign supreme.

Now Jesus comes into the world. The nation is buzzing with excitement. This is the Messiah! He will save us. But He associates with all kinds of sinners who care nothing about the Law (John 7:46). Doesn't He know how serious this is? He eats and drinks with prostitutes and tax-collectors! If these people are not kept in line, all sorts of problems will result. Even more of a problem to the Pharisees was that He violated their Sabbath Day. He had performed a miracle and healed a man. According to the law this clearly called for the death penalty.

Now they had a problem. In order to execute the death sentence for breaking the Sabbath, they would have to prove in the court of law what He did on the Sabbath. If they did that, they would have proven that He was the Messiah-at least in the eyes of the people. The people were expecting that Messiah would open the eyes of the blind, cause the lame to leap for joy, and open the ears of the deaf. Jesus does all of those things. If the Pharisees proved that He violated the Sabbath they would at the same time have proved that He was Messiah and fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 35:5-6: "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing."

This would never do. They must find a way to legally put him to death and alienate Him from the people at the same time. This is the context of the account in John 8:1-12.

Jesus is teaching in the temple. The Feast of Tabernacles had finished and the crowds have gone home. But He still continues to teach. There is a great crowd around him. Suddenly there is a commotion. The Pharisees interrupt, dragging into the temple a woman who was taken in adultery, "caught in the very act."

Is there anyone more despised than an adulteress? This will surely turn the people against Him-a woman who violates her home and destroys her marriage. Anyone can see how destructive adultery is. David wrote in Psalm 50 that the covenant breaker under God's wrath was one who was a "partaker with adulterers". The Pharisees needed not only to find a reason for capital punishment that would stand up in court, they also needed all the people to see how subversive Jesus truly was.

It is interesting to note that most people, when they think of the controversy between Jesus and the Jews, assume that the problem was that the Jews were too strict about the law. Jesus wanted them to lighten up and not be so judgmental. This passage and "Judge not" seem to be the only things that the reprobate know about Jesus. Augustine even testified that the reason this passage was omitted from so many early manuscripts was that the church of that day thought that this passage gave license to adultery. This is also what the Pharisees thought. They thought that Jesus was too light on sin. To prove it, they attempt to pit Him against the Law of Moses. "Moses said she should be stoned; what do you say?"

In order to understand the answer that Jesus gives it is necessary to look at why Jesus came into the world. In the first place, Jesus was never angry with the Pharisees because they were too strict with the Law. In fact, He said that they were not strict enough. "For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:20). Jesus is the eternal Word of God; He is not in conflict with Moses. He is the "one who is and who was and who is to come" (Rev. 1:8). The conflict was that the Pharisees did not care about the Law of God at all. Jesus said, "All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition" (Mark 7:9).

The Pharisees kept all sorts of rules, but inwardly they were murderous, adulterous, covetous thieves. They were evil men. This is clearly seen even in this event with the adulteress. They were pretending a great zeal for the law; in reality, they were looking for an excuse to murder. They were looking for opportunity; they were not looking for justice. If they were concerned with justice, where was the man? She was caught in the very act, which would be hard to do if there were no man present. If they were so concerned about the law then why this charade in the temple? There were courts of law; there were procedures.

No, they were not looking for justice. They were looking for an opportunity to murder and slander. They were worse than the adulteress. At least she knew that she was an adulteress. The Pharisees were not only evil, they were arrogant liars, hiding their bloodlust under a cloak of righteousness.

In the second place, central to Jesus' teaching was that He did not come into the world to condemn the world. Not because the world did not need condemning, but because the world was condemned already (John 3:18). Paul wrote that we were all "children of wrath, even as others." (Eph. 2:3) Jesus did not take a light, "just tolerate everybody" attitude towards sin. He saw sin for what it really is. Everyone is affected; everyone is condemned; there is nothing that man can do about it. He did not teach that the adulteress was just as good as everybody else. He taught that everybody else was just as bad as the adulteress. We all stand condemned, not just the adulteress, but also the Pharisees, the Jews, the Romans, Paul, Herod, Peter and Judas, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Jesus did not come to condemn the world, for the world was already justly condemned and under the wrath of God. Jesus came to save that which was lost. To miss this is to miss everything.

And so the question that the Pharisees ask is despicable. They came with their holy exterior and great outward zeal for the law; inwardly they were plotting to murder. If Jesus said "Stone her", they were ready to condemn Him before the Romans as a usurper. Only Pilate had the authority to issue a death penalty. He would not have looked kindly on an upstart teacher usurping his authority. On the other hand, if he said, "Be merciful" they would have accused Him before the people as going against Moses.

Now we have Jesus' answer to their question. The first thing that He does is nothing. He stoops and writes on the ground as if he doesn't even hear what they are saying. What He writes is the subject of much speculation, but the simple fact is that the Bible doesn't tell us. It isn't important. What is important is that He ignores them, "as though he heard them not." (verse 6) He shows almost a disbelief at the hardness and blindness of these men. How can men be so desperately blind? They are so puffed up with their own pride that they don't even see what should be so obvious. They are at this moment conspiring to murder and are at the same time pretending a love for the law! Jesus is following Proverbs 26:4, "Do not answer a fool according to his folly, Lest you also be like him." The only thing that can soften the heart is the Holy Spirit.

In keeping silent, Jesus is also giving an opportunity for repentance. If God answered every call for justice immediately, who could stand? The Pharisees think that they can call God to account. By His silence, Jesus is giving them the opportunity to think through their question and repent.

But they do not. They are insistent. They keep hounding Him for an answer. They think that they have Him now. But the truth is that they are the ones on trial. If they accuse him of being unmerciful, are not they the ones who are truly unmerciful? They are not interested in the Law; they are not interested in this woman. She is merely a pawn in their game. If they accuse Him of going against Moses, are not they the ones who have really gone against Moses? Moses said "Thou shalt not commit adultery." But he also forbade murder, pride, false witness, and slander.

So Jesus says, "Let him who is without sin first cast a stone at her." He stoops down again and continues to write on the ground. He is not answering a question about criminal procedure. Moses had already answered that question. If you think that Jesus is saying that adultery should not be punished in the courts of law, you must also say that inheritances must not be divided by courts of law (Luke 12:13-14). He is not making a statement about tolerance, as if adultery is OK now. That also was not the real question. He will never tolerate adultery. He will deal with that later. But He also will never tolerate murder and deceit. That is what He is dealing with first.

We are very good at pointing the finger at the ‘others'. We have become experts in discussing the flaws of "sinners". But do we ever examine our own hearts? Jesus always points the finger right where it belongs. Paul wrote that if we would judge ourselves we would not be judged. Jesus said to first get the beam out of your own eye then help your neighbor with their speck. He did not mean to pull the beam out of your eye just long enough to use as a weapon. He does not answer the fool according to his folly; instead, he turns the light on the folly of the fool. "Answer a fool according to his folly, Lest he be wise in his own eyes" (Proverbs 26:5).

"Let him who is without sin..." This statement goes far beyond human wisdom. Even if Solomon himself had said these words there would have been a line of people out the door with rocks in their hands. Only God can convict the hardened heart. Only God can awaken a dead conscience. We have become quite adept at lying to ourselves. "The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked," Jeremiah wrote. But when the light of the world shines into our darkness we are exposed. We either hate the light and try to escape, or we say, with Isaiah, "Woe is me, for I am undone" and come to our Saviour for mercy. Calvin wrote, "There is nothing better for us than that we be brought, as guilty, to his tribunal, provided that we surrender ourselves mildly and submissively to his government."

The Pharisees run. They will not come that they might have life, as Jesus said (John 5:40). Jesus continues to write on the ground. His Word does its work. They all go away. How often do we let the conviction of our consciences drive us from the only One who can cleanse us and make us whole!

Now Jesus turns to the woman. "Go, and sin no more". The question is not whether she did it or not. That was never the question. John does say that she was caught in the very act (8:3). Jesus is not giving us an example of tolerance and love. How many times have I wished that I could say to my kids "Don't do that anymore" and have them actually listen! But the Word of God is powerful. The Word of God cuts right to the hearts of men. The same Word said, "Let there be light" and there was light. The same Word upholds all things. This same Word became flesh and dwelt among us. When he speaks, all nature listens. When he says, "Peace, be still," the winds and the waves obey.

When He commanded the lame man to walk, the lame man walked. When He speaks, the blind are no longer blind; the deaf are no longer deaf; the dead are no longer dead; and the adulteress is no longer an adulteress (1 Cor. 6:11). When he said, "Go, and sin no more", she was no longer a child of wrath, under the curse of God. She was no longer a sinner; she was a daughter of God, righteous in Christ. Yes, she still carried the remnants of Adam with her; she still needed the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit-but this isn't about that. This is the call of the shepherd to the lost sheep. This is the Word that the Pharisees would not hear. They weren't "sinners". They lived in darkness and would not come to the light; their sins remained, as Jesus would tell them in the next chapter (John 9:41).

Jesus then tells the multitude (remember, all the people were hearing him teach; they did not go out, only the Pharisees did), "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life"(John 8:12). He is explaining what just happened. The whole world stands condemned before God. The whole world is in darkness, Pharisee, adulteress, and scribe. We pretend that we are really OK. The problem is with those ‘others'; the sinners out there- they are the real problem. Our wisdom is fine; we just need better teachers. Our affections are fine; we just need better husbands and wives. Our morality is fine. Sure we do bad things sometimes, but we are not as bad as those adulteresses! We still think that God grades us on a curve. As long as we are not as bad as Hitler, God will be happy to see us.

But when the Holy Spirit calls us to the light, we see ourselves as we are-hopeless, sinful, weak and ignorant. God never has and never will grade us on a curve. The standard is his Holy Law, which leaves all of us condemned. We are under the wrath of God and in desperate need of a Savior. Before His tribunal we are all guilty.

But here is the wonder of the gospel: the curse of the law that lay upon this woman, yes, and on each one of us, Jesus took upon Himself. The light has shined into the world. He calls us to repent and believe the gospel. The Pharisees ran and hid themselves like Adam and Eve did a long time ago. Things haven't changed much. People still commit adultery; people still plot murder. People still hide from the light. But He calls us to repent. The Pharisees hid; the woman stood submissively before His tribunal, awaiting His judgment and humbling herself under His hand.

He took the curse upon himself, so that He might say to all who repent and believe, "Go, and sin no more."

Rev. Sam Powell,
Yuba City, CA

of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.' But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified" (John. 7:37-39).

In the middle of Africa there is a great desert called the Kalahari. As the hot sun approaches in the summer, the pools dry up, leaving the catfish stranded in hot mud. The grass shrivels and dies; the grazing animals move restlessly around looking for the last, rare stagnant pools of water that are rapidly drying. The weaker animals die off and the stronger ones get weaker and weaker, struggling to survive in the hot, dry sun. Then the elephants start moving south. They have been pulling bark off of the dry trees, trying to get moisture, but they remember that as summer ends, the rainwater from the highlands starts to slowly move down the dry bed of the Okavango River into the delta, flooding 4,000 square miles of desert.

Then the water comes down the dry river bed and overwhelms the pools. The surviving catfish drink in the rich, oxygenated water. The water overflows the pools until the whole desert is flooded. Great tangles of green grass begin to flourish; the grazing animals move in by the thousands. The predators follow. The water is full of fish. Flocks of birds numbering in the millions descend, and the desert becomes a great fertile, green grassland.

This is the figure that Isaiah uses in chapter 35. "The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God" (Isa. 35:1-2).

After the judgment of nations, when life fails and the thirst of death is upon them, God promised that the water will move in and bring life to the desert. Israel should have remembered this from their history. After they were delivered from Egypt, they were in a hard way. They were in the desert and they had no water. They complained to Moses. God commanded Moses to strike the rock, and water would flow. Moses did so. He struck the rock, and water flowed; the people drank.

We are just as dry and lifeless as the desert. Without water what fruit can grow? But we think that we are lush gardens of hope and joy and love. Sin is deceitful, and our hearts convince us that we are really wellsprings of life, when we are actually barren. We see ourselves as the pinnacles of goodness; the deep, clear pools of love and understanding. If everyone was as fertile and fruitful as we are, the world would be a better place.

Unless our eyes are opened by the Holy Spirit, we will refuse to see how desolate we truly are. So we seek to find our water in the broken cisterns of the earth.

The Pharisees were sure that the problem was everyone around them. The others are sinners and they need to learn how to obey. "These people that know not the law are cursed."

They denied that they themselves were as dry and barren as everyone around them. They were the experts on the law. Who is this Jesus person and how dare he say to us that we are under the curse of death and separated from life?

They thought that if they could get a reputation of being righteous and wise, then they didn't have to actually be righteous or wise. So they pretended a great love and zeal for the law even as they were plotting to betray and crucify Jesus, contrary to the law.

The priests were mostly Sadducees. They were the political leaders and they loved their position. "Everyone knows that we are significant, worthy of respect. We are the educated ones; we have the backing of Rome. We will quench our thirst by achieving power and strength in this world."

How can Jesus say that we are devoid of life? Doesn't he see how everyone respects us? Doesn't he see how careful we are with our tithes? Doesn't he see how meticulously we keep everyone in line? We are quite good at telling everyone what is wrong with them, with society, with our government and with our culture. How can he say that we have no life?

These things were taking place during the Feast of the Tabernacles. This feast commemorated the Exodus from Egypt and the wanderings in the wilderness. On the last day of the feast, there was a great ceremony to remember the water from the rock. On this day, the priests would lead a procession through the temple. They would get water from the pool of Siloam, parade through the temple, and pour it over the altar. Then everyone would sing psalms and remember the water flowing from the rock. They would remember how their ancestors were in the desert, under the threat of death. They would remember that the rock was struck and water flowed for the people to drink.

What they would not remember was that all of those people died in the wilderness. Even though they had physical water, they were as dry, desolate, and fruitless as a desert. They had no fruits of love, joy, or peace. They were unthankful, contentious, bitter, angry, and covetous.

Having the law written on stone had never changed a hard heart. The people that Jesus was teaching had the same dry, hard hearts as their fathers. So even though they remembered the water pouring from the rock and they were watching the ceremony on the last great day of the feast, they would not be seeking the True Rock, who was to be struck that he might pour out living water,

So on the last day, after the pouring of water on the altar, Jesus stood up where everyone could see him and he cried with a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink."

The invitation is given to all who are thirsty. Thirst is a very apt analogy. The Bible teaches that the whole world is under the sentence of death. All men are thirsty, but how many acknowledge their thirst? There are none that seek after God.

Calvin writes, "Many persons do not stir a foot, but wretchedly wither and decay, and there are even very many who are not affected by a perception of their emptiness, until the Spirit of God, by his own fire, kindle hunger and thirst in their hearts. It belongs to the Spirit, therefore, to cause us to desire his grace."

But all men, though they will not acknowledge God nor recognize their true thirst, suffer under God's curse. The pain of thirst is so overpowering that the very strongest men fall and are consumed by it. They seek to quench their thirst by amassing wealth, doing good deeds, acquiring knowledge and power, or attempting to flee from reality. But what good is the tithe of mint and aloe to a dying man? What will he do with his wealth when he is dead with thirst? He spent his life gaining a reputation for wisdom. He has come to believe that he is a man worthy of respect among dying men-but what good is it when he is dead of thirst? All men are desolate and barren, but none will come to drink unless their eyes are opened by the Holy Spirit.

We cannot come to Christ unless we thirst. We must cast off our riches and our strength. We must bid farewell to our wisdom, to our affections, and to the covetousness of idolatry. We must acknowledge that all of our righteousness is as filthy rags and our wisdom is the most sublime folly. We must finally see the true worth of our loves, our hates, our grudges, our dreams, our goals, our very lives...what good are those things to a man dying of thirst? When we finally realize that we are in a desert and our souls are as dry as dust with the sentence of death hanging over our heads, we finally hear the sweet voice of our Savior from which we have been hiding for so long: "Come to me, all who are thirsty."

God created us to bear fruit, but we cannot-for we have no strength. When the Holy Spirit strips away all of the pretences and lies with which we have covered ourselves, we realize that our love is actually hatred. Our joy is actually contempt and anger towards God and our neighbor. Our peace is restless discontent and buried rage. We are quick to respond in anger and slow to hear. We bite and devour one another. We are all corrupt, born in sin, and incapable of any fruit whatsoever. Our worship is done to be seen by men; our prayers are empty and vain. We are broken and hollow men, in a crooked and perverse generation. We are the dry chaff of the sage weed in the desert sand.

This is our true thirst. Our souls are barren, dry, and lifeless. But then we hear the voice shouting over the tumult of the crowds, "All who thirst, come to me and drink."

Jesus is the rock. He was struck for our offenses. He ascended into heaven and is sitting at the right hand of God, still calling throughout the world, "Come to me and drink." And everyone who believes on him receives the Holy Spirit (v. 39).

"The parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water; in the habitation of jackals, where each lay, there shall be grass with reeds and rushes" (Isa 35:7).

Into our dry and lifeless husks, the cleansing and life-giving water flows. Where all we had was the barrenness of hatred, anger, wrath, malice, and discontent, we now see the true beginning of the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance (Gal. 5:22-23).

The hardness of man's heart is seen in the next verse. You would think that crowds would have flocked to him seeking this water, but this isn't what happened. We read that the people immediately began bickering and debating over words. They got into a discussion about the prophecy of Micah 5:2. They debated whether he was the prophet that was foretold by Moses, or whether he was the political Messiah that they were expecting. Some were right, some were wrong, but none of them came to Christ! It is better to be right than to be wrong, but what good is it if you do not come to Christ and drink?

Such is human nature. We are told that we are lifeless and dead but water is freely available, and we immediately change the subject and begin to discuss the minutia of the law. We think that if we impress those around us by our doctrinal sophistication, we won't actually have to repent. We look for deep and hidden messages and wax eloquent about the doctrines of grace-but we don't repent and come to Christ! We can discuss supralapsarianism with aplomb; debate the meaning of the thousand years; we can tear the Arminian to shreds with the astounding wisdom of Jonathan Edwards; we are quite good at telling everyone else what is wrong with them-but if we don't come to Christ, what good is it?

Or we can talk about how we feel. We can work ourselves up to spectacular visions of ecstasy; we can move ourselves to tears with the right praise song. We can say all of the right pious phrases at all the right times, hold our hands in just the right way-but if we don't come to Christ, what good is it?

But the Bible strips away our pretense and calls us again to Jesus to drink.

"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing" (1 Co. 13:1-3).

This is where the barrenness and dryness of the desert show themselves. We have no love. We pretend we do by using the right phrases or working up the right feelings; we change the meanings of words to excuse ourselves. We think that we have exhausted the requirements of love because we didn't steal from someone, or because we didn't sleep with their wives or plot their murder. Or we excuse ourselves by claiming that no one ever shows us the right kind of love. But Paul strips away those excuses in the rest of the chapter 13, because true love only comes one way-it is the fruit of the Spirit. It can exist only when we see our thirst and come to Christ and drink.

For we are not saved by our feelings, we are saved by Christ. We are not saved by our theological acumen, we are saved by Christ. He is the savior who pours out the water that we need, but how often do we ask him for it? How often do we pray for the Holy Spirit to water our dry and dusty souls? Often when we fall into thanklessness and sin we seek to overcome by steadfast resolve. But how can a lifeless soul bring forth life? We have not because we ask not (James 4:2).

We confess that "God will give his grace and Holy Spirit only to those who earnestly and without ceasing beg them of Him, and render thanks unto him for them" (HC Q116). What good does it do to memorize this, learn it, know it and confess it if you don't do it!?

And we don't do it as we should because oftentimes deep down inside we don't really believe that we are all that thirsty.

The Pharisees were also covenant people and thought that they were well-springs of life. But how much life did they actually have? Jesus has stripped away their pretenses. He showed them that they were plotting his murder even as they were glorying in the law (John 7:19). Where was their fruit of love and joy?

The crowds were in the temple, singing the hymns, offering the sacrifices, and paying their vows. They saw the miracles, debated who Christ was, and very soon would be crying out for his death. Where was their fruit?

How much power did the Sadducees have? They couldn't even arrest Jesus (John 7:45-52). He was preaching openly. He stood up and shouted. But they couldn't touch him.

This is the wisdom and power and love of men. We speak eloquently of love, while crying out for the blood of our neighbor. We are proud of our wisdom and learning, and can't even see that we are dying in the desert when water is right within reach. We are confident in our strength, power, and plans, but the police force, the powerful Sanhedrin, and priests and the Pharisees could do nothing-because His time was not yet come.

The officers returning to the Sanhedrin reported, "No one ever spoke like this man." That is indeed true. The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. The Word of God incarnate is not like a man, giving an opinion about God, but he is God himself. The same Word that called forth the light, that upholds all things by the Word of His power; the same Word who spoke, and it was done-now calls out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink."

He doesn't lie. The water is not in the broken cisterns. Our life is not in ourselves. We are not smart enough. We are not loving enough. We are not strong enough. We are not good enough. Come out of the desert. The living water is here.

 

Romans 10:1-13

Man's heart is deceitful and desperately wicked (Jer. 17:9). We have a lie deep in our hearts. We believe that basically we are pretty good people. We still hold on to the lie that if God has distinguished us from the unbeliever, it must be because there was something in us that He found lovable.

Paul demolishes this illusion in Romans 9. But the lie is not so easily dismissed. We say in our hearts, "If the whole of humanity has come far short of the commandments of God then it must be because God's standards are too high, or too difficult to understand. If God's standards are too strict for anyone to keep, then isn't He unjust for condemning someone for not keeping them? If we really try hard and do our best, then surely that would make us acceptable to God." This is the question that Romans 10 deals with.

With the songs of Dwight Yoakum incessantly holding court with the other voices in my head, I made my way through the streets of Bakersfield. Rising above the Ozymandian concrete wreckage of the idols of human strength like Abraham's altar in the midst of Canaan was the edifice of Grace Reformed Church. Here amid the barred liquor stores, street walkers, and graffitied vacant lots, a witness to the continuing grace of the gospel of Jesus Christ has been proclaiming the peace of God for decades.