11-11-18 Kevin Goins - A Mysterious Story

“A Mysterious Story”
John 7:53-8:12

Someone has said, “We all love a good mystery.” If that’s true, then we should really enjoy the passage we’re looking at today because it is loaded with mysteries. This morning we are going to focus on two of these mysteries:

I The first mystery is the mystery of the m____________ s________.

A. Most New Testament scholars are convinced that this incident d____ n____ b_______ to John’s Gospel. Why?

1. First, there is the t___________ evidence.
2. Second, when this account did begin to show up in copies of John’s Gospel, some scribes found a way to let readers know there was a p________.
3. Third, in later Greek texts where it does appear, it is found in d___________ places.
4. Fourth, it doesn’t f______ well after John 7:52.
5. Fifth, the l__________ and s________ of these verses are not like John’s Gospel.

II Does it weaken our faith to know that this story, which is so loved by so many, was not originally a part of the Gospel of John? Not if we know something about h_____ we g_____ our Bible.

A. For 1500 years before the invention of the printing press all copies of the Bible were h______________.

B. What is so significant about the Bible is just how many c________ we have. How many manuscripts do we have of the New Testament? Total: _______.

C. Doesn’t the fact that there are so many copies mean that there are likely to be ________ mistakes?

1. First, because there are so many copies, mistakes are s_____-c_____________.
2. Second, these differences in texts are m_______, not m__________.

III The evidence against this story originally being a part of John is s________, but that does not mean this incident _______ happened.

IV The second mystery is the mystery of i_____________.

A. First, there is the iniquity of i____________ carried out by the Pharisees.

B. Second, there is the iniquity of i________________ carried out by the woman.