John 8:1-11 Jesus and the Woman caught in Adultery
It looks like an airtight case! She was caught in the act; eye witnesses stand present ready to give their deadly testimony. A sort of mock court convenes in front of Jesus there in the temple grounds and the accusers press him for a judgment. Now, you have to remember, Jesus is known as an exacting interpreter of the law concerning adultery... just read the record in Matthew chapters 5&19 and you’ll see his own words. Jesus surprises many of his own disciples at the level of strictness he applies to the law regarding the covenant of Marriage. For Jesus, divorce and remarriage are so serious there is only one exception allowed for it to be acceptable to God. If the husband, or wife, commits adultery, the innocent mate is free to divorce and remarry without sin. Jesus’ words in Matthew 19:9 are normally used to understand this. What followed, according to the law of Moses, is that the guilty parties are taken out and stoned to death for their crime. (Just imagine if that happened today. God’s law reveals God’s holy standards, but, as Jesus says in John 7:19 Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law.). Jesus certainly kept the law. He was accused of breaking the Sabbath, but he didn’t. What was Jesus finally put to death for? Do you remember? It was for claiming to be the Son of God. He was crucified with the charge of being the King of Israel. He was crucified because they rejected him as Son of God and King of Israel… both of which were actually true. Jesus kept the law and interpreted it strictly, as we see in the Sermon on the Mount.
But here in John 8 we have a scenario that reveals another side of Jesus. Here we have an opportunity to see Jesus, the Son of God, the true King of Israel, deciding in what looks like a clear and plain case of Adultery. They bring the guilty woman before him and demand his judgment in the matter. But, instead of doing what they expect, Jesus does something quite unexpected.
What will he do with this adulteress? What will he say? How can he possibly be faithful to the Law and avoid condemning her to death? His answer is actually shocking to legalists and also it is stretched into permissiveness by the licentious. We have a problem. I did a little study on this and found some interesting things.
Adam Clarke’s commentary, completed and printed in 1831, quoting a Bishop Pearce, says of John 8:1-11: …Christ seems in this case not enough to have discouraged adultery, though he called it a sin. He goes on to say: early among the Christians, the reading of this story was industriously avoided, in the lessons recited from the Gospels, in the public service of the churches; as if Jesus’ saying, “I do not condemn thee”, had given too much countenance to women guilty of that crime. Thus this portion of the MSS, came, in length of time, to be left out in some MSS. Whether or not Bishop Pearce was right about this, I don’t know, but I do know that John 7:53-8:11 is missing from most early MSS. Some place it at the end of Luke 21, others at the end of John’s gospel, and some leave a vacant place here in the gospel of John, indicating that something belonged there, but they are not sure enough to include it. All modern translations today put a footnote indicating this in the text.
Jesus is perfect in holiness and in his interpretation of the law of Moses, and yet Jesus is also perfect in mercy and grace bringing freedom and forgiveness to all who will receive him. The law came through Moses, grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ! John 1:17. This story epitomizes this about Jesus.
Listen to John 8:31-36. Jesus has authority to set the captives free. It is why he came. It is what he does best. Freedom. This is the gift Jesus came to give, not just to this woman caught in adultery, but all of us. Jesus came to give freedom from that which enslaves the world, freedom from the invisible power that puts us to death. He came to give us the ultimate freedom… that is, freedom from sin. But that is not what these accusers of this woman were actually wanting.
I have a question: If these scribes and Pharisees and the accusers of this woman are so concerned with performing the law, why do they need Jesus’ judgment on the matter? Is their no one among them able to judge? Is there no Jewish High court to bring this case before? Aah! But this is not about needing Jesus’ judgment. This is about needing to judge Jesus! Their motives are far from pure. Let’s look through this event together and observe Jesus and learn more about our master so we can become more like him. As we study this together, keep an eye on Jesus.
This text about him is so beautiful, it deserves our best attention.
John 8:1-2
Jesus has spent the night in the place where later he will be praying for the Father to take away the terrible cup of suffering for our sins. Judas knew of this place because Jesus often came here with his disciples when he was visiting Jerusalem. Here in John 8 we see that early in the morning Jesus returns to the temple courts to teach and people gather to hear him. That’s when it all began. Where do you face the most challenges? Jesus was willing to face opposition and we need to prepare ourselves to do the same.
John 8:3-6
What do you think of Jesus’ reaction? They are after him, you know. What should we do when we face questions and challenges to our faith? Look at Jesus! First, he draws their attention off of the woman and onto himself, doesn’t he? She’s not just an innocent victim! She’s a guilty sinner who actually does deserve the death penalty. But think of what she discovers here in the presence of the One who is the light of the world. He has been sitting while he taught, verse 1 says. But he now as they put this woman in front of him and begin their inquisition, Jesus goes from sitting to stooping down to the ground. What’s he doing down there? It says that he wrote on the ground. He would have most likely written in Aramaic and that particular writing works great in dirt. The letters all are based on a shape that starts at the top on the left and arches down to the right, and the writing is from right to left, rather than our English which is left to right. This is the only time Jesus is ever said to have written anything, and no one knows for sure what he wrote at this point, but, thank the Lord, we do know what he said. Jesus has drawn their attention off of the woman and onto himself. I see this as a gracious act. She must have been pretty miserable there in their midst being publicly exposed for her adultery. Since they are after him anyway, Jesus makes himself an easy target. He stoops and writes in the dirt. They think they’ve got him right where they want him! Aha! They must have thought, “We’ve got him now! There’s no way out! If he says we should stone her, we can accuse him to Pilate. If he says, ‘Let her go,’ we can accuse him of false teaching!” So they keep asking him for an answer. All eyes are off of the woman and on Jesus. So, Jesus doesn’t disappoint them. He answers them. But the Son of God who is the true King of Israel and the light of the world is nobody’s fool. They asked for it, and he turns on the lights and gives them more than they bargain for.
John 8:7-9
Several late MSS add an interesting variant at the end of verse 8. With the variant it reads like this: “And again he stooped down and wrote on the ground the sins of every one of them.” That’s interesting, isn’t it? But these MSS are so late and so poorly attested; it is almost certainly not from John. It makes a good guess though, doesn’t it? Whether he wrote them on the ground or not, it was their sins that made them turn away and leave. Notice how Jesus handled this situation graciously too. He didn’t stare them down. He didn’t treat them unkindly. He simply spoke the truth to them and then he gave them room to make a decision about what to do next. Their departure was actually a sort of confession of their own sins, was it not? Again, Clarke’s commentary is helpful, he writes:
It is allowed that adultery was exceedingly common at this time, so common that they had ceased to put the law in force against it. The “waters of jealousy” (Numbers 5:11-31) were no longer drunk, the culprits, or those suspected of this crime, being so very numerous; and the men who were guilty themselves dared not try their suspected wives, as it was believed the waters would have no evil effect upon the wife, if the husband himself had been unfaithful. Sounds a bit like our times, doesn’t it? Just as Jesus said, “Moses gave you the law, yet not one of you keeps the law.”
So Jesus has once more confounded the wise and turned it to folly. He has let them stew in their own juices. There’s an old saying that goes, “If you give a fool enough rope, he’ll hang himself.” The genius and wisdom of Jesus echoes throughout the scriptures. Our humble master is wise. The proverbs tell us, that if we associate with the wise we become wise, but if we keep company with fools, we become fools. (13:20, etc.). Let us spend much time with our wise and wonderful Lord, so that we may become like him.
Well, the story is almost finished. But there’s still a quandary before Jesus. What to do with this adulterous woman? You know, it’s really too bad that we know this story so well. It makes it difficult to experience the impact and appreciate the gift Jesus freely handed to her, but also the charge he commanded her to live by. Let’s think this through and not celebrate Jesus’ victory too soon. I believe the real victory is in what happens next.
John 8:10-11
“Neither do I condemn you.” What is in these words of Jesus for us to learn? Let’s ask some discovery questions about this:
1. Is Jesus saying, “What you did was justifiable and ok?” In other words, it was just a mistake. No, Jesus NEVER diminishes sin.
2. Is Jesus saying, “I’ll let it go this time…” In other words, you caught me on a good day. No, Jesus doesn’t operate on feelings and whims.
3. Is Jesus saying, “I guess if they didn’t condemn you, I shouldn’t condemn you either.” In other words, there’s peer pressure. No, Jesus doesn’t cave in to what others think.
What is behind Jesus’ words, “Neither do I condemn you”? Is there a message here for all adulterers, that they can be free? Let’s expand that. Is there a message here for all sinners, that we can all be free? Yes, there is.
Jesus was the only one present without sin. He was the only one qualified to cast the first stone. When this woman committed adultery, who did she sin against the most?
After David committed adultery with Bathsheba, and stood condemned before the prophet Nathan, he knew he deserved to die. But God covered his sin. David wrote in Psalm 51 about this sin with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah and he said, “Against you! You only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight! So that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge!”
This woman sinned against Jesus, her creator, her Lord, her King. There is a price that must be paid for her to be set free. It is a terrible price. The wages of sin is death. Sin pays alright. It pays with the punishment of death. Jesus, in saying, “Neither do I condemn you,” is actually saying, I accept the punishment due you for this sin. What an awesome gift to give!
Then Jesus says something maybe even more surprising: “Go, and sin no more.” An early Christian tradition says that her name was Susanna and that she died a saint in Spain, where she had followed James and served the Lord.
Jesus didn’t speak these words in exaggeration. He was telling her to leave her life of sin. It was spoken with all the power of the Son of God and with the expectation of compliance. Jesus didn’t waste words. He told her to do what she could, by his grace and power, do.
Jesus came here to set the captives free. Free from sin. Jesus said, “If the son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” Do you believe this?
