2Early in the morning He came again to the temple. All the people came to Him and He sat down and began to teach them. 3The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, 4they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. 5Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6They said this to test Him, so that they might have some charge to bring against Him. Jesus bent down and wrote with His finger on the ground. 7When they kept on questioning Him, He straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”8And once again He bent down and wrote on the ground. 9When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before Him. 10Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11She said, “No one, sir.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.” (John 8:2-11; NRSV)
BACKGROUND
This text is grounded in the testimony of John about Jesus Christ; chapter 20:30-31 tells us:
30And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book: 31But these are written, that ye might believe, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing, ye might have life, through His name.
This specific situation is an extension of the events recorded in chapter 7. The location is Galilee, the Festival of Booths had just concluded and the chief priests and Pharisees were 'sad you see' because the temple police did not arrest Jesus. Nicodemus publicly defended this non-arrest of his private acquaintance by telling his colleagues that no one could be judged without a hearing.
THE TEXT
So the next day, the scribes and Pharisees attempted to put Jesus on trial. They brought a woman before Him. The text does not give her name, but it does state her shame. She was caught in the act of adultery and Jesus was asked to render judgment on what should happen to her. Interestingly, this was a trial within a trial; nested accusations with the expectation of nested judgments; at least one person would be found guilty. Not quite the same as Hamlet’s play within a play, but as in the Merchant of Venice, there was an expectation that either the woman or Jesus would have to sacrifice a pound of flesh.
Now there are three unusual aspects about this situation. First, the law said that when someone was taken in adultery, both the man and the woman were to be punished. Well it seems that if she was ‘caught in the act’ then it would have been pretty easy to have arrested the man as well. Second, since adultery was a criminal offense in the Jewish community, punishable by death, then it is assumed that one would practice extreme discretion to prevent getting caught. You would choose a place that was far from sight and sound. It appears that the religious leaders knew where people went to have affairs; this woman was not caught – she was hunted down by subject matter experts dressed in the robes of righteousness. Third, the required two or three witnesses to confirm an accusation were never identified; this was an accusation that was not explicitly corroborated by witnesses. In short, something is wrong here – this person, who had a private affair, has become a public pawn. The religious leaders were uncommitted to her welfare and committed to destroying Jesus. They were willing to have her executed as a means of discrediting the Christ.
But irresponsible morals, motives and methods notwithstanding, the scribes and Pharisees presented a question to Jesus that would label Him a hypocrite regardless of how He responded. If He says stone her, then He contradicts His message of love. If He drops the charge, then He contradicts the mandates of the law.
Jesus' response was not the one anticipated. The either/or question was answered with a both/and reply. She was declared guilty, and should be stoned only by those whose moral authority exceeded hers. But although found guilty, she was also forgiven and given a chance for redemption.
What did this verdict mean for the accusers? It meant that they were just as guilty as the accused. Jesus helped them to realize that this sinner was being judged by a jury of her peers. Jesus' verdict forced them to see that what they were doing to her in public was just as bad as what she did in private. Their evidence was partial and their judgment was misguided. Yes, this was a patriarchal and patrilineal society, but even these male accusers were not exempt from God’s standard of righteousness. They deserved the fate they claimed she deserved; they were no better than she.
What did this verdict mean for the accused? It meant that God did not condone her actions, but He also did not condemn her weaknesses. It taught her that God hates sin but loves sinners; John 3:16-17 tells us that:
16For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.17For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.
What does this verdict mean for us? It means three things. First, this verdict means that we should examine ourselves before we examine others. We should remove the telephone poles from our own eyes before we seek to extract the toothpicks from the eyes of others. We should reflect on whether the things we despise in others are really things that we despise about ourselves. We should ensure that we are not straining out gnats but then swallowing camels. We should not judge others by what they do, but then judge ourselves by our intentions.
Second, this verdict reminds us that we are all sinners in the eyes of a holy God. We may be good looking sinners, we may be financially secure sinners, and we may be well educated sinners. We may be tall sinners and we may be short sinners. We may be young, middle-aged or old sinners. We may be married, single or single-again sinners. We may be sinners with 20/20 vision and we may be sinners that have corrected vision. We may be pulpit sinners, pew sinners or choir loft sinners. If we live near the church, then we are community-based sinners. If we live far from the church then we are commuting sinners. We sin by word, thought and deed, by commission and omission, serially and in parallel fashion, alone and in groups. We sin against family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, strangers, ourselves and God. We sin in the AM and we sin in the PM. Regardless of the category, classification or taxonomy, location or station, age or stage, condition or position, we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God.
Third, this verdict means that we all can find forgiveness in the love and grace of God through Jesus Christ. It means that we can be translated from darkness into light. It means that if we are headed in the wrong direction, that God allows U turns. It means that if anyone is in Christ, old things pass away and all things are made new. It means that my tomorrow does not have to be negated by my yesterday, and that my history does not have to dictate my destiny. It means that the image of who I used to be does not have to serve as the blueprint for who I can be. It means that the windshield of my future is more important than the rear-view mirror of my past. It means that as far as God is concerned, where I am going is more important than where I have been. It means that no matter how low-down, dirty and good-for-nothing as I may be, that I am still loved by God. It means that while Jesus was on the cross, I was on His mind. It means that when I have run out of chances with people, that I still have a chance with God. It means that I am guilty but forgiven. In 1873, Horatio Spafford put it this way:
My sin—oh, the bliss of this glorious thought—
My sin—not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
CONCLUSION
In a few moments, we will sing our invitational hymn. But right now, I challenge us to search ourselves and to ask ourselves: “Where do I see myself in this text?” Do I identify with the accusers, as someone who finds fault with everybody and everything because it hurts too much to face my own shortcomings? Do I want to stone others because I see the depth of my own sin reflected in them? Perhaps I have never stoned anyone, but have I killed someone's self-worth and public reputation with my mouth? Do I seek to punish others for the wickedness and weaknesses in my own life? Are my criticisms of others a projection of my own self-loathing? Do I want to hurt others because perhaps someone once hurt me? After all, hurt people – hurt people.
Or, do I identify with the accused, guilty of doing in secret what I hope is never discovered? Am I guilty of having an inconsistent lifestyle? Am I Dr. Henry Jekyll in public but Mr. Edward Hyde in private? Do I see her adultery as a replica of me being unfaithful to God? Am I guilty of being committed to Christ on Sunday, but violating that relationship during the week? Am I like Nicodemus, someone who seeks Christ at night, but does not acknowledge Him during the day? Does my character look the same in the moonlight and in the sunlight? If Christianity were declared illegal, would I be identified as a suspect?
Whether we see ourselves as the accusers or the accused, we are all nevertheless guilty and in need of God's forgiveness. We need God to forgive us, we need God's power to forgive others and we need God's help in forgiving ourselves.
So as we prepare to sing the invitational hymn, if there are any guilty folks here (if your name is Percival Perfect or Polly Purebred, this invitation does not apply to you), any moral misfits who need the forgiveness of God through Jesus Christ, we ask that you come forward so that someone can pray with you and help you to find the answers that you seek.
There is one final point that I want to highlight. Your bibles may have a footnote stating that this text (known academically as the pericope adulterae) was not in the early Greek texts, but rather was added to later manuscripts. That does not invalidate the message of this text, in fact it affirms it. For in the same way that Christ wrote on the ground, you should know, that it is never too late for Him to add your name to the list of the forgiven. For the same God, who made the sun stand still for Joshua, will stop the presses to write you into His forgiveness. Yes this text may have been a later addition to the gospel of John, but it was written, that you might believe, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing, you might have life, through His name.
Let every guilty person who has experienced God's forgiveness say Amen.
