The Adulterous Woman
John 8:1-11
Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives. And early in the morning He came again into the Temple, and all the people came unto Him; and He sat down, and taught them. And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto Him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, they say unto Him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest Thou? This they said, tempting Him, that they might have to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down, and with His finger wrote on the ground, as though He heard them not. So when they continued asking Him, He lifted up Himself, and said unto them, he that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again He stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up Himself, and saw none but the woman, He said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
During Jesus’ time on earth, He was continually challenged as to His authority and with what He taught the people. The Pharisees and other spiritual leaders tried many times and with many different traps to discredit Him, but Jesus always managed to wriggle out of these traps, from their point of view. You can almost see them after yet another of Jesus’ escapes, slowly walking back to the Temple, heads hung low, only to be met by the others and that constant question: “Not again?” How Jesus must have frustrated these leaders.
And then the opportunity of a lifetime gets dropped almost literally in their laps. Jesus was nearby and a woman was caught in the act of adultery at that time. The Law handed down from Moses clearly stated that she was to be stoned to death, but as a territory of Rome, the only ones able to sentence anyone to death were the Roman leadership. If Jesus said she should die, then the Pharisees would have enough to have the Roman leadership arrest Jesus, if Jesus said to spare the woman, the Pharisees could show the people that Jesus did not follow the Laws of Moses and the Elders. Even after 2000 years I can hear the Pharisees triumphant “We finally got Him!!” cry.
The woman was drug by the Pharisees to where Jesus was teaching. The poor woman must have been in a panic. It was very probable she had heard of Jesus and His tendency for helping people. Perhaps when brought before Him she even believed she would survive. But Jesus was also a prophet of God and He had to obey God’s Law. But Jesus just sat on the ground and wrote as if He didn’t care. And just what was Jesus writing on the ground while the woman stood in judgment before Him? Perhaps something He had said before, maybe a something mathematical? It is very possible He had looked into this woman’s heart and discovered she was truly repentant of the wrong she has done and deserved forgiveness. We really don’t know, so we cannot say for sure. What is recorded for us is Jesus used this opportunity to teach the children of Israel some lessons.
As the Pharisees brought the woman before Jesus, the judgment for her belonged to Jesus alone; His decision was final. Jesus’ answer must have drained the all the blood out all of them. He neither said to execute the woman, nor to spare her life. He gave a very unique and unexpected response for such a grave matter. “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” How many people actually considered casting the first stone before their conscience got the better of them? How long would you have held on to the stone? Would you have thrown the stone or would you let it drop to the ground?
There is that sinful part in all of us that makes us want to believe that we are not that bad of a person, and usually, we look at others to justify this belief. We might think “Yeah, I’m late for work every day, but this guy over here doesn’t do anything all day,” and in our minds, we justify ourselves, make our wrong seem not so wrong. The woman had committed adultery, and to those around, whatever wrong they had done, it was less than what this woman had done.
In His sermon on the mount, Jesus spoke against this. “Do not judge, or you too will be judged” and went on to say “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.” When Peter asked Jesus how many times he should forgive his brother who sins against him, Jesus’ response was the mathematical “until 70 times 7.” Clearly at that time, Jesus needed to remind those assembled of these concepts.
One of the books of the Bible is named Judges, it tells the stories of those appointed by God to listen to the grievances of the people and pass judgment and justice. God does allow nations to put people in positions of judgment concerning the safety and well-being of their citizens. These people are only to sit in matters of the law, not in matters of the person. These people are to say “You broke this law, you must serve this punishment,” and not “You are a vile human being for what you have done”. In our country, this is to include the police force, judges, attorneys, and jurors. What they are not to do is make judgments about a person’s character or how they live their lives but rather on matters of the law only.
One of the hardest concepts to balance in any legal system for the Christian is the line between justice and forgiveness. As Christians we are taught, we are expected, to forgive those who do wrong against us, just as God has forgiven our wrongs against Him. We are also to show others mercy, just as God has shown us mercy. There are times when a Christian sits on a jury, the crime the defendant is found guilty of doing warrants their execution. How should the Christian proceed in this? Do we try and convince the other jurors to extend forgiveness or should we vote in favor of the death penalty? Someone has done us wrong and we contact the proper law agencies. The case moves to trial, as Christians do we continue with the trial or should we show mercy and drop the charges?
I wish I had an easy answer for you. I have served on a jury and been the plaintiff in a case. As a juror, the man did not receive forgiveness, nor did I try and convince the others to forgive, he received 40 years in jail and 28 of those years are mandatory. As a plaintiff, my case went before the judge who handed down what I believed was a proper sentence; mercy was not discussed in court. As a juror, the crime was such that he needed to be placed in jail, not only to serve the sentence, but to keep him off the streets where he might harm another, he had also been in and out of jail throughout his life and this was not his first time before a judge. As the plaintiff, the man who wronged me, he stole something from me, contacted me to tell me he would make things right if I dropped the charges. This person had lied to me several times before and he was told he have to make things right before I dropped the charges; he never did anything he said he’d do. But even then I was still thinking about dropping the charges. The night before my court appearance my wife Beth told me he wouldn’t be in court because he tried to kill himself and he was in the hospital which only added to the thoughts of dropping the charges. The day of the court appearance I was still wrestling whether to drop the charges or not, the stolen item had been replaced. I did end up going to court and before court started, I was called up and told the guy would not show up as his lawyer called and reported the person had gotten food poisoning and my court date would have to be postponed. I realized then that the person was trying to use my position as a Christian to get the charges dropped. I decided not to reward him for his efforts.
All I can do is give you Jiminy Cricket advice; let your conscience be your guide. As hard as it might be, approach the situation with forgiveness and mercy as your desired outcome. But the safety of the public must be considered as well. If you serve on a jury and the defendant is someone who have never been in trouble with the law before, then forgiveness might be an option, depending upon the charge against him. If the defendant is someone who is constantly in trouble, it might be best for society, and actually the person, if they spend time in jail. If someone wrongs you, be quick to offer mercy. If the person’s actions and manners indicate they are not repentant or trying to play on your Christianity to get off light, it might be best if they find out they cannot.
Jesus needed to remind the people who confronted the adulterous woman about forgiveness and mercy. He got the people to remember that all are sinners and everyone had disobeyed God’s Law at one time or another and that all need forgiveness. Jesus reminded those around Him that all who are truly repentant and cry out for mercy should receive mercy. He reminded all of the need for a Savior. The Savior that had been promised to them all throughout the Old Testament. The Savior who would heal the souls torn by sin. The Savior that would bridge the chasm between heaven and earth and allow God’s creation entrance into paradise once again. Jesus is that promised Savior! He came to ensure that all people are forgiven and have life eternal. Jesus pleaded for our sake when He said, “Father forgive them, they know not what they do.” We are given mercy, undeserved kindness, from God by His final sacrifice, that of His Son Jesus Christ. With that sacrifice, we are now able to be called into faith with Him, able to be in a relationship with Him. And because of that faith we are able to call Him Father, and to call Jesus Brother.
“He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone.” Along with all the passages of the Bible we carry in our hearts and minds, this is one that should be there as well. It is one that will keep us humble, remind us of the proper use of judgment, and keep our eyes on the needed Savior. We will remember that our sin is no less than others and our wrongs are still wrong. Sure, some other guy at work may not do anything all day, but I am late for work every day. Our lives are not so holy that we can throw stones at others. In that way we are all the adulterous woman. Amen.
