A CASE NOT PROVEN.
John 8:1-11.
JOHN 8:1-2. “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.”
At the end of the previous chapter (John 7:53), the council of Jerusalem had failed to apprehend Jesus and ‘every man went unto his own house.’ Jesus, on the other hand, did not own a house in Jerusalem, but resorted rather to the mount of Olives. The garden of Gethsemane, at the foot of the mount, probably gave enough shelter at night for Him to have pitched His tent there during the feast of Tabernacles.
Jesus “came into the temple” probably refers to the temple courtyard, where people would gather to listen to the teachers who resorted thither. “All the people” suggests, at least, a great crowd. Sitting to teach was customary in that day and age, not just in Judaea, but throughout the civilised world of that time.
JOHN 8:3-5. “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 must be stoned; but what sayest thou?”
This is the only time in the Gospel of John that “the scribes” are mentioned as co-conspirators with the Pharisees. The scribes no doubt knew the letter of the law just as well as the Pharisees might. Between them, they hoped here to entrap Jesus.
It is somewhat astonishing that the woman “taken in adultery, in the very act” stands alone accused. Where is the man?
Leviticus 20:10 and Deuteronomy 22:22 do both pronounce the death sentence for adultery, without necessarily mentioning the mode of execution. However, the sentence was to be executed against both parties to the act.
The trap lay in the words, “What sayest thou?” If Jesus said, ‘stone her,’ then they would have reported him to the Romans, who felt execution was their prerogative (cf. John 18:31). If He said she ought NOT to be stoned, they would tell the fickle crowd that Jesus was not an upholder of their precious law, and should be rejected.
JOHN 8:6-7. “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 cast the first stone at her.”
Elsewhere Jesus says that ‘with the finger of God I cast out devils’ (Luke 11:20). In Moses’ day it was with ‘the writing of God’ that the two tables of the law were engraved (Exodus 32:16). Jesus, who is God, was writing on the stony ground.
The wisdom of this saying outstrips their own divisiveness. Jesus neither condemned nor pardoned, but stuck by the law that obliged the ‘witnesses’ to this alleged act to carry out the sentence.
But only if they had clear consciences in this matter! Jesus taught elsewhere that if anyone had ever had an adulterous thought, they had already committed adultery in their hearts (cf. Matthew 5:28).
JOHN 8:8-9. “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.”
We are not told what he wrote, but it was enough to awaken the consciences of the woman’s accusers. Conscience is a powerful thing. It does not have the power to save, but it does have the power to convict. Without it, we would hardly be aware that we were sinners before God, and needed a Saviour.
The accusers were gone, and Jesus and the woman stood “alone” in the midst of that hitherto accusing circle.
JOHN 8:10-11. “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.”
In the Scottish courts we have a verdict pronounced ‘not proven.’ Without anyone to accuse her, the woman stood ‘without condemnation.’ Neither did Jesus condemn her (cf. Romans 8:1).
The finger of God did not point at her. It is not Jesus who is 'the accuser of the brethren' (cf. Revelation 12:10)!
We are not told she had NOT sinned, but Jesus called her to a better lifestyle. We are not told that she HAD repented, but Jesus rather called her to: “go, and sin no more” - which is repentance.
Repentance means ‘change of mind,’ and that was what He required of her, and requires of all of us.
