The Woman Caught In Adultery

So, since there is no condemnation for those of us who belong to Christ Jesus, where do we get off condemning others? That’s not what you or I are called to do. We are called to love God, love our neighbor, and make disciples. Will you make disciples by condemning people? Will you show love to your neighbor by condemning him or her? Will you show love to God by trying to play his part? “No!” to all of these. That’s the brilliance of the woman’s story.

Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd.

“Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The Law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?”

They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.

When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”

“No, Lord,” she said.

And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more" (John 8:1-11).

So let’s dive into the Scripture. This is what we know from reading it. Jesus was devout with his “me time.” He went to the mountain often to pray, to think, to be with Father, and/or just to get away from all the people who were pursuing him. Jesus was a devout teacher. Jesus always drew a crowd because he taught with authority.

The Pharisees, on the other hand, were a disruptive lot. These “religious” men brought a woman into the midst of a crowd being taught by a man they normally tagged as a deceiver. Then they accused the woman of adultery and called Jesus, “Teacher.” Were they trying to flatter the Master? Matthew Henry wrote:

The crime for which the prisoner stands indicted is no less than adultery, which even in the patriarchal age, before the Law of Moses, was looked upon as an iniquity to be punished by the judges, Job 31:9-11; Gen. 38:24. The Pharisees, by their vigorous prosecution of this offender, seemed to have a great zeal against the sin, when it appeared afterwards that they themselves were not free from it; nay, they were within full of all uncleanness, Matt. 23:27, 28. Note, it is common for those that are indulgent to their own sin to be severe against the sins of others.

The Law of Moses was pretty clear. The penalty for this sin was death by stoning and the Pharisees wanted blood and they wanted it on Jesus’ hands! What did Jesus do? He got up from his seat, squatted down, and began drawing in the sand. And the Pharisees still wanted blood! And Jesus kept drawing in the sand. Eventually Jesus simply says this, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!”