The Woman Caught In Adultery

We invite all believers to come forward to take the Lord’s Supper with us in just a few minutes.

Today, we look at one of the most beloved stories in Jesus’ ministry. It’s known as The Woman Caught in Adultery. It’s one of the most dramatic pictures of grace in the Bible. People love this story. Hopefully, you’ll love it in the minutes to come.

We don't know this woman's name, but I’m glad we know her story, because no story gives the balance of grace and truth.1

Today’s Scripture

“They went each to his own house, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, ‘Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?’ This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, ‘Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.’ And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, “No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more’” (John 7:53-8:11).

In the end, the woman expected to see a man in front of her with nothing but stones in his hands. Instead, she saw One whose hands were full only of truth and grace.

But before we see its beauty, let’s take care of one matter.

1. Confidence in My Bible

1.1 The Earliest Manuscripts Do Not Include 7:53-8:11

If you have Bibles with you, some of you may notice little brackets by this story. If you read the fine print of a footnote, it will read something like, “The Earliest Manuscripts Do Not Include 7:53-8:11.” Some of you ignore this, while others of you are bothered by this. The story of the Woman Caught in Adultery was likely not in the Gospel of John.

Let’s look at why we doubt this beloved story was part of John’s gospel.

1.2 Why Doubt the Story?

1. The story is missing from all the Greek manuscripts of John before the 400s.

The four Greek manuscripts that are our oldest and most trustworthy, and the story is missing from all four of these.2 In fact, (later) manuscripts that do include the story mark it off with asterisks to show that they doubt the story was original to the gospel of John.

2. The early church fathers do not comment on this story.

That means all the pastors who preached, taught, and wrote about the Bible failed to include any comments about the woman caught in adultery. Evidently, it was NOT there for them to preach and teach on it. The story does appear much later, and when the story finally does show up in the manuscripts, it bounces all over the place.3 The evidence that the story was not in the original version of the Gospel of John is almost certain.

1.3 The King James Bible

There are some who say, “We should go with the King James and be done with it.”4 And there are Catholics who say, “We should settle on the Latin text and be done with it.” But it’s clear that the Greek texts are earlier than the King James and the Latin. We cannot bury our heads in the proverbial sand. Now, in the next century, some may find an authentic Greek manuscript from 125 AD, and viola, the story is there. Until then, a scribe likely inserts the story in the Gospel of John.

1.4 How Did It Get In There?

If it wasn’t in the original, what do we make of it? Where was this story for over 300 years?5

1.4.1 Oral Sayings of Jesus

We know some things Jesus said didn’t make the four gospels. Paul tells us that Jesus said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me” (1 Corinthians 11:24). That’s found only in 1 Corinthians. In fact, the last verse in John’s gospel says this: “Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written” (John 21:25). So, we know some things Jesus said were not in the gospels. This story may have very well been one of these.