In the previous study, we covered Jesus' teaching at the Feast of Booths. Jesus makes some powerful claims about Himself, which directly tied into the celebration at hand.
As I mentioned at the end of the last study, the earliest manuscripts we have do not include John 7:53-8:11. However, I've decided to include this passage in our discussion.
Christ is risen!
You may be asking yourself, "Why do we include this in John's Gospel, if it wasn't found in the earliest manuscripts? Why do we consider it Scripture, at all?"
Well, for one, this passage may not have originated with the Gospel of John, but that does not mean we should not trust the validity of this story.
There are records of this story being shared, as the end of the 1st/the beginning of the 2nd Century.
Most importantly, the early Church believed in the validity of this story. The shared it with one another; they included it in later manuscripts of John's Gospel, some in the Luke's Gospel.
With all of that said, let's begin...
53 They went each to his own house, [Begin Chapter 8] 1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them.
Jesus, despite the obvious resistance and efforts building to have him arrested, remains in Jerusalem after the Feast.
The people are captivated by his teaching. He is teaching with a knowledge and authority that is unlike anything they've ever experienced.
Think back to John 7. Jesus teaches without needing to appeal to a greater rabbi. Imagine for a second, the very best teachers you have ever had. When you have a teacher like that, you look forward to going to class, spending time with them, hearing their stories.
Imagine Jesus sitting, teaching, with people seated all around him. Earnestly listening to everything he has to say.
Jesus is a beloved teacher. Even if the people listening to Him cannot always understand Jesus' significance (as Messiah), many of them know Him as a beloved, profound teacher. A man that has opened their minds to understand Scripture.
3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst 4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5 Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” 6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him.
The Pharisees believe that they have a laid a fairly clever trap. (Verse 6)
Jesus is in public, seemingly on the defensive. They are looking to embarrass Jesus, in the Temple, as he is teaching. They, obviously, have no regard for the woman. There is no need for her to be dragged into the Temple for this discussion.
As the text reads, this woman was "caught in the act", which is meant to be taken literally. And if she was "caught in the act", where is the man! After all, "It takes two to tango."
You may be asking, "How exactly did they manage to do this?" This had to be the convenient timing, of all time. Or, this is a plan laid out in advance and manipulated into conveniency.
"Moses commanded us to stone such women" is probably in reference to Leviticus 20:10, but there were stipulations for that command. There had to be multiple witnesses to the event taking place, and both parties (man & woman) were to be put to death!
At any rate, this does not actually seem to be a very common practice at the time of Jesus. Even before that -- from the Old Testament -- Hosea's wife is an adulterer, and yet the book of Hosea does not end with Gomer's stoning. Instead, Hosea goes to lengths to buy back his wife, at YHWH's command.
These men are not primarily concerned with keeping the Law of Moses. They aren't concerned with true justice. Think about one chapter earlier, John 7:24, "Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment."
They want to make an example/mockery of Jesus and this woman. They want Jesus to say the wrong thing, in front of a crowd of people, so that the people would turn against him.
I can't help but think about Jesus' interaction with the woman of Samaria (an adulteress) in John 4. He does not condemn her. Instead, he goes through Samaria, meets her at the well, initiates the conversation, and offers her new life.
Think again about John 5:39-47. In verse 45, Jesus says to the religious elite, "Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope."
(Verse 6 continued) ...Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.
There is no end to the amount of speculation about what Jesus may have written with his finger.
Some think he was writing the stipulations of the Law, which I briefly outlined before.
Some think he may have been writing the sins of the Pharisees.
Some believe Jesus was just drawing. The verb in Greek for "wrote" κατέγραφεν can mean "scrape, write, draw, engrave".
I love the image of this woman being thrown in front of Jesus, her accusers standing over her, and Jesus stooping down to her level.
In my humble opinion, I think focusing on the writing, drawing, etc. misses the point of the story. Although, it is fun to speculate.
7 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.” 8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground.
Ok, so the sequence of Jesus' writing on the ground, to then make His statement, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone," and then, to go back to writing on the ground, suggests to some that Jesus was listing out their sins (starting with the oldest) and then continued to list their sins after his statement.
To me, though, this suggests more of a disinterest in playing their game. He is defusing the situation, instead of escalating the situation.
And as I said earlier, I do not think the point of this passage is what Jesus wrote. I believe it is what He said, based on what comes nexts in verse 9.
9 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.
"When they heard it, they went away," Jesus confounds the Pharisees with the power of his word, just as he had captivated the people with that same power.
Every voice that yelled out in accusation, that called for her death, has been silenced. She is alone before Jesus, the one true Judge of all mankind.
10 Jesus stood up and said to her,“Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said,“Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”
Actually, you know what... Despite everything I just said in this post, I don't think this passage is about either what Jesus wrote in the dirt, or what He said to the Pharisees.
I think this passage has everything to do with how Jesus treated this woman, a sinner.
I think this passage is all about Jesus' mercy and compassion. His willingness to come down to our level.
I think it is all about the reality that one day, we will stand before our Judge and he will not condemn us. Anyone that has ever been "caught in sin" -- any sin -- can put themselves in this woman's shoes, and find new life in Jesus.
This is the same promise you have in Jesus. You are not condemned. You are free in Christ! I pray that you live in that freedom. I hope that you have a blessed Easter.
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