The Gospel of John - part 21

preached 4/28/2019

The Woman Caught in Adultery

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 8:1-11

Perhaps one of the more controversial passages in John, we come to the story of the woman caught in adultery. The issues with this passage are a plenty.

First, you have the textual issue of whether or not it was actually in the earliest copies of John.

Second, you have the legal issues concerning the Mosaic law vs Roman law.

Third, you have the moral issues surrounding what is the right response to the woman who is guilty.

Fourth, you have the somewhat feminist issue of why the man is not mentioned here. After all he is guilty also.

But most importantly, I believe this passage is controversial simply because of its personal nature. This story hits too close to home for most people. Whether they are guilty themselves or a family member is guilty, the fact is all of us have dealt with this particular crime whether in thought or deed…and if not this sin, then definitely another.

The story conjures up the conflict we feel when it comes to dealing with our personal sin vs the sin of another. When it’s us caught in the act, we look straight to Jesus and say, “See, I should be forgiven, too.” But, when it’s another who has sinned against us, we look and sound more like the scribes and Pharisees. Unfortunately, we can not have it both ways. Either we must resign to be the judicial Pharisee and face the fact we are not following Jesus, or we must lean closer to Christ and let His Spirit guide us. It is not an easy task, and I certainly do not presume to have mastered it.

But that is the gap between us and God. We see only opposing options, forgiveness or justice. God sees perfect justice coupled with perfect mercy. These attributes are revealed in Christ, and this story is possibly the best example outside of the cross.

With that in mind, let us turn to John 8, and see how this famous story illustrates both the perfect love and perfect justice of Christ.

The Setup

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.

John 8:2-8

As we read, we notice a few things. First, Jesus has returned to teaching in the temple. He is in the midst of teaching that the scribes and Pharisees bring this woman to him.

Now, before we move into the test, you probably have a translation that notes this passage is not in the earliest manuscripts. There are two Gospels that have large sections missing from their earliest copies, here in John and the ending of Mark. As far as Mark, many scholars believe the ending of Mark was lost fairly early in the copying process, and then someone restored the ending or at least an ending. That is a story for another day. In John, the story is a little more interesting. This passage is missing from the second century copies, however, it occurs as early as the third century, with notations that its acceptance as questionable. The problem, however, is that even though it was missing in John, it was (and still is) a story of Jesus that was widespread. The Church Fathers knew it to be an authentic story of Jesus, they just weren’t sure where it should go. In fact, as the canon of Scripture became finalized, many believed the story was omitted because it is such a controversial story. Augustine himself was concerned the story would provide an excuse for wives to cheat on their husbands.

The questionable nature of the story testifies more to the reliability of Scripture rather than to skepticism.

Think about it this way: If later religious zealots wanted to persuade people into false belief, there is no reason to include this passage. People don’t like hard teachings, they want easy to swallow, fun stories.

The second thing you might notice is the Pharisees do not explain how they caught the woman, nor do they bring the man with them. The reason is simple: they are not actually concerned about carrying out the law, they are concerned about discrediting Jesus.

How can I say that?

The man is noticeably absent, though he is just as guilty, and the Torah prescribes that both parties be executed. It would appear he has been given clemency for no apparent reason.

Roman law required a Roman official to oversee capital punishment. If Jesus says to stone the woman in keeping with the Mosaic law, He is subverting Roman authority. If He says let her go, He is disobeying Mosaic law. It’s supposed to be a Catch-22.

Last, as I said, we don’t know how she was caught which begs the question “What were the Pharisees doing to find out about the affair?

No, this setup isn’t about justice, it’s about catching Jesus in a trap.

The hypocrisy

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.

John 8:6-8

Oh, if only we knew what he wrote! So many people have conjectured what he wrote.

Was he doodling in frustration?

Was he listing their sins?

Did he write the commandment only to cover it with ‘forgiven’?

In the RSV is a footnote that adds “the sins of each of them”—the clause is highly questionable, but the effect works well with the story.

Whatever he wrote, we see Jesus is not falling into their trap. He gives possibly the most famous line of the Bible, “He without sin cast the first stone”.

If they are going to uphold the law, then at least be consistent. The guilty must get in line while the innocent do the condemning.

This line is why the story made it into the canon. Compare it with other known sayings of Jesus.

Matthew 7:5

You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

Matthew 23:1-4

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4 They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

And later in this chapter, Jesus will call them sons of the devil because of their hypocrisy.

The saying makes the principle clear:

Only the truly innocent have the right to condemn...but we are all guilty.

The Reconciler

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 8:9-11

Verse 9 demonstrates at least a little wisdom in the crowd. The older ones leave first, after all the older we get the more we realize our faults. Little by little everyone leaves. It appears even the disciples were unsure about how to respond to Jesus’ statement, because they leave as well. What do we do when the Law is clear about punishment of sin, but we are all guilty and require punishment? Should we really just stone us all?

No, as we read the final verses, we see a beautiful picture of what it means to approach Christ with our sin. Or possibly even the picture that awaits each of us when our life is over. Because at the end of our time here on earth,

our accomplishments,

our good deeds,

our giving,

our wholesome family values,

They all will mean nothing when we face the certainty of our own sin. For we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We have all been caught in our sin...some of us just don’t know we’ve been caught yet.

But the woman is left to face her Creator on her own, and Jesus asks, “Where did they go? Does no one condemn you?”

I imagine a slight smile on Jesus’ face as he says such an ironic statement.

She replies, “No one, Lord”.

Now we could just say she addresses him out of respect as “Lord”, but there is certainly more to it than that. She has certainly heard of Jesus, if not seen him already, and she certainly has witnessed the authority with which he speaks. And now, to see the scribes and Pharisees leave at his singular statement proves there is more to this man than she sees on the surface.

And with that Jesus pronounces the statement you should highlight in your Bible.

“Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more.”

That is the culmination of justice and mercy, grace and law. Justice and the Law demand she be condemned, and Jesus would have been right in condemning her. However, the truth is we are all sinners, scribes, Pharisees, men and women, we have all fallen short. Jesus did not come to point out her sin—she knew what she had done. But he did come to restore life.

That is grace—an unmerited favor...getting what you don’t deserve.

But Jesus does not just excuse her sin and then let her go. He says “sin no more”. That is the justice of the passage. She is not allowed to continue in sin, but she is given the chance to do better.

As Christians, we tend to forget ‘justice’ doesn’t just mean punishing crime, it is also about building a better society. “Eye for an eye” only goes so far...it punishes but it does not restore. Should people be punished for crimes? Of course...but punishment isn’t the goal. Justice and restoration is.

The extremes of this story are clear. Some overly emphasize Jesus’ mercy forgetting that Jesus never excuses or allows the sin.

Jesus offers forgiveness and then calls us toward holiness.

On the other end, some merely skip the story preferring that it wasn’t in the Bible. Because if we leave it out, then we don’t have to deal with our own Pharisaic hypocrisy—condemning those that sin differently than us while begging for forgiveness for our own sin.

The lesson here is simple to understand, but requires a total dependency on the Holy Spirit to learn:

Vengeance will always belong to the Lord...it is not ours to claim.

Reconciliation is offered by Christ, and those of us who have been reconciled to Christ are in the ministry of reconciliation.

2 Corinthians 5:18 - All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.

It is better to seek reconciliation than retribution.

Again, I do not speak as one who has mastered this truth—I am only sharing what God is trying to teach me. It is a hard truth, and frankly, I have a more Old Testament personality when it comes to people who have wronged me. Throwing a rock at the person sounds pretty good.

But for today, I leave you with this:

There is only one Good person who has walked this Earth and that is Jesus. The rest of us have sinned. We have chosen other gods to follow, or sought things that we know are destructive.

Whether we think we’ve sinned a little or sinned a lot,

it doesn’t matter because at the end of the day,

we may wish to see ourselves as Jesus’ disciples,

or picture ourselves as the Pharisees,

But truly we are the woman caught in adultery.

You may not have committed actual adultery, but your sin is no better. We can not cast stones, because we are all guilty. We all deserve death.

But, God, in His infinite mercy sent His Son to die on a cross to pay the price for our sin. Our punishment was put on Him. Not so He can excuse our sin or leave us to wallow in sin, but so that He can say “Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more”. His mercy toward us is a call to true holiness. We are called to live godly lives that reflect His glory.

So today, if you have not received forgiveness from God, then today is the day. You’ve been caught. You’re kneeling before a court that is ready to execute punishment. Will you look to your Savior and receive forgiveness?

If you say, “Blessed be the Savior, I am saved” then today I ask you, ‘What is in your hand?’

Have you been carrying stones to pelt whoever is doing wrong? Or do you have an open hand willing to lead others to the same mercy that found you?

As Christians, we never excuse sin nor do we fail to call sin what it is. But if we fail to point sinners to the Savior, then we have failed in our mission. The goal is reconciliation. First, we are reconciled to God who created us. Then, we offer reconciliation to those around us in the name of Jesus Christ