The woman caught in adultery
2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and began to teach them. 3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and, making her stand before all of them, 4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. 5 Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, sir.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.” [John 8:2-11, NRSV]
“Early in the morning” Jesus came again to the temple and the people sat down to listen to his teaching (John 8:1). When along came towards Jesus “the scribes and the Pharisees” who must have been accompanied by a noisy and excited mob, they did so not to listen to him teach, but to give him trouble. They brought a severely humiliated woman whom they claimed to have caught “in the very act of committing adultery” and placed her in the midst of men in that “early morning”. John the artistic genius quietly alerts us to beware of the agenda-driven peeping-toms masquerading as holy religious men. Are there many of these “righteous” pretenders in our church today, busy finger-pointing while hiding their own sins?
Then of course, the charge against the woman is adultery. But, isn’t John already hinting at a possible foul play here? What adultery? Where is the man? So John’s Gospel deftly reveals that this thing called “male prejudice” as an accepted norm was very real (and perhaps still is?). In any case, the charge and the way it was presented demonstrated an injustice against the woman that was as gross as it was blatant, coming as it did from religious leaders!
In the narrative, the drama of course was staged by this gang of religious elites in function of a sinister plot to trap Jesus. Armed with seemingly “water-tight” evidence of a “woman caught in the very act of committing adultery”, they confronted Jesus with a trap question: “Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” Do you hear the two “now” and “now”? Imagine how cock-sure they were. But isn’t that funny! Since Moses had already passed the law on what to do, why did they have to ask Jesus for an opinion? Their question was not so innocent or genuine after all.
It was a trap: if he allowed the stoning, he would be dragged before the occupying Roman authorities who alone had the power to issue death sentences; but if he disallowed stoning, they would charge him before the Sanhedrin for teaching against the Mosaic Law. Either way, Jesus would lose. He had had it, so they thought.
Jesus saw the trap set by sinful religious leaders. John’s Gospel, after all, offers us a revelatory text in which Jesus is the Light of the World who exposes human darkness.
-
He will lay bare their conniving spirit. He will compel them to drop their fake holy and righteous persona, and face their true identity as nothing but men of sin like everyone else.
Jesus took his time to deliver his response. The pause, including writing in the sand, was deliberate and calculated to raise the expectation and intensify the impact of his response. When Jesus finally responded, he said real simply:
-
“Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”
Their heightened expectation collapsed into an intensified shock. One by one, the mob of blood-thirsty holy religious men left. Without looking, Jesus could hear the stones drop one by one as they left, beginning with the eldest – “thud, thud, thud.”
Our “Sinner” Identity as the Key
The key to this stunning story lies in the revelation by Jesus of something deep inside human actions. The scribes and Pharisees have repressed darkness that comes from dark spaces of their hearts. The Light of the World has now made those dark places visible. They insist that God’s laws must be carried out, and that they are the “righteous enforcers” of God’s “unforgiving” laws. They, posing as presumptuous religious leaders, had an overbearing assumption of a “holy” identity. They could not see the evil in their actions. Their repressed darkness having now been exposed by Jesus, all that they have left is an embarrassing new identity Jesus compels them to own up to – sinners like everyone else! For a long time, they have been casting stones, the older the more so. Now, the Light of the World has exposed their “acceptable” way of doing things as darkness. So “they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders,” presumably because the older we are, the more sins we have committed.
-
The true identity of the arrogant “righteous enforcers” of God’s “unforgiving” law is in reality “sinners” like everyone else.
This story exposes a serious blind spot as well. Often, we may not know our regular practice as “darkness”. It is just business as usual, a kind of unthinking habit. The truth of the matter is, it is easier to create a cover story than to engage in painful self-examination. To “know oneself” is tough.
So the Johannine Gospel delivers a strong message: watch it, and make sure that to continue doing things the usual way isn’t actually to prefer darkness. For that, after all, is self-condemnation.
A Pastoral Blueprint
After the murderous crowd had left, the Lord Jesus said to the woman, “Has no one condemned you?… Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on, sin no more.” To a woman rescued from the brink of scandalous death, the Lord’s words were balm for the soul and immense encouragement for the journey of life ahead.
In John 8, Jesus leaves the Church with a pastoral blueprint:
-
When we deal with people (especially women) caught on the wrong side of the law, always start with love and mercy, not with harsh laws and strict doctrines.
The Church in its work of mercy and compassion shall continue the mission of Christ to render a shield and protection to the vulnerable in society against the often mindless and merciless actions of those in power. Why? Because Jesus knows that real life is difficult (especially for women), and that real life is often complicated. People experiencing life difficulties need understanding, a gentle touch, and a kind word. So Pope Francis constantly urges ministers to listen to sufferers and journey with them. Relentlessly has the Holy Father reminded all ministers to accompany people who suffer for any reason whatsoever. In heart-warming ways, he has been reminding confessors to not turn the confessionals into torture chambers.
People who are hurting need encouragement, love and care, not more judgment and condemnation. What Jesus is doing here in protecting the woman goes to a deep level of human reality:
✓he touches wounds and communicates God’s closeness,
✓so that people can realize their dignity as God’s beloved children,
✓ and learn to walk tall with their heads held high,
✓ never lowering them in the face of humiliation and oppression.
It is, for me, a very powerful and touching thing to see the way Jesus affirms and restores the woman to her fundamental human dignity that the Creator has given her. Taking risk to do this, Jesus saves the woman from a very bad situation and delivers her to a place where she has a chance to live, to breathe again, and the possibility of a new life of grace, that hopefully “sins no more”.
Of course, she and she alone, has to take that decision to repent and to follow the Word closely.
Copyright © Dr. Jeffrey & Angie Goh, October 2024. All rights reserved.
To comment, email jeffangiegoh@gmail.com.
