Jesus and the adulterous woman

John is my favorite gospel writer. He has a rare way of writing. And he wrote The Revelation, which is rapidly approaching. Anyway, in the book of John, we find this beautiful story of how God forgives our sin: Jesus and the adulterous woman (John 8:1-11). I will relate the story, then explain what it means to me. I have a hard time reading this story without crying because I am the adulterous woman (okay, I'm not a woman, but you catch my drift). God has forgiven me so much. I can't help but feel grateful. This is a short story, but it is so telling.

***

8 Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.

² And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.

³ And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,

⁴ They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.

⁵ Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?

⁶ This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.

⁷ So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.

⁸ And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.

⁹ And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

¹⁰ When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?

¹¹ She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

***

Oh, my heart bursts when I read this account. Sin is very serious. God makes that clear throughout the Bible. In the Old Testament, adultery was punishable by death. We see that in the account of David and Bathsheba. Because David repented, God spared his life, yet required the life of his child (probably for the death of Uriah, actually). David screwed up big time (adultery and then murder), yet God continued to protect and bless him. That's because God sees our hearts and not just our actions (which is the concern of Mosaic law). As long as we have a teachable and repentant heart, God can still use us, no matter how many times we fall flat on our faces. For someone like me, that's good to know. Do I deserve death? Yes, of course, and not just because I committed adultery (Jesus said to even look upon a woman with lust in one's heart is adultery, and by that definition, adultery is a very common sin). Before that, even, I did things that were worthy of death. And, no, I won't tell you what they are! Truly, none of us are safe from the death penalty. Until Jesus set us free from the law of sin and death.

In this story of Jesus and the adulterous woman (and if she was taken in the very act of adultery, where was the man she was with? If anything, he has the greater condemnation and should not have been let go), we once again see the religious people come and accuse someone (interestingly, the devil is also called the accuser of the brethren). They did this to trap Jesus, not because they were genuinely asking for His advice or because they were concerned about the spiritual welfare of this woman. She was just a pawn in all of this. It was a sensational thing that she was caught "in the very act," as they said. Perhaps they thought that would elicit harsh condemnation from the Savior. But what's the difference if she committed adultery the day before versus being caught "in the act"? Some say this was a trumped-up charge anyway, that this woman wasn't even adulterous, but her actions and Jesus' words tell us she was indeed adulterous. If she was blameless, Jesus would have asked why they brought a blameless person to accuse before the whole synagogue. He said nothing of the sort. Instead, He does a curious thing. He bends down and writes in the dust, answering them nothing. 

The accusers continue asking Him. In my thinking, His answer is written in the dust. Jesus didn't do anything without a purpose. He wrote something. Some postulate He wrote the accusers' sins in the dust. Did they also commit adultery or something else punishable by death? Most likely, He started with the oldest and wrote his sins, then the next oldest, etc., until they were all covered. Then He asked those without sin to cast the first stone, full knowing that left no one. And then wrote some more. They must have had a lot of sins. Don't we all? That sure cleared out the crowd. It was hard to argue with what He wrote in the dust and continue with the admonition to cast the first stone. Jesus didn't tell them what to do; He simply said go right ahead if you are without sin. As far as I can tell, Jesus encountered only one person who could say they had not sinned against the law, and that was the rich man I wrote about earlier. Still, the young man's goodness didn't ensure he followed God.

Soon, Jesus was alone with the woman. The whole place cleared out. And He asked her, "Where are your accusers?" This part breaks my heart. It is this place of aloneness with God where He asks us the same question. When God forgives, our sins — and our accusers with them — vanish. Such is the power of forgiveness. I have been alone with God many times just as this woman was, and with this same outcome. "Go and sin no more," He says. 

It's interesting to note the expectation of how Jesus would answer. He certainly did not follow the expectation, and, just as Elijah witnessed the strong wind, the earthquake, and then fire, our expectation is that God should speak to us in bold terms. But His voice is often so quiet we have a hard time hearing it. He is, after all, the still, small voice that followed all of those things. Here we see Jesus barely speaking at all, and when He does, immense compassion flows. Some people expect and desire some sort of punishment from God when they do wrong. Jesus didn't do that here and didn't even mention any punishment.

Another layer of truth is adultery in this story includes spiritual adultery, which is seeking out solutions from other religions (which could be any other source, really). In God's book (which I guess would be the Bible), spiritual adultery carries consequences much worse than physical adultery (which Jesus defines as a man looking upon a woman with lust in his heart). Clearly, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

We are all worthy of death. Only God's forgiveness makes life worth living, or even possible. This woman should have been stoned. Heck, all of those who brought her to Jesus may have been worthy of death. But God allows a way out. Jesus is our scapegoat. He is the way to life, and life more abundant. Without Him, we are doomed. The religious people did not care one whit about this woman. However, Jesus did. On a personal note, I was convicted in the past of adulterous deeds. God takes our sins very seriously. I know what our sins did to our Savior. Someone once said if you want to know how God sees sin, look at the cross. They also said if want to see how God feels about us, look at the cross. No sin cannot be made clean by His blood. No mistake is too big for God to fix. The cross is a wretched symbol of death, but it is also a symbol of God's perfect agape love (Romans 8:2).

Thank you for reading. I hope this story is a blessing to you. It certainly is a blessing to me. My next mini-sermon will be the story of Jesus and Lazarus. God bless.