Caught in the Act: Salvation, Not Condemnation
Througout the gospel of John, Jesus spends a lot of time disputing with the Jewish leaders. And this story shows how arrogant they were and how determined they were to trap him. Notice that it’s early morning when they bring this woman to Jesus. Had they drug this woman out of bed, or had they caught her the previous evening? Had they themselves caught her, or had she been reported to them by her husband? We just don’t know. But the huge question that immediately arises is, “Where was the man?”
The law that they cite, Leviticus 20:10 says, “If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.” Deuteronomy 22:22 says, “ If a man is found sleeping with another man’s wife, both the man who slept with her and the woman must die. You must purge the evil from Israel.”
In both cases, the law clearly says that both the man and the woman are to be put to death. But, as they quote the law, they say, “In the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. “ It sounds like they were misreading the law.
Also, there is no evidence that this law was ever enforced in this way in Jesus’ day. So not only are they reading the law through male chauvinist lenses, they’re being hypocritical. They’re asking Jesus to take a stand on an issue of law that they almost certainly have no intention of keeping.
They do this because they think they have Jesus trapped. If he upholds the law, he’ll be contradicting his own way of life and teaching. He’ll also be inviting the wrath of the Romans occupiers who had not given the Jews the right to carry out executions. If he says to disregard the law, then they will offer this as proof that he could not be from God, because he has not respected God’s law.
So what does he do? First, he bends down and writes something on the ground. He knows what he is going to say to them, but he intends to build the suspense. Then he straightens up and says to them, “Go ahead, stone her.” But with a qualification – “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”
You see what he’s doing. By saying this, he is maintaining his respect for the Law, while at the same time saying that there are other considerations that take precedence over the letter of the law.
Then he stoops down and writes on the ground some more. Of course, over the centuries lots of people have guessed about what Jesus might have written on the ground. I really have no idea, but I think the significance is that, by writing in dust, he was acting out a parable. I think he may well have had Jeremiah 17:13 in mind.
Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust
because they have forsaken the LORD,
the spring of living water.
Considering that Jesus has talked about the streams of living water that would flow from within the believer (John 7:37-39) , I find this parallel too powerful to be coincidental. By writing in the dust – and he may have been even writing their names—Jesus was acting out a parable that condemned those who were wanting him to condemn this woman.
These people, in fact, condemned themselves. Faced with Jesus’ challenge that the one who was without sin should cast the first stone, they all walked away. By doing so, they were confessing their own sin.
The woman is left standing there, while Jesus is still kneeling. I find it a very powerful sign of grace and humility that she is standing while he is kneeling. Then he straightens up. I wonder what she was thinking. Is she hopeful, or is she still quite frightened? Because there is still one person there who is without sin and who could, justifiably, throw that first stone.
He asks her where her accusers are. “Has no one condemned you?”
“No one, sir.”
“Then neither do I condemn you. Go now and sin no more.”
Whether it came from the pen of John or not, this story is the perfect commentary on John 3:17:
For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Jesus did not come to condemn, but to save. That is the message of the whole New Testament, and that is what this story powerfully illustrates for us. There’s more to salvation, however, than avoiding a stoning. Check back tomorrow.
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