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1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.” ~ John 8:1-11
The religious leaders went to their homes and the Lord Jesus went to the Mount Of Olives. He always went to the Mount Of Olives to pray and to teach. Then, early in the morning He came, once again, to the temple. Then, all the people came to Him, and He sat down and taught them. Contrary to the format of today's classroom where the teacher stands and the pupils sit, in their culture the teacher sat and the pupils stood.
It was in this context that the Scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman whom they had caught in adultery. Then they asked Him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" The question is: how did the religious leaders catch her in the act? And, what happened to the man with whom she was committing adultery?
The Scribes and Pharisees were trying to trip the Lord Jesus up, so, they bring this woman to Him and ask Him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?"
These Scribes and Pharisees remind the Lord Jesus that, according to the Law of Moses, adultery was to be punished by stoning. They expected the Lord Jesus to not punish this woman, and, if He did that, He would be contradicting the Law and they would have Him. They thought for sure they had Him trapped.
The Lord Jesus wrote on the ground, the Scribes and Pharisees thought He was stalling for time, and they kept pressing Him, asking Him again and again to answer them and tell them what He would do with the guilty woman.
Standing up, Jesus looked at the religious leaders and spoke these famous words, "Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." This is the only time Jesus ever employed the word "without sin" in the Gospels.
The Lord Jesus upheld the Law, and the Scribes and Pharisees were speechless! The Lord Jesus is saying, in effect, "You are no better off than she is. Your hearts are filled with murder and hatred." Again, in v.8, the Lord Jesus writes something on the ground.
According to v.9, "At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there." The Scribes and Pharisees disappeared from the oldest to the youngest until no one was left there but Jesus and the woman. The oldest departed first because they were deemed to be the first to cast a stone at the woman due to their seniority.
The point is not that judges must be sinless, the point is that righteousness and justice should be founded on a gracious spirit, and if it’s not, what you get is the heartlessness and hypocrisy of the religious.
When her accusers are all gone, Jesus ends the story saying to the woman, “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.” The guilty woman found herself forgiven. She has no human accusers, because the Lord Jesus had dismissed her jury.
The Lord Jesus alone had the right to condemn this woman. He was the Sinless One, the only One who fulfilled the qualifications to stone. But He did not even pick up a stone. It was because he forgave her sin. Only God can forgive sin, for it is against His standard that mankind has rebelled.
Without forgiveness, justice must be satisfied. God never dismisses sin as though it is not significant. His truth, His holy character, demands that any rebellion toward righteousness be punished. Justice must be satisfied, unless sin is forgiven. So it is clear that the basis on which the Lord Jesus said these words is that He forgave this woman of her sin.
This is the pervasive message of the New Testament: the Lord Jesus came into the world to provide grace through His cross, to establish holiness, righteousness, and justice through our experience with His grace. Then, those who have had this experience with His grace should sin no more. The Lord Jesus isn't commanding sinlessness, He is calling us to see the utter foolishness of pursuing a life not defined by Him.
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