The Adulterous Woman - Continued

Lesson #136

We ended the last lesson, lesson #135, with the Pharisees standing in silence, not knowing what to say as Jesus completely disarmed them when he said, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” As the Pharisees stood there pondering what to say or do, Jesus “once more . . . bent down and wrote on the ground” (John 8:8 ESV). The Pharisees knew the law: “On the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses the one who is to die shall be put to death; a person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness. The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall purge the evil from your midst” (Deuteronomy 17:6 – 7 ESV). By this the witness would feel the responsibility in giving evidence, as he was also to be the executioner. Jesus knew that under these conditions, no one would dare step forth and claim the position of witness and executioner. “Now when they heard this, they began to drift away one at a time, starting with the older ones, until Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him” (John 8:9 NET). Again Jesus takes command and shows his authority. As the accusers drift away 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?”” (John 8:10 ESV). It says in verse 9 that Jesus was left alone with the woman. “Alone” cannot mean there were no people left there except Jesus and the woman because this was taking place a public setting. This is clarified when Jesus asks the woman where all her accusers had gone. Is there no one left to condemn you? The Pharisees had accused the woman, but they were not willing to proceed to the point of taking responsibility for her death and they left. To the question asked by Jesus, the woman replies, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”” (John 8:11 ESV).

I don’t believe Jesus is not condemning her for her adultery. Since those who brought the charge of adultery against the woman have left, Jesus does not condemn her to die based on their charges. Jesus knows she has sinned; she was detected and accused; her sin was great, but with the accusers gone, Jesus tells her to go and sin no more.

Prayer

Father, how refreshing it is to see that in some difficult situations there may be a way to proceed that would produce positive results that the world would not think of; ways that are from above that disarm evil intensions and bring a measure of order. Here, Jesus displays wisdom that is from above and demonstrates to us the importance of seeking and applying this wisdom. Lord, thank you for being our source of all we have need of.