Wednesday
But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 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. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them: “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
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. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
“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, NIV)
In chapters 7-8, the Apostle John records Jesus’ visit to Jerusalem during the Feast of the Tabernacles, which commemorated the harvest and God’s gracious provision of food while the people of Israel wandered for forty years in the desert. The opposition to Jesus is growing and John describes numerous threats to his life made during this time. In one of the many attempts by Jewish religious leaders to trap Jesus, they confront him in the courts of the temple with a woman accused of adultery. The trap is indeed a difficult one. If Jesus agrees with the judgment that she should be stoned, he violates Roman law that prohibits Jews from carrying out executions; if he disagrees, he will be accused of violating Mosaic law.
The Apostle John provides a fascinating detail which deserves our attention. John records that when faced with the accusing mob and the terrified woman, Jesus bends down and writes on the ground with his finger. We have no record of what he writes but the action would certainly have slowed things down and bought precious time in which to defuse the confrontation. Twice he stooped down and wrote on the ground. The second time he bent over had the effect of allowing the impact of his penetrating question – “if any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her’ – to sink in. Then, as the angry accusers slowly left, Jesus remains alone with the woman. He offers her forgiveness and challenges her to stop sinning.
This act of peacemaking is a remarkable story. Jesus not only teaches about peace, but he lives it out in the marketplace. Angry accusers are sent away convicted of their own sin, a distraught woman is saved from execution and offered restoration, and Jesus’ message of peace is put into practice for all his disciples to see.
Prayer
Almighty God, we rejoice in the Apostle John’s record of how your Son turned away the accusers and offered redemption to a condemned woman. Once again, we see your grace offered in a surprising and difficult situation. Give us a heart like Jesus so we can be agents of your grace in times of crisis. Amen.