John 8:3-11 -- The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst 4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5 Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” 6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”
Yesterday we closed out John chapter seven where the Pharisees were so bent on executing Jesus they were willing to tear down anyone who got in their way. We start chapter eight with an event that reveals that mentality in their actions.
We've seen over and over now the Pharisees had not been able to condemn Jesus on what He taught from the scripture. So, they resort to setting a trap by bringing a woman that had been caught in the act of adultery. They reference the Law of Moses but just like the devil likes to do, they twist and omit some to suit their needs.
First, we find they bring only the woman to Jesus. The mosaic law in Leviticus 20 and again in Deuteronomy 22, clearly state both the man and woman are guilty and both are to be dealt with. So where was the guilty man?
Second, in Mosaic law no one could be found guilty without two to three direct witnesses. This meant sexual sins in Old Testament law were hard to find someone guilty. These aren't exactly things where two or three witnesses are hanging around to see. That meant for these Pharisees to have multiple witnesses who saw the act, there was some sort of setup. Either they were watching a suspected couple, the man involved was part of it, or something else. It's not something three people randomly stumble upon, especially in this time.
All of this gives a bit of context for exactly what the Pharisees have done here to set up this trap for Jesus. They want to see if He will go against Mosaic law by saying don't execute her or against Roman law by saying to execute her (Only Romans could order executions). Their minds had twisted the very Word of God to try and pin Jesus between religious law and legal law. For sure they had Him now, right?
Well, Jesus responds by not responding. He instead kneels and writes in the dirt. No one knows what He wrote. There is endless speculation on what it could be. What we do know is He stands up and flips everything back around on the accusers. "Let him who is without sin throw the first stone.". In Mosaic law the witnesses of the crime were to be the first to throw the stones, and if those two to three who caught them in the act were part of a setup, it explains why they didn't step forward now. Even just the act of letting the man go and only getting the woman, meant they'd all broken the very Mosaic law they were using.
We find one by one the accusers walk away. Jesus is left with the woman and she, being the pawn in the Pharisees twisted trap, finds she is free. Jesus doesn't condone her actions in anyway, but instead He addresses it clearly. "Go and from now on sin no more.".
Many people throughout history and even today twist, omit, and cherry pick God's word to manipulate and support their own desires and agendas. As Christians we MUST NEVER take the Word of God out of context, twist it, omit things, cherry pick things, and use it as a tool to bludgeon, destroy, teardown, or manipulate. Now hear me clearly, I am not saying we condone, agree, or promote sin. NO WAY. NEVER. Jesus didn't and 1 John 2:6 says we are to walk as He walked. We see Jesus stand firm against all the sin that was involved in this situation. He stood up to the Pharisees and the woman as well.
Oh, if we could only learn to stand firm on the Word of God like our Lord and Savior did. Firmly, unwavering, boldly, but in love. We've seen today bringing someone else's sin to Jesus, means we better be ready to face the sin in our own lives. Again, we do not waiver on God's Word and His Truth, but Christian, you get to choose how you'll wield that truth to others. To borrow from a post I saw online: May we do better.
You are loved. You are prayed over. You are not alone.
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