John 8: 1-11
(Please read this passage in a translation which is your preference.)
Jesus did three epic actions within the course of this historic event: Jesus furthered the Law, Jesus waived conviction, and Jesus instructed the woman to live a new life.
In line with their sinister mission, in the wake of the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles, the Pharisees seized a woman who was having sex outside of marriage. They did this solely to trap Jesus.
Ironic that the “teachers of the law” joined in with the Pharisees for this confrontation, because their statement about what Moses commanded is oversimplified, thus not completely accurate. Now the sin of adultery is as clear as can be, since it was one of the “Ten Commandments,” which were commandments given to Moses by God. But the punishment of death by stoning for certain sexual sins had complex parameters.
The bottom line regarding this vindictive plan was that the plan surely seemed to be a trap which would be successful one way or the other. If Jesus said ‘no,’ do not stone her, then the Pharisees could get away with announcing across the land that Jesus permitted adultery, and that He went against the Mosaic Law, whether that was accurate or not. Thus they could counter any claims that He is the Christ.
And if Jesus said ‘yes,’ then the Pharisees could say that Jesus was a brutal and violent judge. The reason: We can presume that stoning punishments for sexual sins under the Mosaic Law had been scratched by Israelite leaders many centuries before. They sure were not enforced by King Solomon nearly a thousand years earlier. This punishment probably was only carried out for a short time in Israelite history, possibly for brief periods during the time of the Israelite judges. If Jesus would have said to stone the woman, He would have been hated.
Instead, Jesus, being God the Son, did what only He could do. Jesus furthered the Mosaic Law by commanding that only a person who is sinless should carry out a stoning punishment. He had furthered the Law in His ‘Sermon on the Mount,’ and He did it again here.
Thus not a single person threw a rock, because there was not a single person without sin, other than Jesus.
That is why Jesus was left all alone with the accused.
Secondly, Jesus did not convict her.
The ultimate mission of Jesus was to die on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of all people. In the near future, Jesus would also fulfill the Law, being the atoning sacrifice on the cross for the sins of the world. On this occasion, however long before those pinnacle six hours, Jesus was foreshadowing his merciful atoning work by not convicting the woman.
Yet there was one more crucial declaration. Always remember the final statement by Jesus: “Go now and leave your life of sin” (John 8:11 NIV).
Sin hurts people. Jesus does not want anyone getting hurt.
Jesus clearly taught adultery is a sin. Jesus instructed the woman to cease committing adultery.
In this day and age, sexual immorality is rampant, and many people are getting hurt.
We Christians need to continue to adhere to and proclaim the teachings of Jesus.
We need to acknowledge that sex outside of marriage is wrong and hurtful.
In the wake of graduating from Virginia Tech many years ago, I was a proud graduate, and I had a successful three years as a Resident Advisor to my credit. But sadly, I struggled with a private sin of lust, which only brought loneliness. Turning to Jesus ended up being the path to living by love instead. Turning to Christ less than a year after graduating resulted in a changed life where I have lived with peace and joy for all these remaining years.
We need to tell people that forgiveness is offered from Jesus and can be received by anyone.
We need to be tactful yet bold in saying the will of Jesus for His children is to flee from a life of sin and to rely on the Holy Spirit to live a life of holiness.
Living in holiness results in goodness!
Jesus is for real!
Hunter Irvine
Scripture Love Blog
