John 8:1–11

Read the passage.

I have wondered for a long time what I would say about this passage. Most Bibles today should have some kind of indication or note on John 7:53–8:11 that sets it apart from the rest of the text. The note will say something like “The earliest manuscripts do not include….” This is an indication, but not proof, that this section was not original to John’s gospel. It may have been added later as someone remembered the story and added it in when they copied it down. Maybe it was a margin note by a scribe that got folded in to later copies. Maybe the incident is entirely made up. We don’t know, nor can we know.

So, what do we do? Tradition can be very hard to go against, and for a very long time scholars thought these verses were part of the Gospel. By the grace of God, even though we may suspect this isn’t original, it isn’t a key passage for any doctrines or practice for the faith. It doesn’t contradict anything else we know about Jesus’s ministry. Preachers have given many sermons on this passage and we can learn things from it regardless.

Some manuscripts put this passage after John 7:36, when the temple officers give their excuses for why they didn’t arrest Jesus during the feast. If it comes after verse 52, the Feast of Booths is over, and Jesus is just returning to the temple to teach. Whatever day it was, the Pharisees come to Him with a dilemma. A woman had been caught in adultery and that is a capital offense under the Law of Moses, so what does Jesus think they should do? The horns of the dilemma are this: God’s Law should be followed, but under Roman occupation, the Jews are not allowed to carry out executions, so stoning the woman could end up getting a lot more people killed.

Besides the devious nature of the question, there are some additional irregularities in what the Pharisees and scribes have done. Adultery isn’t a crime that one does by oneself. Indeed, Leviticus 20:10 and Deuteronomy 22:22 both say the man and the woman are both to be put to death. So where is the man who was committing adultery with the accused? If she was “caught in the act”, then why wasn’t he? Furthermore, why isn’t there a trial? Is this supposed to be it? Are they making Jesus an impromptu judge?

Jesus’s response is to write on the ground. Out of all of Scripture, this is the only time we are told Jesus wrote anything. And we aren’t at all told what He wrote. They keep asking Him to make a judgement, but He only says the famous line, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” He continues to write, and the accusers go away, one by one, older men first. Was Jesus reminding them of sins they had committed, perhaps even the same one they were accusing the woman of? We don’t know, and we can’t know.

Once they are all gone, Jesus tells the woman she is free to go, because there is no court to condemn her, or, more technically, to issue a sentence. He also admonishes her to sin no more, which implies that she had done something, whether it was adultery or not. So, while Jesus did not condone the crime she was accused of, neither did He allow the Pharisees to make a mockery of justice, and He was able to show mercy to a sinner.

Help us to seek the truth, show justice, and love mercy, as You have done with us.