The Fifth Sunday in Lent, April 3, 2022

John 8, 1–11

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area, and all the people started coming to him, and he sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle. They said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” They said this to test him, so that they could have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger. But when they continued asking him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he bent down and wrote on the ground. And in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders. So he was left alone with the woman before him. Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She replied, “No one, sir.” Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more.”

“But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area, and all the people started coming to him, and he sat down and taught them.”  The Lord went “early in the morning to the Temple” not for his own benefit, but to teach the crowds which would assemble around him as soon as he was recognized.  He himself had already spent the night in prayer on the Mount of Olives.  “All the people” came to him, not to the scribes and Pharisees.  Seeing the crowd, he took the position of a teacher and sat down to teach.  He would teach all who came to him, even those who would drift by, stay a while, and then leave.  We see how hungry the crowds were to be taught the word of God.  “Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery.”  The scribes and the Pharisees also come to be taught, though that is not their intention.  They bring along a woman, who likewise is to be taught.  The woman had been caught in adultery and she was forced to stand in the middle of the crowd where Jesus was.  The man with whom she had been committing adultery was not brought.  Either he had been killed by the deceived husband or he had gotten away.

“Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?”  The scribes and Pharisees act here in open contempt of Jesus.  They show that they expect him to argue against the Law.  They also intend to rouse up the people against him by cornering him and causing him to give an answer that would make it seem he did not condemn adultery.  Ordinary Jews may not care whether the Lord broke — as the Pharisees believed he did — the Sabbath, but adultery was another, more personal, matter.  John comments on the bad faith on display here: “They said this to test him, so that they could have some charge to bring against him.”  or, perhaps, they could so smile up the crowd that they stoned him and the woman.

“Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger.”  We see the Lord’s prudence here.  He could have engaged the Pharisees in an argument over the correct interpretation of the Law and he would have won it, but this could have resulted in violence.  He also shows that the way to handle those who come in bad faith is to restrain oneself from handling them.  They are not worthy of an answer.  Instead, the Lord writes on the ground within the Temple courtyard much as a child might.  We note that he does not show anger or contempt in doing this.  We could consider his actions as giving the Pharisees time to think about what they are doing.  Or, that the matter they have brought before him does not really involve them and he is waiting for them to depart before he deals with it.  At any rate, the Pharisees are no longer in control of the situation; the Lord is.  “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”  After they have pestered him like so many children trying to get something from an adult, he gives them this wholly unexpected answer.  Since their question to him is in bad faith, he instead answers as to their proposed actions.  The fact is that the Pharisees did not intend to hold a proper trial for this woman, such as we see enacted in the story of Susanna, in Daniel 13.  They simply intended to lynch those woman and to tie Jesus to the deed, if they were unable to trick him into defending adultery.

“Again he bent down and wrote on the ground.”  Having so easily caught the Pharisees in their own trap, he pays no further attention to them and casually waits for them to go.  And they do in fact: “they went away one by one, beginning with the elders.”. The elders, who certainly knew better than to attempt to sideline judicial procedure.  “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She replied, ‘No one, sir.’ Then Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more.’ ”  The woman is not condemned, but neither is she forgiven, for she has not asked for forgiveness.  The Lord has saved her from a lynching, but she goes away into a most uncertain life unless she can plead with her husband to take her back.  Otherwise, her family will not accept her and her friends will shun her.  She will have no place to live and will have to beg for food.  She ought to ask the Lord what she is to do now, but it seems not to have occurred to her to ask the one who saved her how she is to live.