Go your way

Then each of them went home, while Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, 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. Now what do you say?’ They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, ‘Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.’ And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus straightened up and said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, sir.’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.’

- John 7:53-8:11

Beginning with the reading from Friday (My time has not yet fully come), the passages in our daily readings have been teaching us about Jesus' time spent at the temple during the Feast of Tabernacles. See the readings and commentary of Friday, Saturday and Monday for further understanding of the Feast and Jesus' teaching related to its events. This is the final year of Jesus' life; it is an autumn festival. In the readings concerning events at the festival, we've been told that the leadership is plotting against Jesus. In yesterday's passage, we learned that the temple police had failed to arrest him. In effect, they were awed by listening to a single sermon, and when they were asked by the leadership why they failed to arrest Jesus, simply replied, "Never has anyone spoken like this!"

In today's passage, Jesus has returned to the temple and is once again teaching. As he is teaching the crowd, the scribes and Pharisees bring to him a woman caught in adultery, for the purpose of testing him. Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?’ They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. According to my study bible, the passage in the law to which they are referring reads as follows: "The man who commits adultery with another man's wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress, shall surely be put to death" (Lev. 20:10). My study bible also notes that this law was not observed to the letter in the days of Jesus. The leadership is forcing an application of the law in order to trap Jesus. If he fails to condemn the woman, he'll be accused of breaking the law. If he agrees to her condemnation, then he will fail to consistently show the mercy he proclaims. This is a familiar scenario in the gospels: Jesus is constantly pursued by those who wish to trap him in a dilemma. But his solutions to these dilemmas are always surprising, what we would describe as "outside the box." Often, he turns the tables on his accusers so that they cannot reply.

Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. Personally, I find this fascinating. It's the one and only reference in the New Testament that Christ wrote anything. We'll never know what he wrote - it is a source of endless speculation. Quite often, it's theorized that he wrote the names of those accusers who were also guilty themselves of adultery. I find it significant that the law condemns both the adulterous man and woman to death, yet we are only presented with the woman. Perhaps the man is among her accusers? She might have been deliberately enticed in order to set a trap for Jesus, as she was "caught in the act."

When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus straightened up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" She said, "No one, sir." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again." Jesus' teaching on mercy is consistent. He will not condemn her, but neither does he condone. Instead, Jesus' emphasis is always on relationship. He wishes to restore all people to relationship with himself and with the Father. "Go your way, and from now on do not sin again" is a way of asking her to remain in right-relatedness to God, to himself and to the Father, restored to this place he seeks for us all.

What's important in this passage is the multiple effect of Jesus' startling love. One must take into account the position of women in his society to understand the risk he takes in publicly declaring his love and care for this woman, that she be spared. Regardless of the threat hanging over Jesus, it is hard to imagine such treatment in terms of the conditions of her status. Jesus does not go by the social conventions of his time. Furthermore, the law is being abused - even by the current standards, the leadership was putting him to the test to apply an extremely harsh application of the law. But through all of this it is also necessary to understand how Jesus' love works and what it is for. He is here in the world to restore all to the Father and to himself. Most of all, his interest is in renewal and rehabilitation - not just of individuals to be upstanding citizens or productive contributors, this is not the point. The renewal and rehabilitation is always of relationship - our relationship to our Creator. In asking the woman to endeavor to sin no more, he is asking her to remain in this newly-restored relationship to the Lord, to stay with it. Above all, what triumphs is love. This is his greatest concern, the purpose and function of mercy. Anything else, be it social convention or religious law, that stands in the way of this love and relationship must go, because it does not serve the purpose of God for which Jesus is here in the world. His mission is to restore us all to God - "for the life of the world." The question we ask ourselves today is this: how do we restore that relationship? What do we need to do to remind ourselves that his goal is that love? What barriers do we need to break to get there? That is all we need to ask, in His name.