Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more

 And everyone went to his own house.  But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.  Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them.  Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery.  And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act.  Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned.  But what do You say?"  This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him.  But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.  So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first."  And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.  Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last.  And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.  When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, "Woman, where are those accusers of yours?  Has no one condemned you?"  She said, "No one, Lord."  And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more."

- John 7:53-8:11

 Yesterday we read that on the last day, that great day of the Feast of Tabernacles (which Jesus is attending in Jerusalem), He stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."  But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.   Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, "Truly this is the Prophet."  Others said, "This is the Christ."  But some said, "Will the Christ come out of Galilee?  Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?"  So there was a division among the people because of them.  Now some of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on Him.  Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, "Why have you not brought Him?"  The officers answered, "No man ever spoke like this Man!"  Then the Pharisees answered them, "Are you also deceived?  Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him?  But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed."  Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them) said to them, "Does our law judge a man  before it hears him and knows what he is doing?"  They answered and said to him, "Are you also from Galilee?  Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee."

 And everyone went to his own house.  But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them.  Jesus remains in Jerusalem as a pilgrim, staying with other pilgrims to the Festival on the Mount of Olives.  It is a poetic complement to the Feast of Tabernacles (or tents), which commemorates the time that Israel wandered in the wilderness of Sinai without permanent structures, that Jesus has no house to go to.  It reminds us that God dwelt in the tabernacle that went with the people and led them wherever they were going, by day and by night (Exodus 40:38).

Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery.  Today's reading is not found in several ancient manuscripts.  It also is not covered in the commentaries of St. John Chrysostom (c. 349-407) and certain other Church Fathers.  But it is still "sealed by the Church" (as my study bible says) as authentic, inspired, and canonical Scripture.  Therefore it bears the same authority as all other Scripture.  In the Eastern Church, it is read on one of the two days when St. Mary of Egypt, a reformed prostitute, is commemorated. 

And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act.  Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned.  But what do You say?"  This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him.  But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.   My study bible tells us that the law dictated the death penalty for adulterers (Leviticus 20:10; let us note that the statute explicitly applies particularly to a man committing adultery with another man's wife, but both to the man and the woman).  In the days of Jesus, my study bible says, this ordinance was not observed to the letter.  The Pharisees have brought this particular woman because it was an opportunity to test Jesus.  If He objected to the punishment, He could be accused of opposing the Law.  If He upheld the punishment, then it would be possible to accuse Him of showing no mercy to sinners.  This is the single occasion in all of the New Testament in which Jesus wrote something.  There are many theories about what specifically He wrote.  Some have commented that He wrote the Ten Commandments, which each accuser had violated at least one time.  Others suggest that He wrote the names of the accusers who had themselves committed adultery.   Even if we look specifically at the statute itself, above, then we can see the flaws in the accusation (e.g. why is the man with whom she is caught committing adultery -- in the very act, we're told -- not brought to Him also?).

So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first."  And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.  Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last.  And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.  When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, "Woman, where are those accusers of yours?  Has no one condemned you?"  She said, "No one, Lord."  And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more."  Jesus upholds a great principle of the Law here:  that the wages of sin is death (Genesis 2:17, Romans 6:23).  However, He confounds the Pharisees, because He does not neglect the greater aspect of the Law:  mercy (Deuteronomy 13:17, Psalm 117:2-118:4; Hosea 6:6).  This mercy, my study bible says, is offered freely to all repentant sinners.  In order for us to receive this gift, we must in turn flee from sin.  Jesus' admonition to the woman, sin no more, is the same given to the paralytic He healed on the Sabbath at the previous festival in Jerusalem (5:14), for which He now faces the wrath of the religious leaders.

Mercy and the Law seemingly conflict, in our own limited perception of God's grace in giving both the Law and the concepts of mercy and love (Psalm 136).  Often translated as "steadfast love," this understanding of mercy also includes faithfulness and loyalty, even that which is unbreakable.  It is an integral part of the covenant with God.  As my study bible points out here, even in Jesus' time, the statute used to accuse the woman was not upheld to the letter of the Law.  It's also important that another possible accusation they could have made against Jesus, had He judged in favor of stoning the woman, would be that He was unmerciful.  (While one suspects that it was to the advantage of men that the letter of the Law was not upheld, there is still the element of mercy present in its relaxation -- that is what is missing from the accusation against the woman alone.)  Clearly, throughout the Old Testament and in Jesus' culture of the time, mercy was an essential and understood quality of God the Lord.  In that sense, Jesus also fulfills the "type" of the Lord of the Old Testament.  While mercy is not a new concept to introduce here, its use in practice of good judgment seems constantly to arise in Jesus' response to the dilemmas presented to Him by the leadership in order to trip Him up, in order to trap Him in an answer for which they may bring an accusation against Him.  The central charge currently made against Him, that He healed the paralytic in violation of the Sabbath (see this reading), remains an issue of mercy for which Jesus is aggrieved with these religious leaders for their hardness of heart.  It is not that He does not uphold the Law.  He has said that He is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 5:17-20).  But as Lord, the author of the Law, He points to the purposes of the Law.  They must express God's steadfast love and mercy.  In teaching us not to sin, in encouraging us to grow closer to God in communion -- even in participation which is offered through the Eucharist -- Jesus simply expresses more fully the love of God than was possible before the Incarnation.  All of this instruction is for our good.  That is, for ourselves, for our communities, for our world.  Even today, we can take the single element which is the most slender of all in today's reading, and easily missed, that of Jesus' participation in this Feast of Tabernacles as pilgrim, and we can apply it to our world and its present problems.  To be a pilgrim is to be a voyager, a traveler, one who lives light upon the land.  It is not to be an owner.  If we had more a sense of ourselves as pilgrims in this world, perhaps then such an understanding would teach us better how to be stewards as opposed to owners or exploiters of the world around us and all that is in it, including our fellow creatures.  There is nothing in the Gospels -- especially and including Jesus' admonition to sin no more -- which does not speak to God's love and mercy for human beings.  Sin takes us away from God; it is not merely a violation of a law or statute.  That sort of legalistic thinking is precisely what will enable the crucifixion of Jesus.  But if we understand sin as that which separates us further from God, that whatever instruction we are given is through God's love and steadfast, even infinite mercy, then we may be on the road to true healing and better communion ourselves.  Pure rationality and legalism may not get us to the place where we understand that mercy and the law come from the same place, the same Source.  It will not teach us how to see these two things as anything but dilemma and contradiction.  But love will.  It is the one way to see Christ and to understand God's work in us and among us.  To sin no more is not the advocacy of legalism, but of love.  Let us try to understand our Lord and the communion He wants with us.