He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first

 

 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 

 

In yesterday's reading, Jesus spoke a parable to those with whom He was speaking about end times, both the fullness of worldly time and His second coming, and the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple.  He said, "Look at the fig tree, and all the trees.  When they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near.  So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near.  Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place.  Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.  But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly.  For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth.  Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man."  And in the daytime He was teaching in the temple, but at night He went out and stayed on the mountain called Olivet.  Then early in the morning all the people came to Him in the temple to hear Him. 

 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.  Although the lectionary is currently in the midst of readings in Luke (in yesterday's reading we finished Luke chapter 21), in today's reading it skips to a text from John's Gospel.  This reading is from the last verse of John 7, and the beginning of John 8.  The setting is the Feast of Tabernacles, which, in accordance with John's Gospel, Jesus attended midst His three year ministry.  Many important things happen at this Feast, significant events in Christ's ministry, and tremendous examples of His preaching, inspired by and reflecting various elements of the Feast (see John 7 - 10:21).  Today's reading, however, is one section that doesn't always appear in the lectionary.  This is because, according to my study bible, this story which follows of the woman caught in adultery is not found in several ancient manuscripts.  Neither is it found in the commentaries of St. John Chrysostom and specific other patristic commentators.  But it is nevertheless sealed by the Church as inspired, authentic, and canonical Scripture.  It bears the same authority as all other Scripture.  In the Eastern Church, it is read on the day when St. Mary of Egypt 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 comments here that the law dictated the death penalty for adulterers (Leviticus 20:10).  However, this was not observed to the letter in Jesus' time.  The Pharisees simply bring this woman to Him because it is an opportunity to test Jesus.  If He objects to the punishment, then they can accuse Him of opposing the Law.  If Christ upholds the judgment, He can be accused of showing no mercy to sinners.  My study bible also adds that this is the one place in the entire New Testament where we're told that Jesus wrote something.  There are many theories regarding what it was exactly that He wrote.  Some suggest He wrote out the Ten Commandments, which every accuser here had violated at least once.  Others say that He wrote the names of the accusers who had themselves committed adultery.

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' answer is confounding to the Pharisees, because, according to my study bible, He upholds a great principle of the Law -- that the wages of sin is death (Genesis 2:17; Romans 6:23), while at the same time He does not neglect the greater aspect of mercy (Deuteronomy 13:17; Psalms 116:2-117:4; Hosea 6:6).  This mercy is freely offered to all repentant sinners.  In order to receive this gift, we must flee from sin.  We might observe that Jesus gives this same advice to go and sin no more after some of His gracious healings (see, for example, John 5:14).  

If we read the statute in the Law carefully regarding adultery, we see that both male and female who commit adultery are to be put to death (Leviticus 20:10).  As the Law is written with an orientation toward men, the emphasis is on breaking the rights of marriage by committing adultery with another man's wife.  Logically speaking, if this woman in the text was caught in adultery, there must have been a man also committing adultery, and therefore breaking the statute.  It stands to reason that the man was known to the scribes and Pharisees testing Jesus; for all we know, he might have been one of them.  Therefore the story is from the start unjust and lopsided, besides the fact that this statute was no longer upheld to the letter of the Law in Christ's time.  So, we have to focus on the fact that bringing her to Him is, in fact, simply a trap designed to catch Him in such a way that He can be accused before the people, and diminished in their eyes as a holy Man.  If we look at it that way, we have to view this test the way my study bible sees it:  with one answer He might be accused of opposing the Law, and with another He can be accused of hard-heartedness -- or, as my study bible puts it, of failing to forgive sinners.  And let us remember that this is the very thing for which Jesus has scandalized the Pharisees and scribes.  He has sat at dinner with notorious sinners such as the tax collector Matthew (also known as Levi) whom He has taken on as disciple (see Luke 5:29-39).   A Pharisee who had invited Christ to a dinner in his home was scandalized when a well-known sinful woman bathed Christ's feet (Luke 7:36-50).  If they can show Him as being hard-hearted in this instance, perhaps it will burst the appealing bubble of Christ as the One who forgives, even taking on disciples -- apparently both male and female -- who are known, even rather notorious sinners.  This might even be a clever way to burst the popularity of His ministry, this "new" covenant for which "new wineskins" are necessary, as He has so summarily told them on the occasion of their criticism when He dined with Matthew and his friends (Luke 5:36-39).  Let's note also that both of those occasions -- dining with tax collectors and when the sinful woman bathed His feet -- were quite public.  They were occasions on which Jesus' rebuke of those who would accuse Him of failing to properly uphold the Law where sinners were concerned was quite public.  His dismissals of those who would make a scandal of His commerce with such people were, as reported in the Gospels, even rather abrupt.  So this occasion in the temple becomes, in that plausible setting, of comeuppance by those scribes and Pharisees whom He had rebuked.  It was a kind of test to put that dispute to rest one way and another.  But yet again, they failed to do so -- for Christ went right to the heart of the matter.  It doesn't really matter who we are, nor how exemplary our behavior or exalted our position.  There will always be some way in which we, also, are imperfect.  All of us need God's mercy, one way and another.  Besides the missing man who had to be also caught in adultery, there's another kind of obvious hypocrisy here which Jesus points to with His command,  "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first."   As we think of these words today, let us ponder how easily we throw stones at others in a modern medium:  that of the virtual world of the internet and social media.   We might think this story has nothing to do with today, but we'd be wrong.  In fact, I'd suggest there is an epidemic of unconscious and cruel stone-throwing going on around us.  Perhaps those who are quick to do so have never bothered to think about their own imperfections, or how easy it is to find something -- or concoct something out of thin air, as the case may be -- with which to label another.  Just like this woman seemingly plucked out of nowhere and brought before Jesus, there is a backstory to everything.  With social media, it is just that much more easy to conjure up facts taken up out of nowhere, to omit the circumstances, to edit the fullness of the whole story.  We are rather quick to throw stones, even while in our hypocrisy -- far from alien to the world of Jesus' criticism of the Pharisees and the scribes -- allows us to target others when we ourselves are far from perfect specimens of kindness or care, or even real compassion that is not simply for social appearance.  Moreover, like these scribes and Pharisees themselves, appearance-driven "good deeds" are frequently motivated by a deeper, hidden, and selfish ulterior interest.  Let us think twice when we see others vilified.  Let us look to the real story.  But most of all, let us consider how easily we ourselves - as opportune victims for another's hostility -- could be targeted and treated the same.  For true compassion comes only through humility, a virtue sorely missing from the pantheon of attributes that seem to be widely admired today, when it is so often the voice of the snide that pervades the dialogue of what passes for insight.