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 our current readings, Jesus is attending the eight-day Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem.  It is the now the final year of His earthly life and ministry.  Yesterday we read that on the last day, that great day of the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus 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 Him.  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.  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.  . . ."  My study Bible tells us that this story of the woman caught in adultery is not found in several ancient manuscripts.  Neither is it covered in the commentaries of st. John Chrysostom and certain other patristic teachers.  But nevertheless, it says, it is still sealed by the Church as inspired, authentic, canonical Scripture, and it bears the same authority as all other Scripture.  In the Orthodox Church, it is read on one of the two days when St. Mary of Egypt, a reformed prostitute, is commemorated.

". . . 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 says that the law dictated the death penalty for adulterers (Leviticus 20:10).   But at the time of Jesus, this ordinance was not observed to the letter.  This particular woman was brought to Jesus by the Pharisees simply because it was an opportunity to test Him.  If Christ objected to the punishment, then He could be accused of opposing the Law.  If He upheld the punishment, then He could be accused of showing no mercy ot sinners.  My study Bible further comments that this is the single place in the New Testament where Christ wrote something.  There are several theories which exist as to what it was He wrote.  Some suggest that He wrote out the Ten Commandments, which all the accusers had violated at least once.  Others say 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."   Christ's answer is confounding to the Pharisees, in that He upholds a great principal of the Law here -- that the wages of sin is death (Genesis 2:17, Romans 6:23) -- but without neglecting its greater aspect of mercy (Deuteronomy 13:17, Psalms 117:2-118:4, Hosea 6:6).  My study Bible emphasizes that this mercy is offered freely to all repentant sinners.  In order for us to receive this gift, we must in turn flee from sin, as Jesus tells the woman, just as He has previously said to the paralytic He healed.

 

 It's interesting to me that the Gospel tells us that Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.  As the scribes and Pharisees continue to ask Him for His response, He tells them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first."  And then again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.  There is nowhere else in any of the Gospels (or, as my study Bible points out, any of the New Testament) where it's indicated that Jesus ever wrote anything.  Clearly, if He's writing with His finger on the ground, this will also not be any sort of written statement left for posterity.  (Can one imagine if He did leave such a thing for us?)  No, clearly, this writing is only meant for a certain person or persons, and we have no idea what He did write.  But if we link up this noteworthy moment where we're told Jesus writes twice with other things we read in the Gospel, we are given a picture of Jesus that shakes us from the image of the itinerant preacher and the people who are His disciples.  First of all, He's clearly literate.  In Luke's Gospel, He reads the Scripture in the synagogue in His hometown of Nazareth.  When He stands to read on the Sabbath, He's handed the scroll of Isaiah.  He finds the specific place where He can read the following, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."  And He makes this announcement to His hometown:  "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."  (See Luke 4:16-30.)  It's not clear where or how His learning came or if He received training in a religious school, but we do know He is not simply an average member of the "people of the land" such as the fishermen who are His disciples, or so many others who  become believers.  In stooping down to write, Jesus, poetically enough, shows us that He is, in fact, on the level of the educated ones, the Pharisees and scribes of Jerusalem in the temple.  He has their skills and education, and moreover, we could say in the tones of American slang, He also "has their number."   He knows "where they are at," He knows what they are up to, and He knows them and their lives.  He is every bit up to the skill of debating and verbal skirmishing they can bring to Him, and He gives the perfect response that stops the trap they've set for Him:  "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first."   We don't know what it is He stooped to write on the ground, both before and after this statement, but whatever it was, He was quite effective.  One by one, from first the oldest and down to the last, they are convicted by their conscience, and go out one by one until only Christ is left with the woman.  In the law as it was written, both the man and woman caught in adultery are supposed to be punished.  Perhaps we should assume that what Christ wrote had something to do with that missing man, and the circumstances in which the woman was brought to Him.  We don't know.  But what we do understand is that Christ is on everyone's level, and that they are no match for Him -- not in human skills and learning, and certainly not in terms of His insight and divine knowledge.  Neither are they a match for His mercy and His justice.  At this present time, we can look around ourselves and see a lot of figurative stone throwing.  Vilification and cancel culture, character assassination and insinuation are made the norms of the day, with more censorship to come of "wrong" opinion and statements.  It seems that, for many, pointing a finger at someone else really does seem to exclude or erase one's own sins, or perhaps to hide them.  Most of this is done today on social media, and it seems doubtful that -- without Jesus around face-to-face -- anyone pauses long enough to be convicted by their conscience regarding their own fallibility or past errors and sins.  We who are among the older crowds of the population should probably be the first to consider our own behavior, if the Gospel -- and real experience -- is anything to go by.  And again, we have to ask ourselves, who is setting this example today?  There is a lot of scolding of others to go around, but it hardly seems that the humility (and wisdom)  to reflect first is very popularly practiced.  Perhaps we should all be convicted by our consciences if we realize that we might be more hard-hearted than even the Pharisees and scribes we read about in today's reading.  On the other hand, it is a reminder that we need to hear Christ's words now more than ever, especially if we are tempted to join in the condemnation.