This is the first of a two-part look at the story of the woman caught in the act of adultery and brought before Jesus. These two devotions were part of the Moments with Jesus QAL and Devotional Journey. If you're interested in having 40 daily devotions delivered to your inbox to help you focus on God's word in the days leading up to Easter, check out the Roman Adventure QAL and Devotional Journey.
The Pharisees had a habit of trying to trap Jesus, by whatever means necessary. On one occasion Jesus was at the Temple, sitting and teaching a crowd of people, when “the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd” (John 8:3).
How terrified this woman must have been! It would be bad enough in our day to have authority figures drag a woman in front of a crowd and announce, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery” (v. 4) - just pause for a moment and put yourself in that place and imagine the shame and embarrassment you would feel at such a public display. This woman, though, had to deal with not only the shame and embarrassment, but she would also have been afraid for her life because, as the Pharisees pointed out to Jesus, “The law of Moses says to stone her” (v. 5).
Side note, why was it only the woman brought before the crowd? If she was caught in the act of adultery, then surely she had a partner who was equally guilty, and the punishment for both the man and the woman was the same. So why was she the only one publicly shamed? I’ve heard of scholars who wonder if the Pharisees hadn’t arranged it all beforehand with her partner, which, if true, just adds to the misery of the moment for her.
Jesus knew the Pharisees were trying to trap Him, and instead of answering right away, He “stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger” (v. 6) while they kept on demanding He answer them. The Bible doesn’t tell us what He wrote, but there’s plenty of speculation. My favourite possibility is that He wrote sins the men had committed, which seems plausible considering He then stood and told them, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” (v. 7).
How the poor woman must have trembled when she heard that!
She wasn’t dragged away to be executed, though. Instead, “when the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman” (v. 9). How long did it take for the men accusing her to slip away? Did she watch them walk away from her, or were her eyes glued to the ground, or maybe on Jesus?
Eventually, it was only Jesus and the woman standing there in the middle of the crowd who had been listening to Jesus’ teaching. He said to her, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” (v. 10). I picture a small smile on His face as He looks at her, a little reassurance for her terrified spirit. When she said no, He continued, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more” (v. 11).
Can you imagine the relief that must have flooded her at His words? How it must have felt to know that she was free to walk away, and that she wasn’t about to die after all?
Do you realize He doesn’t condemn us either? We may not have been dragged before a crowd and our sins declared publicly to everyone (hopefully not, anyway!), but we’re just as guilty as this poor woman was. Thankfully, “there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). We are free to walk away from the sins of our past, just as this woman was that day, because He is the only one who is without sin, and He chose to forgive us rather than condemn us.
I am eternally grateful that my sins have been forgiven - and NOT put out on display!
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