The Woman Caught in Adultery (John 8:1-11)

Lance Armstrong was widely considered to be the greatest cyclist in the world having won seven consecutive Tour de France races. In 2013, in a shocking interview with Oprah Winfrey, he admitted to taking performance enhancing drugs in order to win. Lance Armstrong went from celebrated hero to despised pariah in a matter of days. To this day, the name Lance Armstrong is associated with cheating. While not excusing anything he has done, how would you like to be remembered forever for the worst thing you have ever done? Today we will look at a well-known and debated story about an infamous woman.

The Sinful Woman

Jesus was teaching in the temple complex and the scribes and Pharisees brought this woman “caught in the act of committing adultery” (8:4) to Him. Adultery is defined as voluntary sexual activity between a married person and someone who is not his/her spouse. It is a serious sin and in the Old Testament it was punishable by death. Leviticus 20:10 says, “If a man commits adultery with a married woman–if he commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife–both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.” (See also Deut 22:22) In the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5) Jesus affirmed the sinfulness of adultery but did not stop there. Jesus pinpointed that the problem resides in the human heart in the form of lust. Lust is a heart issue and manifests itself in various ways such as: adultery, cohabitation (unmarried adults living as if they were married), pornography, and homosexuality. In fact, all sexual activity outside of the bounds of heterosexual marriage between one man and one woman is sin. Lust begins in our heart and wages war against us every day. Adultery is sin. 

The Useful Woman

The scribes and Pharisees asked Jesus, “In the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do You say? (8:5)”. John tells us what Jesus already knew: “They asked this to trap Him, in order that they might have evidence to accuse Him” (8:6). The trap was easily spotted by Jesus for two obvious reasons: 1) How did the religious leaders catch someone in the act? and 2) If the woman was caught in the act, where was the man? As the old saying goes, “It takes two to tango.” The absence of the man indicates that they did not care about the law or the woman, they wanted to trap Jesus.

Jesus was surrounded by a large crowd in the temple complex with Roman soldiers patrolling nearby. Jesus knew it was a trap so what was He going to do? Kenneth Bailey summarizes this trap: “If He decides to carry out the law of Moses, He will be arrested. If He opts to set it aside He will be discredited. What is it going to be: Moses or Rome? Either way He loses and His opponents win.” Jesus’ first act was to ignore them. We are told that He “stooped down and started writing on the ground with His finger” (8:6). There is a lot of speculation about what Jesus wrote in the ground. We are not told what He wrote so we must conclude it is not important to the story. This is also supported by the fact that the crowd did not ask what He was writing.

They asked Jesus what He would say and Jesus determined that the woman deserved to be stoned, but it must be done in a certain way. The trap was set for Jesus to fall into, but Jesus turned it back upon them so that now they are trapped. Jesus said, “The one without sin among you should be the first to throw a stone at her” (8:7). Do you see what Jesus just did? Remember what we said earlier, “If He decides to carry out the law of Moses, He will be arrested. If He opts to set it aside He will be discredited.” Jesus doesn’t just simply say that she deserves to be stoned; He asked who was going to be the one to throw the first stone.

The leaders were hoping that Jesus would fall into their trap, but now they are trapped. Jesus upholds the goodness of the Law of Moses while shaming the hypocritical crowd. When He called for the one without sin to throw the first stone, He puts them on the spot and convicts their conscience. In other words, Jesus says, “When the Roman soldiers arrest Me for inciting a mob, who among you are coming with me? When the Roman soldiers ask, ‘Who threw a stone?’ which among you–who are so zealous for the Law of Moses–are coming to prison with Me?” This whole event was a sham and Jesus called their bluff. Being convicted of their sin and not wanting to go to prison; we are told “when they heard this, they left one by one, starting with the older men” (8:9).

The Forgiven Woman

After the crowd disperses, notice what Jesus said and what He did not say. We learn a lot about Jesus through His interactions. Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners and met the woman at the Samaritan well, not because He wanted to appear tolerant and inclusive, but because He came “to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). Jesus calls sinners to repentance and to receive eternal life. Jesus came to heal the sick, not affirm their sickness. With the woman caught in adultery, Jesus did not come to condemn nor to affirm; He came to save. Jesus offered her freedom from her life of sin. 

Jesus asked the woman: “Has no one condemned you?” (8:10). She replied, “No one, Lord.” The woman thinks she spoke truthfully but she was mistaken. RC Sproul comments, “There was a person in that crowd who was without sin and He was qualified to carry out the Law of Moses to execute the law to its fullest measure and had he done it He would be acting justly.” Jesus could have thrown the first stone, but He extended mercy instead. Jesus replied, “Neither do I condemn you…Go, and from now on do not sin any more” (8:11). Jesus neither condoned nor excused her sin. Jesus did not call for a reexamination of the 7th commandment, but offered a transformed life. 

The Woman Who Received Mercy

Lance Armstrong is in a rehabilitation process. He wants to change his reputation. Will he be successful? It remains to be seen. In a remarkable turn of events, the guilty woman who deserved to receive the full measure of the punishment of the Law of Moses received mercy instead of condemnation. In fact, it is a shame that this woman is remembered as being caught having adultery. We should remember her as the woman who received mercy. Have you received mercy from Jesus? He came to seek and to save the lost. He transforms us to a new life in Him.In a remarkable turn of events, the guilty woman who deserved to receive the full measure of the punishment of the Law of Moses received mercy instead of condemnation. In fact, it is a shame that this woman is remembered as being caught in adultery. We should remember her as the woman who received mercy. Have you received mercy from Jesus? He came to seek and to save the lost. He transforms us to a new life in Him.