Thursday, October 22

In his book Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis says,
“If anyone thinks that Christians regard unchastity (sexual sin) as the supreme vice, he is quite wrong. The sins of the flesh are bad, but they are the least bad of all sins. All the worst pleasures are purely spiritual. The pleasure of putting other people in the wrong, of bossing and patronizing and spoiling sport, and backbiting; the pleasures of power, of hatred. For there are two things inside me...they are the animal self and the diabolical self; and the diabolical self is the worst of the two. That is why a cold self-righteous prig who goes regularly to church may be far nearer to hell than a prostitute. But of course it is better to be neither!”

In the story found in John 8, Jesus confronts a band of cold, self-righteous prigs and a woman who was guilty of open sexual sin, and handles both with such wisdom and grace that the story has become a favorite of many.

The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such. What do you say about her?" John 8:3-5 

It is clear that these religious leaders feel they have Jesus trapped by this question; they have an airtight case, they’ve got Him either way!

You cannot read this, however, without asking yourself a few questions about this trap they have devised for Jesus.  First of all, how would respected and morally upright religious leaders know where to find a woman in the act of adultery - hmmmm?  

Second, adultery is rather difficult to do alone, so if this woman was caught in the act, then where is the man in this adulterous act - hmmmm? Some of the commentators suggest that perhaps they knew the man - he may have been one of their very own - and they let him go. We do not know. But this indicates that a double standard was very much in effect in those times just as it is today. Finally, if these religious teachers are so concerned about the law of Moses, why do they wait until morning to bring this woman to Jesus, why not just carry out the penalty of the law the moment they caught her? 

Clearly these men are not concerned with keeping the law as much as they are about discrediting Jesus. The woman they have “caught” is simply a means to this end, she is being used as a pawn in this religious & political power struggle.  

So...how does Jesus respond to this seemingly impossible dilemma?

“Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” This they said to test him ,that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.  - John 8:5-6

Did you catch that? Jesus doesn’t say a word, He simply bends down and starts writing in the dirt! Now everybody wants to know what it was that Jesus wrote. There are numerous legends and opinions out there about this:

Some speculate that He was writing down the names of each of the Scribes and Pharisees. Perhaps He was also writing down some of the specific sins of each of these men.

Some think that Jesus was writing out the portion of the OT law that required this woman to be put to death, while others believe He was writing the OT passages that call for mercy.

Maybe Jesus was just stalling for time while He tried to come up with some clever reply. (I don’t think so.)

I think it is possible that Jesus may have written down a reference to the OT prophet Jeremiah.

O Lord, the hope of Israel,
   all who forsake thee shall be put to shame;
  those who torn away from thee
      shall be written in the earth,
    for they have forsaken the Lord,
      the fountain of living water.  - Jeremiah 17:13

The truth is that nobody knows for sure what Jesus was writing, because the Bible doesn’t tell us! Apparently what He wrote is not as critical as the fact that He was totally calm in the face of this trap. Our Lord is not scared or stumped or confused at all.

Whatever he wrote, the scribes and Pharisees apparently misunderstood him. They thought he was stalling for time, and they kept pressing him, asking him again and again to answer them and tell them what he would do. So, standing up, Jesus looked them right in the eye and uttered these famous words, "Let him who is without sin cast the first stone." Actually the word he uses is "sinless," "Let him who is sinless..." This is the only time Jesus ever employed this word in the New Testament: "Let him who is sinless cast the first stone."

The result is almost humorous. They are stunned. Speechless! He has taken the wind right out of their sails. They were sure he was going to let this woman go, but instead he completely upholds the Law of Moses. He says, in effect, "Yes, she must be stoned. But I am going to appoint the executioners." They are totally dumbfounded at his words.

Jeff Frazier