The apostle John gave us this story about Jesus. John 8:3-11 “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.’” Let us look at each of the players in this story and perhaps we can learn from them.

The scribes and the Pharisees are the first players.  They typically were ones who strictly followed the law of Moses. But more than that, they disliked Jesus and wanted to destroy Him and His work.  So they took the opportunity to trap Jesus.  Since the Jews were under Roman authority, they were bound to submit to that authority.  The Roman Empire generally reserved the right of capital punishment which meant that the power of the Jewish courts to enact the death penalty was curtailed.  On the other hand, the law of Moses commanded the Israelites to put to death adulterers.  Deuteronomy 22:22 “If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then both of them shall die — the man that lay with the woman, and the woman; so you shall put away the evil from Israel.”  So the scribes and Pharisees thought that they could trap Jesus. If Jesus condoned the stoning, He would be defying Roman law.  If He forbade the stoning, He would be accused of contradicting Mosaic Law.  Might you be like the scribes and Pharisees?  Might you want to trap someone with a difficult choice so that they might be condemned and you receive the advantage?  I encourage you to not do this.

The second player was the woman adulterer.  Her heart was not right before God.  She knew that she was guilty.  She also probably knew that the penalty for adultery in the law was death.  She was therefore at the mercy of the scribes and Pharisees and Jesus. You and I should relate to this woman.  While we may not have committed adultery, we are all guilty as sinners.  We deserve the death penalty before God.  We need His mercy.

The next player is absent.  Where is the man that was committing adultery with the woman?  Had he run away and not been caught?  Were the ones who caught the woman sexist and let the man go and only presented the woman?  We do not know.  But perhaps we can relate to the man.  How many times have we sinned and not been caught?  We are guilty before God but we are not exposed and our penalty has not been given.  But God knows and we will have to give account some day before Him.  I encourage you to repent of secret sins that you may have.

And then there is Jesus.  He knew that the situation was a trap and so He initially said nothing, but stooped down and wrote upon the ground with His finger.  But the scribes and Pharisees wouldn’t let Him get away without an answer; they wanted to trap Him. They continued to ask Him, so He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”  The law instructed that the witnesses should be the first to start the death process.  Deuteronomy 17:6-7 “Whoever is deserving of death shall be put to death on the testimony of two or three witnesses; he shall not be put to death on the testimony of one witness. The hands of the witnesses shall be the first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall put away the evil from among you.”  But rather than the witnesses, Jesus said that the one who is without sin should be the first to throw a stone.

The accusers heard what Jesus said.  They must have looked into their own hearts and remembered the sin that they had committed.  They realized their own hypocrisy. They also were guilty before God and deserved death just like the adulterous woman. Their consciences condemned them that they had judged her but they were guilty themselves. Can we relate to these accusers? Do we judge others but we ourselves are guilty before God. Jesus taught us in Matthew 7:1-5 “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye?  Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” There are times we must judge, but I encourage you to refrain from judging as much as you can and let God be the judge.

When Jesus saw that the accusers had left, 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.’”  Since the accusers and witnesses were gone, the woman could not be condemned for there were no witnesses.  But Jesus was the Son of God.  He could have condemned her.  But He did not.  He gave her mercy.  In the same way our Father in heaven is so merciful to us.  Jesus told her to go and sin no more.  In other words, repent.  Can we see ourselves in this situation?  We are guilty before God.  We deserve death.  But through the death of Jesus on the cross, we have God’s mercy.  Our instruction is also to “go and sin no more”. 

I encourage you to learn from the story of the woman caught in adultery.  We are guilty before God.  He has given us mercy.  Go and sin no more.