“53 Then each of them went home, 1 while Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early in the morning He came again to the temple. All the people came to Him and He sat down and began to teach them. 3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, 4 they said to him, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. 5 Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?’ 6 They said this to test Him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 When they kept on questioning Him, He straightened up and said to them, ‘Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.’ 8 And once again He bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before Him. 10 Jesus straightened up and said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ 11 She said, ‘No one, sir.’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again’” John 7:53; 8:1-11.
This is truly one of the most famous stories in John’s Gospel, if not in the entire Bible. What most people do not realize, however, is that this story does not appear at all in the best Greek manuscripts of John’s Gospel discovered by Biblical archeologists. Many scholars believe this to be a story from Luke’s Gospel. But be that what it may, it has found its way into John’s Gospel and is wholly consistent with John, and at the end of the day it doesn’t matter very much. I share this with you to encourage you to remember that these biblical manuscripts are more than 2,000 years old,
and it took many centuries for the Bible — as we know it today — to be fully compiled. So they have their own history of developing throughout the centuries. Remember that the printing press was not perfected and in use commercially until the Gutenberg Press began publishing in 1450 AD.
So the scribes who hand-wrote the Bible were many. The oldest surviving full text of the New Testament, for example, is the beautifully written Codex Sinaiticus, which was “discovered” at the St. Catherine monastery at the base of Mt. Sinai in Egypt in the 1840s and 1850s. It has been dated from 325-360 AD, yet it is not known where it was scribed — perhaps in Rome or Egypt.
Jesus says, “15 You judge by human standards; I judge no one” John 8:15.
He also says in chapter 8 of John, “46 Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me” John 8:46? These themes of unjustly judging others and convicting Jesus of sinning are important themes in John’s Gospel, as we can see. Here in the story above Jesus spends the night in the Mount of Olives and early in the morning comes to the Temple to teach. But notice this incredible detail in verse 2: “All the people came to Him and He sat down and began to teach them.” It’s no wonder that the Pharisees’ noses were out of joint when “ALL the people in the Temple came to hear Jesus teach!” Talk about stealing your thunder!
So when the Pharisees drag this poor prostitute out in front of “all the people” in the Temple, they try to trap Jesus in a way that mirrors Luke’s story of the Caesar coin (see Luke 20:21-25): “21 So the Pharisees asked Jesus, ‘Teacher, we know that you are right in what you say and teach, and you show deference to no one, but teach the way of God in accordance with truth. 22 Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?’ 23 But Jesus perceived their craftiness and said to them, 24 ‘Show me a denarius. Whose head and whose title does it bear?’ They said, ‘The emperor’s.’ 25 He said to them, ‘Then give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’” If Jesus authorizes death for the prostitute, He violates Roman law, which did not allow the Jews to order and carry out capital punishment. So if Jesus presses for mercy, He is in violation of Mosaic law which says: “10 If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death” Leviticus 20:10. But notice in this story that the adulterer is nowhere to be seen! So Jesus, knowing He cannot publicly claim mercy from adultery at this moment, instead challenges the woman’s accusers by putting the burden back on the shoulders of the Pharisees.
And in most dramatic fashion the accusers “went away, one by one, beginning with the elders,” leaving the sinner and the Sinless alone!
But as we pointed out above, Jesus says, “15 You judge by human standards; I judge no one” John 8:15. So Jesus showers her with mercy and does not condemn her, and instead sends her off with the cautionary command: “from now on do not sin again.”
Dear friends, there is much to reflect on in this most amazing story. I am moved today by Jesus’ closing command: “from now on do not sin again.”
We all know how hard that is to do. But it is Jesus Christ’s greatest desire, is it not? Pray, then, that from now on we all may not sin again. And when we do, we run back to God — run — and repent, and then do all we can do, with the grace of God, to sin no more.
Oh dear Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner. Despite my best intentions, I have never been able to sin no more, and so today I pray for Your mercy and grace to do just that, for I know that what You have said always remains true: “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness” 2 Corinthians 12:9.
From the Bible:
“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye” Matthew 7:1-5.
“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven” Luke 6:37.
“There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor” James 4:12?
“Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God” Romans 2:1-3?
“To speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior” Titus 3:2-7.
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