The scene in today’ gospel (a woman caught in adultery) is a mixture of zealous righteousness that seeks to enact the law without pardon or quarter, the leadership who want to trap Jesus between mercy and the Law, and a woman caught in sin, fearing for her life.  True righteousness would have some measure of concern for her soul. True righteousness would be free from deceitfulness, not hiding behind loyalty to Moses for other intentions. 

This situation is apparently just an attempt to entrap Jesus (v. 6). If he is lax toward the law, then he is condemned. But if he holds a strict line, then he has allowed them to prevail in their merciless treatment of this woman and has opened himself up to trouble from the Romans, for he will be held responsible if the stoning proceeds. The leaders of Israel are putting God to the test in the person of his Son, repeating the Israelites’ historical pattern on more than one occasion in the wilderness at Meribah and Massah (Ex 17:2; Num 20:13).

When Jesus heard what the teachers of the law said, Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. This action has been variously interpreted. When the Pharisees and scribes kept on questioning him, Jesus straightened up and said to them, ‘If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.’ According to the law, witnesses to a capital offense had to cast the first stone when the accused was condemned to death (Deut. 17:7). Jesus regarded the teachers of the law as witnesses to the offense. Therefore, they should begin the execution if it were to go ahead. But Jesus’ words challenged the accusers, implying that none of them was without sin and therefore they were in no position to condemn this woman. What sin Jesus was implying they were guilty of is not clear. Perhaps they too were guilty of adultery. Perhaps they were malicious witnesses in terms of Deuteronomy 19:15–21, because they were not interested in seeing justice done, but only in trapping Jesus.

An optimistic reading of Jesus’ call for the one without sin to cast the first stone is “all the people” have been turned away from their murderous intentions onto the path of life as they withdraw to reflect on their own sinfulness before God. Those who came to condemn ended up condemning themselves by not casting a stone.

Jesus is left alone, sitting on the ground, bent over and writing, with the woman standing before him. As Augustine says, “The two were left alone, misera et misericordia” (“a wretched woman and Mercy”; In Augustine’s commentary John 33.5). He straightens up and asks for a report of what happened, as if he had been totally oblivious to what took place as he concentrated on his writing on the ground. He does not ask her about the charges but rather about that aspect of the situation most heartening to the woman: Where are they? Has no one condemned you? (v. 10).

But there is one left who could still execute the judgment–the only one present who was without sin and thus could throw the first stone. Is she hopeful at this point or still quite frightened? We can only speculate as to whether the woman was familiar with Jesus and his embodiment of the mercy of God. In any case, she becomes a memorable example of the fact that “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him” (3:17). Jesus says to her, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more” (8:11). Jesus grants pardon, not acquittal. Here is mercy and righteousness. He condemned the sin and not the sinner.  But more than that, he called her to a new life. The gospel is not only the forgiveness of sins, but a new quality of life that overcomes the power of sin.

Without love, there is no forgiveness. With love, a whole new life is possible.

Image credit: Detail of “Christ and the Adulteress” Rembrandt, 1644 | National Gallery London | PD-US

The pericope of the “woman caught in adultery” is beloved and well-known. And yet, it does not appear in the oldest manuscripts of John’s Gospel. When it is found in older manuscripts it is located in other positions, either after verse 36, or after verse 44, or at the end of this Gospel, or even in another gospel: following Luke 21:38. 

We are left to conjecture that the biblical scribes thought it too important to be lost but had little clue as to its proper location. Further complicating the provenance of the passage, the different manuscripts do not agree on the text either. In addition, some scholars hold that the style of writing is not consistent with the remainder of the gospel. Other don’t disagree, but hold that the passage is too short with limited vocabulary to make definitive judgements about the stylistic quality. But most, if not all, would agree that the spirit of the narrative is compatible with the Johannine message. It is also noted that the passage does not fit well into the context of Chapter 7 while noting 8:12 makes for more logical continuation following 7:52.

Throughout the history of the church it has been held that, whoever wrote it, this little story is authentic. It is referred to by the late 1st century bishop Papias who was a student of St. John the Evangelist. It is also mentioned in the Apostolic Constitutions (2.24). 

If you look closely at your bible you will likely see brackets ([ ]) surrounding the passage with accompanying footnotes referencing its uncertain manuscript history. The Catholic Church has long held it to be part of the Canon of Scripture.

Image Credit: Detail of “Christ and the Adulteress” Rembrandt, 1644 | National Gallery London | PD-US

Reflecting on the story in John’s gospel of the woman caught in adultery, Pope Francis says: “the Gospel says that everyone went away, one by one, beginning with the elders: it is evident that they had a big debt against them in the bank of heaven.” Then comes “the moment of Jesus, the Confessor”. He was left alone with the woman standing before him. “Jesus was bending down and was writing with his finger on the ground. .. Then “he got up and looked” at the woman, who was “full of shame, and he said to her: Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? We are alone, you and I. You are standing before God, without accusations, without gossip: you and God”.

This coming Sunday is the 5th Sunday in Lent and our gospel is the “women caught in adultery.” When Jesus heard what the teachers of the law said, Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. There is no hint of why he wrote or what he wrote. One scholar offered that Jesus wrote out Ex 23:1 “You shall not repeat a false report. Do not join the wicked in putting your hand, as an unjust witness, upon anyone.”  Another suggested: “O Lord, the hope of Israel, …those who turn away from you shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living water.” (Jer 17:13 ESV)  The suggestion is that “written in the earth” is the polar opposite of being written in the book of life (Ex 32:32; Dan 12:1).  But already mentioned, there is no hint of why he wrote or what he wrote. 

This coming Sunday is the 5th Sunday in Lent and our gospel is the “women caught in adultery.” Today we consider  the challenge presented to Jesus by the Jewish leaders. It is a challenge which also includes a callus and demeaning treatment of the women. If she had committed adultery the previous evening , then have these opponents been holding her during the night and waiting for Jesus to show up in order to use her to test him? Has been apprehended in the early hours of the morning? In either case her fear would have been palpable.  Putting her in the midst of the crowd would have added public humiliation. 

This coming Sunday is the 5th Sunday in Lent and our gospel is the “women caught in adultery.” In the previous post we introduced some preliminary background on the Law of Moses pertaining to this circumstance. It is also clear that the intention of the scribes and Pharisee was to simply use the woman and her circumstances “so that they could have some charge to bring against [Jesus]” (v.6) in order to fulfill their own murderous intent against Jesus (7:1). Their immediate goal is to trap Jesus between the requirements of the Law and his teaching of forgiveness and reconciliation. Will Jesus show himself to be a true son of Moses and do what the Law requires, i.e. agree that stoning the woman is the God-intended course of action? Will he defy the law and offer forgiveness?

The gospel for the 5th Sunday in Lent, lectionary cycle C, is the story of the woman caught in adultery. The placement of this pericope falls between Jesus’ contentious encounter with religious leadership during the Festival of Tabernacles and  Jesus’ dialogue that begins, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12) – which begins another contentious encounter. As many commentators have noted, the John 7 dialogue seems to flow more smoothly into the “Light of the World” discourse than the story of the woman caught in adultery. More on this later.

In any event, our gospel is another point of contention with the religious authorities in Jerusalem. Jesus has already sensed that “some” meant to kill him (Jn7:12) which to be the rumor on the street (v.25). The Pharisees, concerned about the rumbling of the crowds, send guards to arrest Jesus (v.32). Failing on that point, they will seek to engage him on other matters and at other times.