Caught in the Act

John 8:3-11 

The scribes and the Pharisees bought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?” They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at here.” 

This entire situation reeks of treachery among the scribes and the Pharisees. There was no man. According the Law of Moses, the man was to be executed as well. Most likely, the man was in on it and the Pharisees set up the whole scenario in order to catch the woman and use her to stump Jesus. 

“…the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death,” Leviticus 10:10 

“If a man is found lying with a married woman, then both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman; thus, you shall purge the evil from Israel,” Deuteronomy 22:22. 

I just thought I’d drop some inspiring and devotional gems on you this morning from our favorite devotional Bible books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Non-inspiring to be sure but they are truly part of the law of Moses and were to be followed. 

They had Him! 

Jesus, the friend of sinners, was caught in a dilemma. He didn’t come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it. He had to agree with the sentence to condemn her!!! However, his circle of friends included tax collectors (mob bosses), prostitutes, thieves and now, let’s add adulterers. Will the friend of sinners and lover of outcasts and savior to the destitute, follow the Law and endorse an execution? 

This passage causes us to deal with the most perplexing theological conundrum that man has to deal with. It deals with the perfect justice of God versus the grace and mercy of God. We like to think that Jesus is the fullness of grace and mercy, and He is. But He is fully God and God is fully just as well. He is also a consuming fire and no sin will go unpunished. What will He do?

How will this challenging issue be resolved? Will the perpetrators of this scheme get away with it? Will they catch Jesus in an unresolvable dilemma?  A woman’s life hangs in the balance. What will He do? 

He stoops down and writes in the dirt. 

Did he draw pictures, doodle or write out sentences. I don’t know and you don’t either. The Greek word for “wrote” could describe either drawing a figure or letters or words. Lots of opinions have been given over the centuries but we really don’t know. I want to know and I want to speculate. It’s hard to accept just not knowing. 

I believe He is writing out something that paves the way for His one statement to have a very strong impact. Jesus silently wrote on the ground while the accusers persisted in asking Jesus to answer. Finally, Jesus spoke and said,  

“He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” 

More tomorrow. Lord, our role is not to condemn. How often do we acquiesce to gossip, criticism and slander? It feels good to point to someone who is worse than us. It takes the attention off of us and falsely soothes our guilt. There’s no place for superiority among us who follow Jesus. When it comes to sin, we are all guilty. The woman was guilty but so are we. None of us are in a place of moral superiority. All we have to cling to is Jesus and His forgivingness of our sins. Lord, help us not to condemn sinners. Instead, may we pray with humility for their hearts and that they would be believe and receive You by faith. Amen!