Many critics believe this text (John 8:1-11) shouldn’t be in the Bible, because the record isn’t found in many of the earliest manuscripts. Even among those manuscripts that include it, the record can be found in Mark or Luke instead of John! So. we must ask: is it authentic? Yes, I believe it is, and I think there is a logical explanation as to why it is missing in many of the earliest manuscripts of the Gospel of John, or missing in John but present in Mark or Luke. I have written about these things in an earlier study, in a series where I defended my understanding against the critics who have taken an opposing point of view.[1]
Most commentaries agree that it was decidedly wrong for those who marked out the chapters and verses of the text to place John 7:53 in the seventh chapter rather than the eighth chapter of this Gospel narrative. The fact that John records that the Jewish authorities went to their homes but Jesus went to Mount Olives for the night sets the stage for what follows. Earlier in my study of the Gospel of Mark, I concluded that the only place in the world where Jesus’ Transfiguration could have taken place was on Mount Olives, and I also concluded that this event occurred on the night portion of the Last Great Day of the Feast of Tabernacles, 29 AD.[2] In other words, when Jesus retired for the evening (John 8:1), he went to the Mount of Olives and took Peter, James and John aside to be with him (Mark 9:2), after which the Transfiguration took place. On the other hand, the Jewish authorities became involved in another matter that will be explained shortly.
In the morning portion of the Last Great Day, Jesus went into the Temple, where the multitude came to him, and he began teaching them (John 8:2). About this time the scribes and Pharisees brought in a woman taken in the very act of adultery (John 8:3). This was done in an effort to trap Jesus into saying something contrary to the Law of Moses and, thus, discredit him. It isn’t difficult to understand their behavior showed what they had been doing for the entire evening and up until this very moment. They had been guilty of breaking the very Law, which they sought to use to discredit Jesus! Moreover, it wouldn’t take the gift of prophecy to come to this conclusion.
They took the woman to Jesus, telling him what the Law of Moses said should be done, but they wanted to know what he thought should be done (John 8:4-5), but instead of replying immediately, Jesus simply stooped down and began writing in the dirt with his finger (John 8:6). When the authorities continued to ask him his opinion of what should be done, Jesus rose to say:
“Whoever among you is without sin, let him cast the first stone!” (John 8:7-8).
Now, Jesus’ statement has been grossly misunderstood over the years, and, if taken as is popularly understood, no one should ever be punished for any of the sins he has ever committed. In such a context one may as well dissolve the police force and the law-making bodies of one’s government, because what good are laws, if no one should be punished? What did Jesus really mean?
First of all, the Law states that both the man and the woman were to be taken and stoned (Leviticus 20:10). If the woman was taken in the act of committing adultery, where was the man? Therefore, since the man was not there, this is a conspiracy. They have acted according to a plan conceived during the Sabbath (cf. Isaiah 56:2; 58:13 and Jeremiah 17:22), and were worthy of death themselves (Exodus 31:14)! One of their own company, who held a stone to cast at this woman was probably with her during the night in order to get her “…in the very act.” Conspiracy is against the Law of Moses (Deuteronomy 27:18; cf. Leviticus 19:14) and worthy of death, itself. Anyone involved in the conspiracy, but not specifically involved in the act itself, was still breaking the Law (Exodus 23:1-2; cf. Jeremiah 5:25-31) and worthy of death.
I have not the slightest doubt the finger of the Lord that once wrote the Law in stone (Exodus 31:18), was at this time in John 8:6, 8 writing these very laws in the clay ground. These men were convicted in their hearts, not because they knew that they sinned generally speaking, as imperfect men do. They were convicted of these specific sins/crimes, which they had been committing the entire Sabbath evening. Therefore, when Jesus said, “he who is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” he was speaking of their most recent activity!
Therefore, the Jewish authorities were convicted, because they knew they had sinned in bringing the woman to Jesus. Moreover, they realized Jesus knew they had sinned. One by one they left the scene, because they were afraid that they would lose their own lives (John 8:9), if Jesus decided expose them. Then, after the authorities left him, Jesus asked the woman where her accusers were, and when she replied no one was left who accused her, he replied as her Savior and declared neither would he accuse her. Nevertheless, he told her to stop her profession of sin (John 8:10-11).
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[1] For the case at hand, see my study: The Woman Caught in Adultery.
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2 responses to “The Woman Taken in Adultery”
As the trial of who is Jesus the Christ begins, a woman is brought in who has been caught in the very act of Adultery. Onlookers assume the MAN is not brought in. Eddy suggests he was someone from the previous night and someone of her company.
I suggest the Man was Nicodemus, the Teacher of Israel who had spoken with Jesus under the cover of darkness (John 3:1-21). When the chief priests and temple guards arrange for the trial, they bring in the Woman Jesus trapped in Adultery on the Jericho Road reported in Luke’s Gospel 19: 1-10.
As Luke reports, Zacchaeus goes out on a limb on the Jericho Road to see the Teacher of Israel people are saying is the Messiah. This teacher invites himself to stay over at the home of Zacchaeus who is a chief tax collector. People who were not witnesses to the “stay over” assume this wee little person is male. They also assume Zacchaeus was male because Luke says Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector and rich. If Zacchaeus was a female married to a tax collector, she would be a tax collector because when a man leaves his parents and unites with his wife, the two become one man.
For centuries the Church has interpreted Jesus’ teaching on divorce as an absolute prohibition based on the idea that what God has joined joined together, let no man put asunder (Mark 10:8-9). Paul affirms this writing “A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives” (1 Corinthians 7:39).
The chief priests are guilty of setting a trap for Jesus the Teacher of Israel who has by staying over at the home of Zacchaeus committed adultery. They want the truth to come out. However they are at a loss, because after reading the words Jesus has written on the holy ground they are standing on as if Jesus is saying I AM the I AM, they look around and they are unable to find the STONE that should be rushing toward her confessing and craving his burning desire and love for this ever burning bush, little tree.
The words of Exodus 25:31; Jeremiah 1:11; John 3: 29 and 7:48 should have echoed in their minds. “You are to make a lampstand of pure, hammered gold. It shall be made of one piece, including its base and shaft, its cups, and its buds and petals. “Look, Jeremiah! What do you see?” And I replied, “I see a branch from an almond tree.” “He who has the bride is the bridegroom; the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice;”“Have any of the rulers or Pharisees believed in Him?
When no accusers remain to condemn her, the Woman Jesus “pardoned” is told to Go and sin no more. In the very next verse Jesus comes again and says, “I am the Light of the World.”
As the story in John moves forward the chief priests try to find the right stone to stone Jesus with. It is not until John 21 when Cephas goes fishing that Cephas finally hears the words of Rabbi John, saying it is the Lord, that Cephas finally hears the Word of God and accepts his true calling as the Rock the Hot Burning Coal in Love with Jesus centuries of Christians have called the Fish and or the Branch, the True Vine.
The Stone the chief builders stumble upon to this day is Simon bar Jonah because it took Simon a long time to respond to the Light of the World and thunder forth saying Let there be Light and assume his responsibility as the Shepherd, Bridegroom and Father of Jesus’ flock. So then you might ask. If Divorce and remarriage makes one an adulterer, is the Bride then the Woman Jesus Trapped in Adultery…the Sinner Woman who is forgiven much and who loves much? Is the Man she mistakenly anointed at the dinner Simon hosted, Jesus the Rabboni, the friend of the Bridegroom and the Bride? (Luke 7:33-50; John 3:29: John 20:17).
Greetings, Linda. You are making it very difficult for me to keep from editing your “posts” down to about 100 words (give or take). I have published studies that are smaller than your ‘comments.’ Moreover, you haven’t remained ‘on topic’ you are all over the place in this. Keep it small, and I’ll comment on what you write (btw, I don’t agree with you, and you don’t support your claims). More of this, and I’ll edit your postings to one paragraph, and I won’t comment, except to say it is edited. As it is, this and the “post” you made later on my current study will be the final two unedited 650+ worded “comments” that I’ll allow.