The Woman Caught in Adultery

Today we are going to take a look at the story of the woman caught in adultery from John 8:3-11.

One day as Jesus was in the temple teaching a crowd of people, the scribes and the Pharisees brought to him a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They threw her into the center of the court and asked Jesus if she should be stoned according to Mosaic law.

Half-Obeying the Law of Moses

Technically her accusers were correct, Mosaic law did call for the stoning of those caught in adultery. However the law also states that both the man and the woman who are guilty of adultery are to be stoned to death. If this woman was caught “in the act” the identity of the man would have been known, and yet they did not bring the man before Jesus.

This is why John tells us the Pharisees in this case were not really interested in the law, but were trying to set a trap for Jesus.

Jesus’ Response

We all know Jesus’ famous response: “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”¹ Jesus had sprung their trap back on them. They had no answer because they knew they were all sinners, so one by one they walked away until only Jesus was left.

Once all of the woman’s accusers were gone Jesus forgave her and told her to “go, and from now on sin no more.”²

Jesus Could Have Thrown the Stone

What is interesting here is that Jesus did not walk away. Although he was not a witness to the alleged “crime,” he was the one person, from a moral standpoint, who could have thrown the first stone as the sinless Son of God.

And yet while the leaders wanted to exact “justice” by stoning the woman to death, Jesus showed her mercy, grace, and forgiveness. This was a free gift which was undeserved according to the law, but it did come with the caveat that she should sin no more.

Jesus’ grace and forgiveness were not an acceptance of what she had done, but rather a merciful chance at repentance.

Man’s Justice vs. God’s Grace

This is the difference between man’s justice and God’s grace. Man’s form of justice is seeing that everybody gets what he or she deserves, while God’s grace is just the opposite. God’s grace is ensuring that we don’t get what we deserve, or that we get what we don’t deserve.

Many times we are more like the woman’s accusers than we are like Jesus. We point fingers and make accusations. How often do we show grace and mercy to those who have wronged us? How often do we forgive them?

As sinners we also need the same mercy, grace, and forgiveness that Jesus showed this woman, because we all have specks in our eyes which must be removed.³ Thankfully God’s grace, mercy, and forgiveness are given to us all who have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior. But, just like with the caveat Jesus gave the woman, we are expected to go and sin no more.

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1. John 8:7 ESV ↩︎
2. John 8:11 ESV ↩︎
3. See Matthew 7:3-5 ↩︎