It opens like any other Bible story. Jesus is teaching on
the temple grounds and the Scripture says, “All the people gathered around
Him.” It was standing room only. Necks were craning. People were on their
tippy-toes. Everyone was hanging on His every word.
Suddenly, there’s a scuffle in the back of the crowd. Soon
the scuffle morphs into a major uproar. The religious leaders of the people are
carrying a writhing, biting, scratching, scantily-clad, red-faced woman in their
arms. When they get to Jesus they dump her at His feet. Then one of them raises
his voice and shouts, “Teacher, we found her in bed with a man who’s not her husband.
Our law says stone her; what do you say?”
It’s a set-up, and John knows it. Not only is he the only
gospel writer to record this incident, he tells us their motives. He says,
“They were doing all this to trap Jesus.” In other words, this woman is a pawn
in their plot to get Jesus. How do we know? Well, first, where’s Romeo?
Everybody knows that it takes two to make adultery a reality, so where is he? He’s
as guilty under the law as she is. Second, the law required the stoning of a virgin
woman caught in adultery. Does she fit that description? Again, where’s the
man? He’s equally culpable.
If Jesus agrees that this woman should be stoned to death –
something that was never enforced in Israel – then there goes His ministry to
the lost, the sick, the sinner.
But, if He disagrees with the Pharisees and goes against the
holy law, how could He claim to be the Messiah of Israel? Not to mention the
fact that Rome prohibited those they occupied to execute capital punishment.
They had Him: The Pharisees, the woman, the most volatile of
all, the crowd. The truth is, nothing would have pleased these God-fearing,
outwardly righteous, Saturday-go-to-meeting crowd than to execute this woman.
What an opportunity for Jesus to uphold the law. What an
opportunity for Him to send a clear message against sin. Nothing would have
made this crowd think of Jesus as the true Messiah more than acting as Elijah
on Mount Carmel. But He doesn’t. In fact, He does nothing of the sort!
This Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent when we will
gather around the table of the Lord to celebrate His body broken and shed blood.
I can’t think of a more appropriate text to examine this Sunday than this one.
Thankfully, the Holy Spirit moved John to include this story in his gospel. For
some, this account is a sore spot. Many times it’s seen as even sub-canonical;
i.e. shouldn’t be in the Bible. But thank the Lord it is, for here we get a
profound view of the heart of the gospel of grace.
In preparation for a message entitled, “A Matter of
Devotion”, you may wish to consider the following:
1. When does this incident occur?
2. Why does Jesus go to the Temple on this occasion?
3. Do you think this woman was set up?
4. What’s the law say about stoning adulterers?
5. What would Rome think of it?
6. What do you make of Jesus’ response in verse 6?
7. What do you think He wrote on the ground?
8. What’s Jesus mean in verse 7?
9. Why stoop to write a second time?
10. What’s Jesus asking and saying in verses 10 & 11?
See you Sunday!
