Tuesday 26 March - Quick to Love & Support

John 7.53–8.11  Psalm 9     Jeremiah 11.18-12.6    Hebrews 5.11-6.12

Jean 7.53-8.11   Psaume 9   Jérémie 11.18-12.6   Hébreux 5.11-6.12

For me this is one of the most inspiring stories of Jesus’ ministry. But we have to start with a downer! According to (the great) C. Kingsley Barrett ‘it is certain that this narrative is not an original part of the gospel’⁽¹⁾. Then Prof. Barrett takes 4 pages to analyse the story! Prof. Hunter agrees; also relegates the discussion to the back of his commentary on John; but then, rather more encouragingly, tells us that ‘This is a true story about Jesus’⁽²⁾.

So many enigmas. So many unanswered questions. So many social issues raised.

The woman was caught ‘in the very act of adultery’. Was, then, she dragged in front of Jesus still very much déshabillé? Did Jesus avert his eyes out of respect for the woman’s modesty?

What was Jesus writing in the sand? According to Hunter⁽²⁾ he was writing the words that he would subsequently speak in v. 7. He was following the protocol of Roman justice by first writing down the sentence and then reading it out loud.

Then in verse 9 we read that the eldest left first. As I approach my 8th decade this speaks to me, personally, rather strongly!

And why is it only the adulteress that is dragged in front of Jesus? Adultery cannot be committed by only one person. Where was the man? According to Leviticus 20.10 ‘If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife – with the wife of his neighbour – both the adulterer and the adulteress are to be put to death’. And even if we accept, as the commentaries imply, that stoning is only ordered ‘in the case of a betrothed virgin’⁽²⁾ isn’t it likely, maybe even probable, that coercion is involved and that the woman is a victim, not a sinner deserving to die?

And what about the idea of a stoning? The doctors of the law and the Pharisees seem very keen. Even today can’t we be stirred to potentially violent acts as part of crowd?

But overarching the whole incident is Jesus’ character. His example of how we should behave. How we should be slow to condemn and judge. And quick to love and support.

David Brown

(1)    The Gospel According to St John, An Introduction with Commentary and Notes on the Greek Text, Second Edition, by C. K. Barrett, SPCK, 1978.

(2)    The Cambridge Bible Commentary on the New English Bible, The Gospel According to John, by A. M. Hunter, Cambridge University Press, 1965.

"Then He bent over again and wrote on the ground". From Good News Productions International and College Press Publishing, using a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, at http://www.freebibleimages.org/illustrations/.