Jhn 8:2-11 - Jesus and the adulteress - Authr: Evert Jan Hempenius 2015 www.christianstudylibrary.rg Fr any questins abut this Scripture passage r the ntes, please cntact us thrugh the Cntact Us tab n the website. Cntext This dramatic stry is part f the Gspel f Jhn. The Pharisees and scribes (teachers f the law) bring a wman caught in adultery befre Jesus and the peple. They ask Jesus a questin cncerning the law f Mses. That shuld remind us f Jhn 1:17-18 and 5:46: Fr the law was given thrugh Mses; grace and truth came thrugh Jesus Christ. N ne has ever seen Gd, but Gd the One and Only, wh is at the Father s side, has made him knwn (Jhn 1:17-18). If yu believed Mses, yu wuld believe me, fr he wrte abut me (Jhn 5:46). Within the Gspel f Jhn there are mre references t Mses and the first five bks f the Old Testament, which are als called Mses and in mdern times the Pentateuch. A central passage is Deuternmy 18:15-18: The LORD yur Gd will raise up fr yu a prphet like me (Mses) frm amng yur wn brthers. Yu must listen t him. ( ) I will raise up fr them a prphet like yu frm amng their brthers; I will put my wrds in his muth, and he will tell them everything I cmmand him. This makes clear that Jesus is nt ppsing Mses, but fulfilling Mses, as he said in the Sermn n the Munt (Matt. 5-7): D nt think that I have cme t ablish the Law r the Prphets; I have nt cme t ablish them but t fulfill them (Matt. 5:17). What des Jhn mean by: the law was given thrugh Mses? This is a histrical reference t the giving f the law at the Munt Sinai.
What it means: grace and truth came thrugh Jesus Christ is shwn in this stry. This stry is grace and truth in actin. Frm and structure Vs. 2: Initial setting. Jesus teaches the peple in the temple. The scribes and the Pharisees versus Jesus Vs. 3-6: The scribes and the Pharisees cme t Jesus t test him. Vs. 6: The initial reactin f Jesus ignring them, creating tensin. Vs. 7: The scribes and the Pharisees keep trying t test Jesus. Vs. 7-8: The secnd reactin f Jesus inviting them t act accrding the law t test the scribes and the Pharisees. Vs. 9: The scribes and the Pharisees and all the ther peple leave Jesus and the wman, ne by ne. Vs. 10: Jesus speaks t the wman. Vs. 11: The wman answers Jesus. Vs. 11: Jesus lets her g in peace. Jesus and the wman alne Technical ntes There is much discussin abut this passage and its exact lcatin in the Greek text f the Gspel f Jhn. This discussin is nt that imprtant fr the expsitin. Wman (vs. 10) culd be better translated as miss. It shuld be nted that in vs. 4 and in vs. 9 Jhn repeats the wrds in the midst. Greek (NA-27) NIV84 NRSV ESV KJV Vs. 4: ἐν μέσῳ befre the grup befre the grup in the midst in the midst Vs. 9: ἐν μέσῳ still (standing) there (standing) befre him (standing) befre him in the midst All translatins are crrect. But Jhn is less interested in the lcatin f the wman befre the grup r befre Jesus; he wants t fcus n the wman. She is standing in the midst f everybdy. All the peple are lking at her. What will they d with her?
And when all have left, she is still standing there in the midst. What will Jesus d with her? T achieve this fcus, these wrds in the midst shuld be read with sme emphasis. See expsitin. It is helpful t make an utline f this stry and t read it alud and give it the right emphasis. The listener will be mved by the tensin which this stry creates, and by the implied emtins. This is an example f an utline, with sme remarks fr reading alud. Jhn 8:2-11 (NIV84) At dawn he appeared again in the temple curts, where all the peple gathered arund him, and he sat dwn t teach them. (Intrducing the scene. Pause here fr a mment, because the next mment there will be sme stirring amng the peple.) The teachers f the law and the Pharisees brught in a wman caught in adultery. They made her stand befre the grup and said t Jesus, Teacher (emphasis) this wman was caught in the act f adultery. In the Law Mses cmmanded us t stne (emphasis) such wmen (cntempt). Nw what d yu say (emphasis)? They were using this questin as a trap, in rder t have a basis fr accusing him. But Jesus bent dwn and started t write n the grund with his finger. (Pause here fr a mment, because Jesus says nthing. He is ignring them, creating tensin.) When they kept n questining him, he straightened up and said t them, If any ne f yu is withut sin, let him be the first t thrw a stne at her. (emphasis) Again he stped dwn and wrte n the grund. (Pause here fr a mment, because what Jesus said was shcking t them.) At this, thse wh heard began t g away ne at a time, (pause fr a mment, s they can g away ne at a time) the lder nes first, until nly Jesus was left, with the wman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, Wman, where are they? Has n ne cndemned yu? (A plite wman and friendly questin.) N ne, sir, she said. (A bit timid answer, she was still in sme kind f shck.) Then neither d I cndemn yu, Jesus declared. G nw and leave yur life f sin. (Reslute and straightfrward.)
Expsitin Verse 2 The tensins arund Jesus are increasing. On hearing his wrds, sme f the peple said, Surely this man is the Prphet. Others said, He is the Christ. Still thers asked, Hw can the Christ cme frm Galilee? Des nt the Scripture say that the Christ will cme frm David s family and frm Bethlehem, the twn where David lived? Thus the peple were divided because f Jesus. (Jhn 7:40-43). In Jhn 7:49 the Pharisees said: But this mb that knws nthing f the law there is a curse n them. Therefre the Pharisees wanted t cnvince this mb that Jesus was nt the Messiah. That he was nt the ne prmised by Mses (Deut. 18:15-18), because sme peple vertly said: When the Christ cmes, will he d mre miraculus signs than this man? (Jhn 7:31). The Pharisees were becming nervus abut Jesus and his teachings. But at dawn Jesus is in the temple curts again and many peple are listening t him. Verse 3-6 Hw can the Pharisees cnvince the mb, the peple f Jerusalem, that Jesus is nt the Prphet, that he is nt the Christ, whm they expected? Put him t the test. Cnfrnt him with an actual situatin and nt with a theretical questin. They bring an actual case in frnt f the peple and f Jesus: a wman caught in adultery. There are witnesses. There are always tw peple invlved in adultery. Is this again an example f the inferir psitin f wmen in thse days? (See als Matt. 19:3.) The Pharisees are nt interested in the fate f this wman, they are abusing her t test Jesus. In the Law Mses cmmanded us t stne such wmen. Nw what d yu say? (Lev. 20:10, Deut. 22:21 24). What are the pssible ptins fr Jesus? If he disagrees with Mses, then the Pharisees will have a basis fr accusing him in frnt f the peple and the Jewish religius leaders. If he cnfirms what Mses said, then the life f this wman wuld be smehw at risk and als his wn missin: Fr Gd did nt send his Sn int the wrld t cndemn the wrld (this wman), but t save the wrld (her) thrugh him (Jhn 3:17). There is n middle grund. Jesus desn t answer his ppnents. He ignres them. He bent dwn and started t write n the grund with his finger. It is nt imprtant t knw what he wrte. If it was imprtant, Jhn wuld have tld us.
He desn t want t be frced int this dilemma. He increases the tensin amng the peple and Pharisees. Nte that the life f the wman in the midst is nt at risk. The situatin desn t get ut f hand. Jesus is in cntrl. Verse 7-9 The Pharisees are becming impatient. They kept n questining him. Jesus uses his time wisely. Then he straightens up. This bdy language is imprtant. First he was sitting, teaching the peple. Then he bwed dwn, lking at the grund, writing in the sand, ignring the Pharisees. Nw he stands up and he can lk the Pharisees in the eye. If any ne f yu is withut sin, let him be the first t thrw a stne at her (vs. 7). This must have shcked them. Firstly, Jesus is cnfirming Mses. They never expected this answer. Secndly, he frces the Pharisees t shw their cards. What are yur mtives? Why d yu ask me this questin? If any ne f yu is withut sin, desn t mean sinless. Nbdy is sinless. N judge culd pass sentence n a suspect if he ught t be withut sin. Jesus means: Be hnest. D yu want t stne her yurself? He is cnfrnting them with their wn mtives. And again he is using time, waiting t see what they are ging t d. At the same time he knws the life f this wman is nt at risk. But try t image the feelings f this wman. She is facing the pssibility f death. We knw the utcme, the end f the stry. She des nt knw it yet! Jesus knws. The Pharisees and all the thers leave ne by ne. Jesus cnfrnted them with themselves. He knew their hearts and minds. He is expsing them. Verse 10-11 After all have left, there is the wman still standing in the midst. Jesus is plite when he says: wman r better miss (see technical ntes). He desn t shw any cntempt fr this wman, as did the Pharisees when they were pushing her frward in the midst and talking abut such wmen (vs. 5). Jesus is affirming Jhn 3:17: Fr Gd did nt send his Sn int the wrld t cndemn the wrld (this wman), but t save the wrld (her) thrugh him. She can g hme nw: and leave yur life f sin. There is n need fr her t ask frgiveness. Jesus knws that she has been taught her lessn. And, what is imprtant, she had an encunter with the Prphet, the Christ. She had an encunter with the Lrd (cf. Jhn 14:8-9). Finally, it is shcking t see that this wman is the nly ne t experience the saving Gspel. All the ther peple have gne hme r away already.
Applicatin It is imprtant t knw and shw the wisdm, the righteusness and mercy f Jesus, which are exemplified by this stry full f tensin and emtin. A theretical situatin differs frm an actual situatin. A theretical situatin can be discussed. One can reach a cnclusin r the participants can agree t disagree. An actual situatin is different. A cnclusin has cnsequences fr all invlved. A slutin is needed. Questins cncerning hmsexuality can be discussed theretically. But when hmsexuals are invlved, the discussin shuld be different, cmpassinate, merciful. This shuld always be the case when meeting peple wh wrestle with their sins. Smetimes ne might ask anther persn: Wh is Jesus fr yu? Hw d yu feel abut Jesus? But is far better t lk in the mirrr f the gspel and have a lk at yurself. If any ne f yu is withut sin, let him be the first t thrw a stne (vs. 7). These wrds are smetimes misused by smene wh is criticized because f sin. Lk at yurself, dn t criticize me. At the same time peple can thrw many spiritual stnes criticising and cndemning thers. Therefre, it is very imprtant t examine yur wn mtives if yu criticize smebdy else. Bibligraphy Beasley-Murray, G. (1987). Jhn. WBC 36. Wac: Wrd Bks. Hendriksen, W. (2002). The Gspel f Jhn. NTC. Grand Rapids: Baker Bk Huse. Mrris, L. (1971). The Gspel accrding t Jhn : the English text with intrductin, expsitin and ntes. NICNT. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.