In our last two studies, we have looked at Jesus in John 7, his sense of appointment at the Feast of Tabernacles and the actual purpose of that appointment. Now in John 8 we move into a moment of profound teaching from Jesus.

The woman caught in adultery

The scenario that we are presented with is Jesus coming into the Temple early in the morning, ready for a day of teaching, and suddenly he is confronted by a group of angry scribes and Pharisees putting a serious question to him. The question that they want to put to Jesus pertains to a woman caught in the act of adultery. In posing this question the crowd cite Moses, which is an interesting juxtaposition with the Book of Exodus where the people of Israel reject Moses’ input, but are now quoting him as they seek to put Jesus on the spot.

Early in the morning Jesus went to the temple and all the people came to him, and he sat down to teach them. The Scribes and Pharisees brought a woman caught in the act of adultery before him and said to him, ‘Master, this woman was caught in the act of adultery, the very act. Now, in his Torah Moses commanded us that such an act carries the penalty of stoning. What do you say? They said this to him to try and tempt him into saying something that they could accuse him over. Jesus simply squatted down and wrote with his finger on the ground. It was as if he hadn’t heard them. They continued to demand a judgement and eventually he stood up and said to them, ‘Let anyone who is without sin amongst you cast the first stone’. Then he squatted back down and continued writing on the ground. On hearing this they began to be convicted by their own consciences, and gradually, one by one, they drifted away, beginning with the older ones, until none were left. The only people left were Jesus and the woman. Once again Jesus stood up, looked around and saw no-one but the woman. He said to her ‘Where are your accusers? Isn’t there anyone to condemn you?’ She replied, ‘No man, Lord’. Jesus responded, ‘Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more’.

A set-up?

I have always been puzzled by this scenario, because as far as I can tell adultery is not a single person activity. So if this woman was caught in the act of adultery, where is her partner?

Could it be that in his statement “Let anyone without sin cast the first stone”, Jesus was actually recognising the unusual nature of the situation and suggesting that this is a set-up by the group of men demanding the judgement? Certainly, this would make sense of the consciences convicted among the gathered men.

Mercy and truth

But of course, the burning question has to be – what was Jesus writing on the ground? Obviously, none of us know or can tell. However, allow me to speculate that maybe, just maybe, it was this portion of scripture: Psalm 85:9-10.

“Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.”

The Hebrew that is translated as ‘mercy’ is ‘chesed’, the word that is best translated ‘grace’. The Hebrew translated as truth is ‘emet’ – a word that Strong’s Bible Dictionary details as truth, firmness, faithfulness. The Hebrew word translated peace is ‘shalom’, a word I am sure we all know about.

We live in a world where every day people demand the truth. Indeed, the men who brought the woman to Jesus were demanding the truth, asking for justice. She was an adulteress: so what is the right punishment?

Equally, we live in a world where every day people demand mercy or grace; we need to extend that mercy to people. We want to experience that sense of peace in our lives.

The heart of God

The thing is that we rarely, if ever, see that grace and truth coming together. In Jesus we see that here, and we learn that it is only when grace and truth combine, when shalom and rightness blend, that we find the heart of God.

Only in Jesus do grace and truth kiss and we can come to that place of covenant faithfulness (righteousness) and wholeness (shalom).

Once all the accusers had dispersed, Jesus extends ‘chesed’ (grace) to the woman by saying that he will not condemn her. But he then continues to demonstrate that, for grace to be truly operative, the truth of the situation has to be acknowledged as he says, “Go and sin no more”.

In Jesus, we experience complete grace, but that grace can only be experienced when we acknowledge the truth of our situation and repent. The world we are in alternatively demands either truth or grace. Only in Jesus do grace and truth kiss and we can come to that place of covenant faithfulness (righteousness) and wholeness (shalom).