An Act of Personal Sacrifice

In the book of John, in chapter 8, is the story of the woman caught in the act of adultery. Here is a woman caught in the act of adultery, she gets drug out into the public eye, in who knows what sort of condition. She gets dumped on the ground near Jesus, who had been just sitting there on the ground, teaching people. My guess would be that there was a good sized audience in there between Jesus teaching and whatever else was going on. There was potentially quite a crew of people there to watch this woman’s humiliation as well as Jesus’ response.

Here we have the scribes and Pharisees, all standing there, around this woman. I imagine they have these somewhat fierce expressions that are just a hair away from turning into glee as they hope to get Jesus to say something to condemn His own self. They are probably ready, poised to take an action, to condemn not only this woman, but also Jesus Himself.

So here we have Jesus, sitting there calmly on the floor, with His followers, this broken woman, who I imagine is probably half laying on the floor crying, surrounded by these gloating men who are just so pleased with themselves to have ‘outsmarted’ this ‘imposter’.

Then one of them, likely the ringleader of this stupidity, calls out to Jesus. “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such a woman; what then do You say?” And Jesus just leans over on the ground and starts writing in the dirt. Now, the Bible doesn’t tell us what Jesus wrote, but I’ve always imagined it being the Ten Commandments. My thought being that He would have written whatever was going to make the biggest impact on the men He was talking to. Therefore logically, it would have to have been something that was already being taught, something that would directly affect or impact them. Ten Commandments seem the most logical. It might not have even been all of the commandments. It could have just been whichever ones that He knew would have the greatest effect on the people who were talking to Him. If I was going to hazard a guess, I would lean towards the not coveting, not stealing, and not bearing false witness. Or, the other possibility that I’ve thought, was maybe he was writing out their sins so everyone to see.

As He is writing, these guys keep pestering Him. Maybe they weren’t even paying that much attention to what He was writing at first. But then, when He straightens up and says, ‘He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.’ Which strikes me a little bit, because if you stop and think about it for a second, Jesus was the only one who could have thrown a stone at her, with those provisions. He was the only one without sin. And whether these guys saw something written in the dirt that day that spoke to them or not, something about what was being said caught them. Maybe on some level they realized that they were sinners, and since throwing the first stone at her would have then resulted in them bearing false witness to themselves…. They were convicted by the words of their own law. And so, one by one, they were convicted and turned away. Leaving this woman with Jesus, the only one who could convict her by the terms the He Himself set. I don’t know if this woman knew who He was or not. But He lets her go. He was the one person who could legitimately condemn her, but instead He tells her, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.”

In that moment, I imagine, He looked to her, knowing that He was taking the burden of her sin on Himself, and He intentionally released her. His love was an act of sacrifice freely given.

Now, Jesus could have been angry at her for adding to the burden He was going to carry. Because at that time, that was still in His future. That makes it seem worse somehow. It seems like it would be easier to forgive someone after you already endured, than it would be to forgive them in advance. How much worse would it be KNOWING that in your future, you are going to suffer for the sins of others? How could you look at them with love and forgiveness, knowing what it will cost you? Somehow, Jesus could and did. His love for this woman outweighed the cost that He would be taking upon Himself.

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