QUESTION #15 Woman, where are your accusers?

QUESTIONS JESUS ASKED BIBLE STUDY

Read John 8:1-11 KJV: 

 

Woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath no man                           condemned thee? (Matthew 9:28)

 

ADULTEROUS WOMAN BROUGHT TO JESUS

Reference: john 8:1-11

 

In the account of Jesus and the woman taken in adultery, we see Jesus’ compassion on full display in the temple, showcasing God’s love and mercy -- and the way to salvation. 

 

Jesus is in Jerusalem teaching. At night he is on the mount of Olives, but in the mornings, he teaches in the temple. Jesus had been teaching the people when the scribes and Pharisees bring a clear challenge, designed to embarrass Jesus and get Him into trouble. They often sought to trap Him and this one too was a trick, a trap, to turn the authorities and the people against Jesus. If Jesus were to say the woman should be stoned, he would be going contrary to His longstanding reputation for showing mercy to the broken and disreputable. But if Jesus said she shouldn’t be stoned, he could be accused of teaching against the Law of Moses and undermining social order. 

 

There was definitely hypocrisy behind the trap. It is clear that this was a “set-up”. The accusers were clear that the woman had been caught in the very act. This isn’t easy to do. Just finding a man and woman in the same room may not be enough. Careful planning must have been done to entrap the couple -- and to entrap Jesus. 

 

First of all, only the woman was brought. Where was the man? The Law specifically states that both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death (Leviticus 20:10). There was something fishy about the charge here. 

 

The accusers demanded a response, but Jesus didn’t answer right away. Instead he bent down and began to write on the ground with His finger. There is a lot of speculation about what Jesus wrote in the sand, but the Bible doesn’t say, if the writing would have been important to the story, surely, we would have been told. Perhaps it was so that the suspicious charge could be considered by all of Jesus’ audience as well as His opponents. Jesus may have been letting the gravity of the situation sink in. But finally, he straightens and spoke a simple sentence, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” 

 

He that is without sin. If you pluck this verse from the Bible without looking at the verses before and after, it’s easy to misunderstand. Is Jesus saying that we must not judge an action as sin? Are we being judgmental if we call sin, sin? No! Jesus was in no way condoning the woman’s behavior, Jesus was telling the accusers they were: number one they were not in compliance with the Law (they only brought the woman and not the man), and number two, according to the Law, the witnesses to the crime had to participate in the punishment. Hence why Jesus asked them about picking up the first stone. In their attempt to trap Jesus they had trapped themselves. They knew the Law, and they knew Jesus was right in His response.

 

Cast the first stone is a reference to a requirement in the Law of Moses that witnesses be the first to put a person to death (Deuteronomy 13:9; 17:6-7). 

 

Jesus’ words have the desired effect, and He goes back to writing in the sand, and gradually one by one all the accusers are convicted by their own conscience and leave.

 

Jesus then stands and asked the woman, “where are your accusers? Is there no man to condemn you?” The woman answered, “No man, Lord.” I think her answer clearly states that she has recognized Jesus as her Lord and Savior. Jesus then says, “Neither do I condemn you, go, and sin no more.” 

 

Go and sin no more. Jesus did not state that no sin had occurred. The woman knew it and so does Jesus. Jesus is not acting as if her sin is of no consequence. He forgives her and tells to go and sin no more. 

 

A call to repentance. In this passage Jesus does not excuse or pass over sin. Rather, He gently calls the sinner to repentance, to change. Repentance is not a “work of righteousness” it is an act of faith. When we believe that Jesus is Lord, we are then sorry for our sins and ask the Lord to forgive us, true repentance brings about true change in a person. We no longer live in contrary to God’s Word. 

 

Sometimes in our day, the gospel is presented in such a way that real repentance, real change, is not required. But this is not the True Gospel. There is no forgiveness, no new birth, no change without repentance.

 

To understand more about repentance, see “What is Repentance?” at back of study.

 

Notes: