In this sermon, Pastor Dave Capoccia examines the story of the woman caught in adultery, noting the difficult text-critical background of this unique New Testament passage. The passage’s original writer reports Jesus’ amazing handling of the adulteress’ conundrum so that you also might escape condemnation by believing in Jesus and then might walk in grateful holiness.
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Summary
This passage in John 7:53–8:11 presents both a textual puzzle and a powerful picture of the gospel. We are reminded that though this passage likely did not originate from the Apostle John, the science of textual criticism gives us confidence that the Bible we hold today faithfully reflects God’s original revelation. The story of the woman caught in adultery, while not definitively inspired scripture, rings true with everything we know about Jesus and the gospel.
Key Lessons:
- Textual criticism is a friend to the Bible — through careful comparison of manuscripts, we can reconstruct with near-perfect certainty what the apostles and prophets originally wrote, confirming God’s word has not been lost or corrupted.
- The central conundrum of the Bible — how can a just God justify the ungodly? — is answered only through the cross, where Jesus bears the penalty sinners deserve and clothes them in his own righteousness.
- The true order of salvation is grace first, then obedience — Jesus does not say ‘sin no more and I won’t condemn you,’ but rather ‘I do not condemn you; now go and sin no more.’
- Self-righteous condemnation of others while ignoring our own sin is more spiritually dangerous than being the openly guilty sinner who comes humbly to Jesus.
Application: We are called to examine which character we identify with in this story — the humble sinner who receives Jesus’ forgiveness, or the self-righteous accuser who walks away. If we have received Christ’s forgiveness, we must live in grateful holiness, actively repenting of sin and following Jesus as Lord.
Discussion Questions:
- How does understanding textual criticism strengthen rather than weaken your confidence in the reliability of Scripture?
- In what areas of your life might you be acting like the scribes and Pharisees — quick to condemn others while overlooking your own sin?
- How does the order of Jesus’ words — ‘I do not condemn you’ followed by ‘go and sin no more’ — reshape your understanding of the relationship between grace and obedience?
Scripture Focus: John 7:53–8:11 (the woman caught in adultery), Leviticus 20:10 and Deuteronomy 17:6–7 (Old Testament law on adultery and witnesses), Matthew 7:1–5 (removing the log from your own eye), Matthew 9:12–13 (Jesus came to call sinners), and Romans 13:14 (put on the Lord Jesus Christ).
Outline
- Introduction
- The Brackets in Your Bible
- What Is Textual Criticism?
- Where Did This Story Come From?
- Is This Story True?
- The Background (7:53–8:2)
- The Test (8:3–6a)
- The Response (8:6b–8)
- The Outcome (8:9–11)
- Why Did the Accusers Leave?
- I Do Not Condemn You Either
- The Cross: The Answer to the Conundrum
- The True Order of Salvation
- Go and Sin No More
- Who Are You in This Story?
- Closing Prayer
Introduction
Let’s pray together. Great God, Lord Jesus, we come to a difficult and unique passage today. Help me, Lord, to be able to explain this well. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Please take your Bibles and turn to today’s passage: John 7:53 to 8:11. If you’re using a few Bibles, it’s on page 1069.
I’d like us to read the text, and then I want you to notice something important about this text with me. John 7:53 to 8:11:
“Everyone went to his home, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning, he came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to him. And he sat down and began to teach them.
The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, they said to him, ‘Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery in the very act. Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. What then do you say?’
They were saying this, testing him, so that they might have grounds for accusing him. But Jesus stooped down and with his finger wrote on the ground. But when they persisted in asking him, he straightened up and said to them, ‘He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.’
Again, he stooped down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones. And he was left alone, and the woman, where she was in the center of the court. Straightening up, Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?’
She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said, ‘I do not condemn you either. Go from now on. Sin no more.’”
The Brackets in Your Bible
This is a famous account. This is the story of Jesus and the woman caught in adultery. But hopefully, having looked at the text yourselves, you may have noticed something curious about this passage.
In your Bibles, likely you see the entire text enclosed in brackets, or perhaps there’s a line before and after the text, and all the words of the text are italicized. You probably also see a note before the text or at the bottom of the Bible page that says something like, “Later MSS”—that is, manuscripts—”later manuscripts add the story of the adulterous woman, numbering it as John 7:53 to 8:11.”
Or perhaps the note says, “The earliest manuscripts do not include 7:53 to 8:11.”
What’s this all about? Why these brackets? These lines? These italics? These notes for this passage?
Well, these are the ways that our faithful Bible translators indicate to us that John 7:53 to 8:11 does not appear in the earliest and most reliable manuscripts we have for the Gospel of John. Therefore, this text most likely is not original to John’s gospel.
“This text most likely is not original to John’s gospel.”
In other words, the Apostle John did not write this passage. Someone else wrote it, and the passage somehow later got inserted into John’s gospel.
Now, at hearing such a statement, I bet you immediately have several pressing questions. First, how can translators and scholars be so certain that John the Apostle did not write this?
Second, if John did not write it, who did? And how did that person’s work end up in John’s gospel?
Third, if John did not write it, is this text still true? Still the Bible? And still profitable for study today?
I’d like to answer those questions for you this morning. Then I’d like to walk you through this passage, which, despite its problematic origin, does ring true with the heart of our Savior and the wonder of the Gospel.
The title of the message today is: “The Conundrum of the Woman Caught in Adultery.”
What Is Textual Criticism?
Let’s talk first about how the science of textual criticism shows us that this passage is not from John. To begin with, we must remember that we no longer have the original autographs of different Bible books.
We don’t have, for example, the original scroll of the five books of Moses. We don’t have the original piece of papyrus on which the Apostle John wrote the letter of Third John.
This is potentially a significant problem. Though the Bible teaches, and we do believe at this church, that the Bible is God-breathed, inerrant, and completely authoritative, the Bible possesses these qualities only in its original documents—in its original autographs—in what was actually written by the apostles and prophets by the Spirit of God.
If those original documents had been lost, destroyed, or have deteriorated over time in their physical makeup—which they have—then how do we know any longer what God actually said via the apostles and prophets in ancient days?
Though we do not have the original documents, we do have many, many copies of those original documents. Hundreds of copies were made from the originals, or made from other copies of the originals, during the classical and medieval periods.
These copies are called manuscripts, and they may consist of a fraction of a Bible book, an entire Bible book, or even a collection of several Bible books.
But how reliable are these surviving copies of the Bible? Could errors possibly have crept into our ancient and medieval copies of the Bible so that, like in a game of telephone, what we think is the Bible has in fact become hopelessly corrupted over time?
This is an accusation made by opponents of Christianity. But this is where textual criticism comes in.
When I say textual criticism, don’t get it confused with higher criticism, which is bad—which is what I talked about a little bit in Sunday School. Textual criticism is good. It’s a friend to the Bible.
“Textual criticism is good. It’s a friend to the Bible.”
What is textual criticism? Textual criticism is a scientific discipline in which people use the copies of a now non-existent original document to reconstruct what that original document must have said.
In textual criticism, scholars compare the surviving copies to see where the copies are all the same, where the copies differ, and then try to offer explanations as to why there are differences.
It’s a little bit like a CSI investigation. You try to figure out how different versions of a text might have emerged, how variance within a text might have emerged, so that you can figure out which one is more likely the original.
Reconstructing the Original Text
Now, there’s much to the science of textual criticism that would be too much to try and explain right now. But the upshot is: since this science really began in earnest in the Renaissance period, around the 1400s, Bible scholars have been able to use the surviving copies of the Bible that we do have to reconstruct with 99.99% certainty the original autographs as given by the apostles and prophets.
So we have not lost the scriptures. They have not become hopelessly corrupted. By this study of the copies, we are able to reconstruct the original, authoritative, infallible, inspired word of God.
“We are able to reconstruct the original, authoritative, infallible, inspired word of God.”
In most cases, comparing the copies and figuring out the original was not hard to do. Because the vast majority of differences or errors in the Bible copies that we have are totally inconsequential. They’re usually just spelling variants.
There are a few extremely rare cases where there is a variant in the text such that it’s difficult to determine what the original was. But these, as I’ve already said, are a very small minority.
They’re usually marked in some way in your Bible, and they do not substantively affect the Gospel or any Christian doctrine.
All this to say, and to emphasize again: though the Bibles we use have been produced 3,300 to 2,000 years after the original writers actually wrote these different books of the Bible, we can be confident that the copies we have today faithfully reflect those original writings.
We have the scriptures. In accordance with God’s word, “My word shall not pass away.” He will always be able to verify what God actually declared.
Evidence This Passage Is Not from John
But back to our passage: why do Bible-believing textual critics assert that this passage—John 7:53 to 8:11—is not part of the original writing of John’s gospel?
Allow me to summarize the most significant evidence. The earliest copies we have of the Gospel of John—the earliest manuscripts—do not contain this passage.
In fact, the first time that this story shows up in any surviving manuscript is around AD 400, in a manuscript called Codex Beza, which notably has a number of other weird variants in it.
If John really wrote this passage, shouldn’t it have appeared in the earliest copies of his book? And why is it then that when the passage does first appear, it is only in a manuscript known for not being completely reliable?
“If John really wrote this passage, shouldn’t it have appeared in the earliest copies of his book?”
Now, the passage does appear in the majority of later manuscripts, later medieval copies of John’s gospel. But even many of those copies mark this passage as having disputed authenticity.
Even more telling is the fact that of the Bible manuscripts we have that do contain this passage, those manuscripts do not all put this passage in the same spot.
There are some manuscripts that place this account earlier in John, after John 7:36. Others place it at the end of John, after John 21:25. And still other manuscripts place this account in a totally different book—in Luke, after Luke 21:38 or after Luke 24:53.
Again, we might ask: if John really wrote this passage, how come the manuscript copies cannot agree on where this passage should be placed? How come even Luke becomes a candidate?
Internal Evidence
There are also internal clues—that is, details within the passage and within the passage’s context—which also suggest that this passage is not original to John.
These observations are admittedly more subjective, but they are worth noting. The style and vocabulary of John 7:53 to 8:11 is different compared to the rest of John’s gospel.
For example, it is only here that we see the word “scribes” being used. John will talk about the Pharisees. John will talk about the priests. But he never mentions scribes anywhere else in this gospel.
Or the Mount of Olives—we see the Mount of Olives mentioned here, never mentioned anywhere else in John. That’s interesting.
The writing here really is overall more similar to the synoptic gospels than to the rest of John.
“The style and vocabulary of John 7:53 to 8:11 is different compared to the rest of John’s gospel.”
Furthermore, the account here awkwardly interrupts what has just been happening previously in John 7. Jesus’ discussion with the Jews and Pharisees on the last day of the Feast of Booths—as I’ve been teaching you those passages, I’ve been emphasizing Jesus has several rounds of discussion, and he’s about to go into another round. But this passage interrupts it.
The text flows more naturally if John 7:52 is followed by John 8:12.
This internal evidence, like I said, is a bit subjective. So on its own, it would not be decisive. We would just say, “It’s weird. But hey, this is John’s gospel.”
But with the overwhelming external evidence—that which we see by comparing the surviving manuscripts—we can safely conclude that John 7:53 to 8:11 was not originally part of John’s gospel, but was only added later by someone else.
Which, again, is why most Bibles today mark off this passage in some special way.
Where Did This Story Come From?
But now we need to ask: if this is not from John, from where did the story originate? And the answer is: we don’t know.
Likely, this story is ancient—even from the first century, even from the time of Jesus.
It’s an interesting anecdote in the writings of Eusebius of Caesarea. He was a fourth-century Church Father and historian. He makes comment on the writings of a first-century Church Father—late first-century Church Father—named Papias of Hierapolis.
And he says that Papias once related a story, quote, “of a woman who was accused of many sins before the Lord,” unquote.
Now, we don’t get any more information about that story from Eusebius or Papias. But Eusebius could be indicating that the story of Jesus and the adulteress, or something similar to it, was already known in the late first or early second centuries.
Even if it didn’t make it into the Bible, most likely then, here’s what happened: at some point in the early centuries, an unknown Christian scribe heard the story of Jesus and the adulteress, and he felt like the story was true and needed to be preserved. And therefore, he included it in his copying of the Gospel of John.
“An unknown Christian scribe heard the story and felt it was true and needed to be preserved.”
Indeed, the impression one gets when examining the evidence related to this passage’s authenticity is that this is a story—or this is a tradition about Jesus—that is looking for a home. Looking for a home somewhere in the gospels.
For whatever reason, the home which Christian copyists eventually allowed for this passage is what we see in our Bibles now: John 7:53–8:11.
Is This Story True?
But now, perhaps the most important question: is this story a true story? Did this really happen?
That’s a difficult question to answer. We cannot automatically say yes simply by appealing to the Bible’s inerrancy, since this story really is an interloper among the New Testament books.
We Christians rightly hold to the verifiable teachings of the Apostles. But we have no hard evidence that this story comes from the apostles or is inspired by God.
Nevertheless, most evangelical commentators today agree that while this account may not be inspired scripture, the story most likely is true. This probably did really happen.
“While this account may not be inspired scripture, the story most likely is true.”
Why did they conclude that? Well, one: it’s difficult to imagine an early Christian making up the story about Jesus, especially because in an early church context, they treated adultery very seriously.
Two: this story does not contradict any other scriptures. Usually, if you’re going to throw something in there that’s not from the Bible, you make it different. You have a reason for inserting it.
And then three: what the story depicts about Jesus, about sin, and about the hypocritical righteous—it rings true. If you study the other gospels, if you get to know the scribes and Pharisees and how they act, well, they act like this.
If you study the Gospel of John and the other gospels and you get to know Jesus and how he acts, well, he acts like this.
The Central Conundrum
Indeed, the conundrum this story raises is the central conundrum of the Bible. That is: how can God be just and the justifier of the ungodly? How can a holy God forgive sin?
“How can God be just and the justifier of the ungodly? How can a holy God forgive sin?”
The scribes and Pharisees think they can use this seemingly unsolvable dilemma to trap and destroy Jesus. But not only does Jesus foil their trap, he once again demonstrates that these realities can be true at the same time.
God is both holy and merciful. Thus, all sinners can have hope in coming to him.
While I acknowledge that this passage is not really from the Apostle John, and while I do not believe we can confidently call this passage inspired scripture, I do believe that we can receive true edification and encouragement from this passage, especially when we interpret it in light of that which is definitely God’s scripture.
Therefore, with the rest of our time this morning, I’d like to look more closely at this passage with you.
Main Idea of the Passage
What’s the main idea of this text? I’ll say it this way: the writer of John 7:53–8:11 reports Jesus’ amazing handling of the adulterous conundrum so that you also might escape condemnation by believing in Jesus, and then might walk in grateful holiness.
I’ll say that again: the writer reports Jesus’ amazing handling of the adulterous conundrum so that you also might escape condemnation by believing in Jesus, and then might walk in grateful holiness.
“You also might escape condemnation by believing in Jesus, and then walk in grateful holiness.”
The Background (7:53–8:2)
We’ll work our way through this text under four simple headings describing the flow of events. The first heading covers verses 7:53 to 8:2, and that is: number one, the background.
Number one: the background. Let’s reread those verses: “Everyone went to his home, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning, he came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to him, and he sat down and began to teach them.”
These verses establish that the events about to be related happened during one of Jesus’ visits to Jerusalem. Almost certainly, these events did not happen in the middle of Jesus’ discussion with the Jews during his last Feast of Booths before his crucifixion, as the insertion of this text between John 7 and 8 would otherwise seem to indicate.
But the description given here does accurately describe Jesus’ habit when visiting Jerusalem. As we can verify by paying attention to the descriptions about Jesus in the other gospels when visiting Jerusalem, Jesus indeed often stayed on the Mount of Olives—that is, at the village of Bethany on the eastern side of the Mount of Olives.
He often went into the temple courts to teach, as was customary for rabbis to do in Jerusalem. And when Jesus did teach in the temple, many people often came to hear him teach, even if he wasn’t doing any miracles.
“When Jesus did teach in the temple, many people often came to hear him teach.”
The Test (8:3–6a)
With this description from our unknown author, we are in one of Jesus’ customary teaching settings in Jerusalem. When a certain shocking event takes place, we hear about that event in verses 3 to 6A, where we have our second heading: number two, the test.
Number two: the test. Let’s reread those verses: “The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, they said to him, ‘Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery in the very act. Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. What then do you say?’
They were saying this, testing him, so that they might have grounds for accusing him.”
“They were saying this, testing him, so that they might have grounds for accusing him.”
The Scribes and Pharisees
Notice here who confronts Jesus: the scribes and Pharisees. The Pharisees we’ve already met in the Gospel of John. These were the popular religious leaders known for their fastidious, overzealous devotion to the law of Moses as interpreted according to Jewish tradition.
Who are the scribes? The scribes were experts in the law of God. They were responsible for its copying, its interpretation, and its being applied in legal cases among God’s people.
Though not all scribes were Pharisees, and not all Pharisees were scribes, the two groups fit together like a hand and glove, as one commentator put it. The scribes interpreted how God’s law was to be kept, and the Pharisees made sure to keep the law just as the scribes interpreted.
“The two groups fit together like a hand and glove.”
Unsurprisingly, the scribes often joined the Pharisees as committed enemies of Jesus. Jesus, meanwhile, often condemned the scribes along with the Pharisees.
This evil double team is after Jesus again. Like cartoon villains, they seem to have come up with an ingenious scheme.
This time, they thrust before Jesus, and for all those he is teaching, a woman allegedly caught in the act of adultery. That is, while she was in bed with a man who is not her husband.
With such obvious evidence of her guilt and with her wicked crime most likely committed very recently, they demand from Jesus his opinion as to what should be done with her. Should she be stoned in accordance with Moses’ law, that adulteresses should be executed? Or should she instead be spared and forgiven?
Now, verse 6 tells us that the scribes and Pharisees come to Jesus not because they are unsure of what to do, or because they need him to preside as some kind of official authority. Not at all.
They already know what to do, and they have their own courts—their official courts—to adjudicate this woman. All this is merely to test Jesus, to trip him up in something he might say, so that they might have something substantive with which to accuse and destroy Jesus.
A Seemingly Impossible Dilemma
Really, their test is clever. Because seemingly, Jesus will lose no matter how he answers.
If, on the one hand, Jesus replies, “Stone her,” well, he will have destroyed his reputation as a friend of sinners, and he will greatly alienate himself from the people. You see, most of the common people of Israel at this time were not in favor of the death penalty for adultery, as adultery was usually difficult to prove and the penalty was selectively enforced.
Furthermore, as the other gospels testify, Jesus was regularly sought out by tax collectors, sinners, and immoral women for forgiveness of sins and entrance into God’s kingdom. What sinner would come to Jesus if, instead of mercy from God, they think they might find sudden condemnation and even execution from Jesus?
But if, on the other hand, Jesus replies, “Spare her,” well, then he will have set himself up against Moses, and thereby up against the law of God. He would have taught not to obey the scriptures, because this is commanded. God didn’t indeed command the death penalty for adulterers in Israel.
With such an obvious and public repudiation of God’s law, Jesus’ opponents could justly condemn him as a false teacher and then find an excuse to execute him as such.
“He would have taught not to obey the scriptures — his opponents could justly condemn him as a false teacher.”
And the pressure is on for Jesus to answer. The woman was caught red-handed. She faces execution. The scribes and Pharisees have invaded Jesus’ teaching circle, and they demand a ruling. She’s standing before him. Everyone is on the edge of their seats.
How will Jesus answer?
Something Fishy About This Situation
But before we find out, does something strike you as fishy about this whole situation?
First: isn’t adultery an act committed by two people? Where’s the man? After all, God’s law didn’t only command that adulteresses be put to death, but also the adulterous men who participate with those women. Leviticus 20:10.
If the scribes and Pharisees caught this woman in the act, how is it that they failed to catch the man? Were they simply more lenient with him because he was a man?
Additionally, God’s law prescribed that a person could only be put to death for a crime if there were at least two witnesses to that crime. That’s Deuteronomy 17:6.
Adultery is a capital crime in Israel, and thus that provision from God also applies to the adultery situation. But what if the chances of two witnesses both being there at the precise moment when normally secretive adulterers are committing the act of adultery—after all, circumstantial evidence such as furtive glances at one another or even being found in the same room together—that is not enough to count as evidence of two people committing adultery.
They must be caught in the act. Therefore, this two-witness requirement was one of the reasons why adultery was rarely prosecuted in Israel to the point of the death penalty. You just never found a situation where those requirements were fulfilled. Divorce was a much more common outcome.
So how is it that these scribes and Pharisees can implicitly claim—if they’re really keeping the law by insisting that this woman has been caught in the act—that they remarkably have at least two witnesses to prove it, considering these peculiarities?
There is a possibility that there’s something very sinister at work here. It is possible, though unlikely, that the scribes and Pharisees indeed just happened to have two witnesses who caught a woman in the act of adultery, but somehow failed to catch the man—maybe because he was better at escaping.
But it is also possible, and I would say more likely, that all of this is a cold and disgusting setup. That is, the scribes and Pharisees set out on purpose to entrap a woman in the act of adultery just so they could turn around and use her as a pawn to destroy Jesus.
After all, wouldn’t such make sense of the otherwise peculiar details? The adulterous man got away because he was the one who had been arranged to lure the woman into the act in the first place. And the two witnesses were ready because they knew the attempted adultery was about to take place.
“The scribes and Pharisees set out on purpose to entrap a woman just to use her as a pawn to destroy Jesus.”
If the woman was indeed set up, if this was a version of entrapment, then whatever rationalization the scribes and Pharisees told themselves, they are just as guilty of sin as the woman that they throw before Jesus.
But however this peculiar situation came about, Jesus has to come up with a response. Or does he?
The Response (8:6b–8)
Look now at verses 6B to 8, where we see our third heading: number three, the response.
Number three: the response. “But Jesus stooped down and with his finger wrote on the ground. But when they persisted in asking him, he straightened up and said to them, ‘He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her. Again, he stooped down and wrote on the ground.’”
Notice that at the moment of greatest drama in this confrontation—when the woman’s life hangs in the balance and the scribes, the Pharisees, and the crowd are holding their breath—they hear Jesus answer. Jesus says nothing.
Instead, he stoops down and starts writing with his finger on the ground.
What Did Jesus Write?
The question everyone wonders is: what does Jesus write on the ground? There are all sorts of theories. Perhaps an Old Testament Bible verse that applies to the situation. Perhaps he’s writing out what he’s about to say. Or maybe he’s writing down the names of the women’s accusers.
But what the real answer is to what Jesus writes—it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter, and it can’t be known.
If it did matter, our author would have told us about it, or someone in the story would have commented on it. They would have reacted to it, to what he specifically wrote.
As far as we know, Jesus may have just been scribbling on the ground. Because Jesus writing on the ground is not about what he writes, but what it’s about: delay.
It’s a delay tactic. You see, the scribes and Pharisees are ready to force this situation to its climax. But by refusing to answer their question right away and just doodling on the ground, Jesus reestablishes control of the situation.
“Jesus writing on the ground is not about what he writes — it’s about delay.”
After all, the scribes and Pharisees really have no right to demand an entrapping ruling from Jesus. He currently has no official role in Israel’s judicial system. So if Jesus does offer his opinion, it will be voluntary, and it will be on his timing, not theirs.
Furthermore, by delaying his answer, Jesus de-escalates the attention in the situation a little bit.
Notice, though, even when Jesus does answer, he again then resumes tracing on the ground with his finger, giving time for his answer to have its intended effect on the scribes and Pharisees.
Let Him Without Sin Cast the First Stone
And what is the answer Jesus finally gives to the scribes and Pharisees, annoyed at his delaying scribbling? They keep asking Jesus to give his opinion, and finally Jesus straightens up and declares: “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”
This reply from our Lord Jesus is brilliant. Once again, when presented with losing choices A and B, our invincible Lord chooses C.
“When presented with losing choices A and B, our invincible Lord chooses C.”
With his answer, Jesus shows, on the one hand, that he does agree with the law of God. Jesus affirms that the penalty due a convicted adulterer or adulteress is death, even by stoning, according to the law given to Israel.
But in approving the enforcement of God’s law, Jesus also attaches a merciful condition: only the one without sin among them may initiate the bloody proceeding.
What exactly is this condition that Jesus expresses? It’s worth noting that this specific condition does not explicitly appear in the Old Testament regarding how to initiate an execution specifically by stoning.
Instead, Deuteronomy 17:7 says that the two or three witnesses who testify of another committing a capital crime—they shall be the very ones who throw the first stones of execution. That’s what the Old Testament law says.
So then, why does Jesus supply a different condition for the one to begin throwing stones at this woman?
We should also note that Jesus cannot mean by his statement that only a sinless person has the right to initiate justice. For then the whole Old Testament law would be completely pointless and unenforceable.
So what does Jesus mean?
Justice Must Not Be Hypocritical
Well, one concept assumed in all God’s law is that justice must not be hypocritical. You cannot enforce a standard on others that you yourself do not uphold.
If you want to enforce a standard on others—and you should seek to enforce God’s standard—you must first uphold that standard on yourself.
“You cannot enforce a standard on others that you yourself do not uphold.”
And doesn’t Jesus himself teach this in the New Testament? Matthew 7:1-5: “Do not judge, so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged, and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.
Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye?
You hypocrite! First, take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”
Matthew 7:5: “First, take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”
Therefore, in this instance with the adulteress, Jesus is clarifying that only those who themselves could not be found guilty, even worthy of death, according to God’s law have permission to participate in this woman’s legal condemnation and execution.
The Outcome (8:9–11)
Well, what sort of result does this word from Jesus produce? Let’s find out as we look at the last verses of our passage, verses 9 to 11, and our final heading: number four, the outcome.
Number four: the outcome.
“When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones. And he was left alone, and the woman, where she was in the center of the court.
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Straightening up, Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?’
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She said, ‘No one, Lord.’
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And Jesus said, ‘I do not condemn you either. Go from now on. Sin no more.’”
Why Did the Accusers Leave?
Contrary to what we might expect, the self-righteous scribes and Pharisees do not respond to Jesus’ statement by beginning to throw stones at the woman. Instead, these supposedly holy men start to leave one by one, beginning with the older ones.
“These supposedly holy men start to leave one by one, beginning with the older ones.”
Why do they leave?
It could be that Jesus’ wise response foiled their trap and only exposed their hypocrisy to the crowd. Meaning that executing the woman at this point wouldn’t make Jesus look bad—it would make the scribes and Pharisees look bad.
The older ones, who would basically be the leaders of their group, begin leaving and signaling to the rest, “Boys, the jig is up. Might as well just leave.”
That could be. At a more basic level, though, Jesus’ words probably brought a measure of conviction to these men, especially if they had—as I and other commentators have suggested—violated God’s law themselves by helping arrange this adultery showdown with Jesus.
Even apart from any sins that took place with this particular episode, we do know from other parts of John’s gospel and the other gospels that the scribes and Pharisees were indeed guilty of sins which, according to the law, carry the death penalty.
They were generally speaking serial adulterers who skillfully used the loophole of divorce to trade in wives who no longer pleased them for younger, richer, more beautiful, and more fertile wives.
They were also greedy idolaters who again used loopholes of religious tradition to justify the pursuit of money, even by defrauding vulnerable widows or by denying financial assistance to aging and needy parents.
These men were also hateful murderers who very early on decided that Jesus had to be put to death, no matter what, and they justified their self-serving intent as if it would be honoring to God.
These men were just as guilty, just as worthy of death, as the woman was.
“These men were just as guilty, just as worthy of death, as the woman was.”
Though these men surely were skilled in violating their own consciences, in this instance they apparently felt the pain that executing this woman meant that they would also have to submit themselves for execution. They couldn’t stand the hypocrisy of that.
Thus, the older ones, with more sins to remember, leave first. The others follow eventually. All the woman’s accusers are gone.
Only Jesus, the woman, and the observing crowd remain.
It’s curious that the woman herself doesn’t try to leave. You might think that, out of trying to protect her own life, she might have left as soon as it was safe to do so. But she doesn’t. She stays right where she is.
I Do Not Condemn You Either
Jesus then points out to the woman that legally she has escaped the sentence of death. There are no more witnesses willing to come forward and prosecute her for adultery.
But then Jesus says something profound in John 8:11: “I do not condemn you either. Go from now on. Sin no more.”
On the surface, Jesus is again giving his legal opinion here, as if to say: “They asked me earlier whether you should be condemned, and I said yes, if they went about the prosecution the proper way. But it appears the charges against you have been dropped.
Since there are no charges and no witnesses, then in accordance with God’s law, I do not condemn you either. You are free to go.”
But notice what Jesus adds at the end of his final statement: “From now on, sin no more.”
Why include that statement? Is this not a recognition? Is this not a revelation that Jesus, the Son of God, knows that she really is guilty? She really has committed sin—even adultery—no matter how she was enticed, no matter how she was led, no matter whether witnesses can be produced or not?
God knows. Thus, Jesus knows that she chose her sin, and therefore deserves to die.
“God knows. Jesus knows that she chose her sin, and therefore deserves to die. Yet Jesus still says, ‘I do not condemn you.’”
Yet Jesus still says to her, “I do not condemn you either.”
Wait a second. How can the all-knowing Son of God say that? Does he not care for justice? Does he not want to uphold the honor of God’s institution of marriage?
How can he just let adultery go like this without her suffering any penalty?
In other words, we return to the question raised earlier: how can a just God justify the ungodly? How can he tell her, “I do not condemn you”?
The Cross: The Answer to the Conundrum
The answer is not explained here. But it would be explained soon. How? The cross.
There is only one basis upon which Jesus can offer forgiveness to this adulterous woman: someone else has to suffer the penalty due her adultery and all her other sins. And only one person could do that, and that is Jesus himself.
The Son of God would go to the cross to suffer for sinners like her, to pay the debt of their sin, and to suffer the wrath that they justly deserve from a holy God. And also to give them his own record of righteousness.
In other words, Jesus dying on the cross—his work on the cross—would expunge the scarlet letter written on this woman and instead write upon her as faithful and chaste as the Son of God himself.
“Jesus dying on the cross would expunge the scarlet letter and instead write upon her as faithful and chaste as the Son of God himself.”
That’s the new writing that would be upon her and on her soul.
This is what Jesus does for all those who believe in him. This is what Jesus has done for you if you believe in him. And this is what Jesus will do for you if you will come to believe in him.
Did this woman believe in Jesus? I think we have to answer yes. Because otherwise, how could Jesus say, “I do not condemn you”?
For Jesus to make the pronouncement, he recognizes that she too is covered by the Son of God.
The True Order of Salvation
Yet notice how her life is meant to change because of that fact. Jesus follows “I do not condemn you either” with “Go from now on. Sin no more.”
Notice the careful order in this whole statement. Jesus does not say, “I do not condemn you either if you go and from now on sin no more.”
That would be teaching some kind of life of good works to earn or keep your forgiveness from God.
Rather, Jesus says, “I do not condemn you either. Period. Full stop. Done deal. Finished. Reality. Salvation is not something you earn. It is a gift of grace you receive.”
“I do not condemn you either. Period. Full stop. Done deal. Salvation is not something you earn — it is a gift of grace.”
And she received it.
But now, because she is free, because she is no longer condemned, because she is forgiven and saved, how should she live?
“Go and from now on sin no more.”
Woman, don’t live for yourself anymore. Live for me. Turn from your adultery. Turn from all your sins. Come follow me. Make me the king of your life. Love me. Worship me. Keep my commandments.
Do you see the difference?
Biblical Christians always must stress the true order of salvation, because there are so many perversions of the gospel out there.
You do not obey God in order to be saved or in order to keep your salvation. And you do not receive salvation, revel in God’s love and forgiveness, and then just keep living in your sinful ways.
Neither of those is true.
Rather, for all true salvation, the order is exactly as we see here: “I do not condemn you either. Now go from now on sin no more.”
Go and Sin No More
So, brethren, are you saved? Are you forgiven? Do you now know the love of the Lord Jesus?
Praise God!
But now heed the command that Jesus gives—the same one that he gave to this woman here: “From now on, sin no more.”
You won’t be perfect. But if you love Jesus, you will obey his commands.
Therefore, repent of whatever sinful ways still exist in your life or have crept back into your life. Put to death the old man, the old thinking, the old speech, the old ways.
As Romans 13:14 says, “Put on instead the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to indulge his lusts.”
Romans 13:14: “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to indulge his lusts.”
That’s how a true Christian lives. That’s how a true person who is no longer condemned and forgiven—that’s how that person lives.
Who Are You in This Story?
Now, as we close and get ready for baptism, I have one final question for you to consider: who are you in this story?
Who do you see yourself to be?
Do you see yourself spiritually as the adulteress who justly stands condemned before Jesus but amazingly receives his covering and forgiveness?
Or are you the self-righteous scribes and Pharisees, ready to condemn others but never willing to deal with your own sin? And even when your sin is exposed and you feel convicted, what do you do?
Don’t come trembling before Jesus. Don’t come humbly to those you’ve sinned against. You run away, and you distract yourself from the guilt within.
Notice, my friends and brethren, the great irony of this story: it’s the adulteress who ends up justified, while the scribes and Pharisees are the ones who end up truly condemned.
“It’s the adulteress who ends up justified, while the scribes and Pharisees are the ones who end up truly condemned.”
Which one are you?
We read from Matthew 9 earlier in our service. But allow me to read Matthew 9:12-13 again before I pray.
Matthew 9:12-13: “But when Jesus heard this, he said, ‘It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: I desire compassion and not sacrifice. For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.’”
Those of you who are being baptized, you are dismissed to get ready.
Closing Prayer
Let me now pray.
Lord Jesus, you have such a beautiful heart. Lord, it indeed was the question of the prophets all throughout the scriptures: how can a holy God forgive, save, and even dwell with sinful people?
There was no answer to that question—no full answer to that question—except that it is indeed the case. God does do that. God will do that.
But Lord, now that Christ has come, now that the New Testament has been revealed, now that the work of the cross has been accomplished, we now see it. And how glorious it is!
God, only you could do this. Only you are such a God who is perfectly holy, who will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, but at the same time who is full of loving kindness, compassion, truthfulness, forgiving sin—even the worst sins we can think of, even the most sins we can think of. You forgive them for all those who believe, all those who turn to and trust in Jesus Christ.
Lord, what a magnificent truth! What amazingly good news!
Thank you for revealing it to us. Thank you for reminding us of it this morning.
But Lord, I do indeed pray that what Jesus says to the woman would be true of us: that because we are forgiven, because we believe in Jesus, that we will now go and sin no more. That we be putting to death those sins as they rise up in our lives, and we say, “No matter what this costs me, no matter how vulnerable this makes me before other people, I want to follow Jesus first of all.”
So I’m repenting of this sin. I’m turning from it. I don’t want to make any provision for it anymore. I want to follow Jesus.
I pray that you do that in this congregation and among those who are visiting with us today.
Lord, I pray that they would know your salvation. They would escape condemnation. But then they would walk holy. Walk holy—not to keep their salvation, but to express gratitude for it, as is only right, as is worthy of the great salvation you have accomplished.
Lord, may your name be proclaimed. May it be blessed and glorified as we look forward to the baptism.