Lesson 34: John 8:1-11
John 8:1-11
Jesus went unto the
mount of Olives. And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all
the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them. And the scribes and
Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her
in the midst, They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in
the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but
what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse
him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground,
as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up
himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first
cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard
it, being convicted by their own
conscience, went out one by one,
beginning at eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and
the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none
but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no
man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do
I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
Background Information
It would almost appear
that Jesus saved the woman’s life. Actually, the Jews needed permission from the
Romans before they executed anyone. (For instance, they had to take Jesus to
Pilate before they could crucify Him.) This isn’t to say that Jesus would have
responded any differently had the Pharisees actually had authority to kill the
woman. It does help us realize that the whole point was to entrap Jesus by
causing Him either to advocate killing a person illegally or to reject the Old
Testament. The latter option would have cost Him the respect of his deeply
religious admirers. As usual, Jesus outsmarted His enemies while remaining true
to God and the Bible.
Stoning was an old form of execution in which the whole community gathered together and threw stones at a guilty person until he or she was dead. It was only to be done after a fair trial. In Jesus’ day, it seems to have sometimes been done illegally by angry mobs.
Matthew 5:27-32 in the related Scriptures could easily be misunderstood. While Jesus does indicate that it would be better to seriously injure one’s body than to go to Hell, He was not teaching that we should harm ourselves. The truth is that the motivation to choose sin over salvation happens in the human soul rather than the body. Jesus was teaching that nothing is important enough to go to Hell over.
Related Scriptures
Exodus 20:14
Leviticus 20:10
Matthew 5:27-32 (Jesus’
expanded teaching on adultery)
Matthew 7:1-5 (Jesus is
speaking)
Matthew 18:21-35
Mark 10:11-12
1 Corinthians 5:9-13
1 Corinthians 6:9-11
Questions
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