Meditations from Zion

John 8:4-5
“…and [they] said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?”

This is a very familiar passage from scripture where Jesus thwarts the efforts of the teachers of the law and the Pharisees who want to trap him into speaking against and/or breaking the law. If they could catch him publicly, they could justify arresting him, etc.

They probably didn’t know that Jesus had already said and taught: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” [Matthew 5:17] But he was a teacher, a rabbi, who was teaching a “new way.”

Jesus never denied that the woman caught in adultery should be stoned. It was, indeed, the law. He was known for his words of mercy, grace and forgiveness and they expected him to “forgive her.” Instead, this became an excellent example of how the law can look through the lens of mercy. Jesus tells the crowd that the punishment can begin, but should begin with that person who is without sin, that person who has not broken any of the laws. There were none. The crowd dispersed and the letter of the law was not exacted. The woman was given a chance to change… Jesus did not release her without first telling her to “leave your life of sin.”

For me, one implication here is that her sin would eventually kill her if she persisted… the law would be fulfilled.

But the greater message is that many of us are still in a crowd looking, with righteous indignation, for sinners to get their just reward. We must be more careful; the fulfillment of the law may look different than we expect.

Jesus put sins and lawbreaking into one great big pile. One sin was no worse than another. Breaking a “little law” was no different than breaking a “big law.”

Today, help me see others with the eyes of Jesus. Help me think first before I act. Help me to consider more carefully the behavior of others and ask myself, “how would I hope to be treated” if I was doing the same thing? Help me temper my tendency to judge others with the mercy of Christ.