Throwing Stones

Image by Bernd Hildebrandt from Pixabay

I am not sure who said “Sin is a teacher.”  But, I found myself reflecting on this phrase as I took some time with my Bible this morning.

The passage was the story of a woman caught in adultery (John 8 vs. 1 – 11).  She is dragged naked through the streets and her accusers point out to Jesus that the law demanded she be stoned. 

The lawyers, who made the accusations, were being clever.  If Jesus agreed he would be seen to set himself up above the people, claiming an authority that was not his, he could lose the populace who were following him.  If he denied the law, he was playing straight into their hands by denying scripture. Of course, the lawyers had made a fundament error.  The law stated that both the man and the woman should be put to death (Deuteronomy 22 vs. 22 – 24, Leviticus 20 vs. 10) so, where was the man?

If you know the story, you may remember that Jesus bends down to write in the dust.  At this point, many preachers and commentators start to speculate about what Jesus wrote.  I do not think it matters.  My argument is that, if it was important, the writer of the gospel would have told us.  Rather, I think what John is drawing our attention to is the fact that Jesus was not looking at the woman.

It must have been both terrifying and humiliating for her.  One moment she is in the arms of her lover and the next, she is being dragged naked through the streets.  People, no doubt, would have made her the subject of gossip. Her “sin” is now common knowledge.  Her dignity gone and her death awaited her.

Many of the commentators that I looked at, saw the woman as either a sex worker or, an unwitting dupe in a plot to catch Jesus.  I think, in doing so, they are as a guilty as the lawyers of Jesus day in denying her humanity and robbing her of dignity. That is why I think that, twice, John tells us that Jesus looked at the ground and wrote in the dust.  By not staring at her, he was affording her a little dignity.  Restoring a bit of her humanity.

Jesus is not drawn into the lawyer’s blame game and condemnation.  He tells her to;

go now and leave your life of sin

(John 8 vs. 11)

I see this as his way of asking, “lesson learnt?”

So, what was the lesson she learnt that day?  In reality, she is the only person who can answer that.

I hope she learnt that Jesus’ grace, love and forgiveness is far greater than the condemnation this world throws at us.  I hope her life was changed by that encounter with Jesus that day.  I know that our lives can be changed by Jesus too, no matter how far we may think we have fallen.