Flashback Episode — A Higher Vision for Your Heart: John 7:53-8:11

When I read the gospels, aside from the crucifixion, one event stands out in a significant way when asking ourselves or looking for examples of Jesus showing us how much He loves those who society had marginalized. I suspect that if you were asked the same question, you might pick the same event that we will be focusing our time on in this podcast episode.

However, this event in the gospels doesn’t come to us without controversy. Most Bible’s available today will include the side-note or footnote that not all the ancient manuscripts include this event. While researching this, it is clear that this event is a very old story. However, its origins are a lot less clear since its placement and addition seem to be an afterthought and not something John original included.

However, since we don’t have any original manuscripts of John left, we are left with one of two conclusions: Either this story was added later by those copying the manuscripts, or there were some who wanted to erase this event from the gospel record and they didn’t succeed.

Either way, what happens in this event is one of the most amazing demonstrations of loving sinners that any of the gospels include. If you haven’t guessed it yet, we are focusing our episode on the story of the woman caught in adultery who was dragged to Jesus for condemnation. This event has shaped people’s perceptions of God and of Jesus throughout history and it is one of the most loving actions that anyone could ever display toward another.

Let’s read what happened, and then unpack what we can learn about God, and what people thought about Him. Our passage and event are found in the gospel of John, chapter 8, and we will read it using the Contemporary English Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 3, John tells us that:

³ The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law of Moses brought in a woman who had been caught in bed with a man who wasn’t her husband. They made her stand in the middle of the crowd. ⁴ Then they said, “Teacher, this woman was caught sleeping with a man who isn’t her husband. ⁵ The Law of Moses teaches that a woman like this should be stoned to death! What do you say?”

⁶ They asked Jesus this question, because they wanted to test him and bring some charge against him. But Jesus simply bent over and started writing on the ground with his finger.

⁷ They kept on asking Jesus about the woman. Finally, he stood up and said, “If any of you have never sinned, then go ahead and throw the first stone at her!” ⁸ Once again he bent over and began writing on the ground. ⁹ The people left one by one, beginning with the oldest. Finally, Jesus and the woman were there alone.

¹⁰ Jesus stood up and asked her, “Where is everyone? Isn’t there anyone left to accuse you?”

¹¹ “No sir,” the woman answered.

Then Jesus told her, “I am not going to accuse you either. You may go now, but don’t sin anymore.”

This event begins with almost certain judgment as the religious leaders brought a clearly guilty person to Jesus to hear a verdict of judgment. The way this event happens makes me believe that what happens “off-record” was a set up, primarily because the man, who is also guilty, is not present. Also, other events in the gospels draw attention onto the religious leaders staging events in order to trick or trap Jesus, and I don’t have any reason to believe this was not one more example of this.

I fully believe that these religious leaders brought this woman to Jesus in order to test, trick, or trap Him. While this woman deserved judgment, because she had sinned and broken the law, if Jesus judged her as guilty, He would have misrepresented God in the process. This event was staged as a test because the leaders wanted to find something they could use to discredit Jesus.

Because of the way these religious leaders acted towards Jesus, I suspect this is why Jesus, who can clearly see all the angles present in this situation, chose an action the religious leaders did not expect. Instead of answering the demands for a verdict, Jesus bends down and starts writing in the sand. Tradition says that what Jesus wrote were the sins of the accusers, but nothing included in the Bible story for this event confirms or denies this.

Jesus definitely could have written all the hidden, secret sins of everyone present. As people crowded around, the elders would have been closest, and a list of sins, even if Jesus didn’t credit the sin to a single sinner would definitely have challenged those able to read it to be uncertain of their right to accuse.

However, a different angle that doesn’t get much attention, is that Jesus wrote scriptures that emphasized God’s love and forgiveness. While this doesn’t expose others sins directly, it clearly would have allowed the Holy Spirit to impress on the consciences of the leaders the places where they fell short, and this would also have challenged their right to even accuse this woman.

As I share these ideas with you, I wonder if Jesus combined these two ideas. If Jesus had wrote sins in the sand that were shared among several of the religious leaders, and then wrote countering scriptures next to them showing God’s love and righteousness, Jesus would not have needed to included any names. Instead, without including names, each person reading would have understood Jesus’ writing to have been directed at himself, while every onlooker would not have known the individual or the context.

Also, it is worth pointing out that Jesus wrote His message in the sand or dirt. He wrote it in a place where it would be easily erased with time. While these leaders were bent on publically humiliating this woman, if what Jesus wrote were the sins of these leaders, Jesus doesn’t return the favor of publicly humiliating or shaming these leaders like they were attempting to do with this woman.

The temptation present in this event is to join the crowd and judge this woman for her sins. However, Jesus is not going to fall into the trap of judging like these leaders had already judged. Instead, Jesus chooses to place His focus on each individual, beginning with the leaders. The leaders would have loved to begin with condemning the woman, but Jesus chooses to focus on the individual leader, and on the heart of each leader. This makes each leader present uncomfortable, and ultimately, they all leave their position of judgment.

Only after all the accusers leave does Jesus then address the woman individually. Jesus could easily have chosen to accuse her when everyone else had left, but instead He tells her that her future is more important to God than her past. While Jesus doesn’t excuse this woman’s sin, He minimizes its relevance.

One of the most powerful and timeless truths in this event is that our future is more important than our past. Just like Jesus told this woman, Jesus tells each of us that our future is more important in God’s eyes than our past. Jesus tells us that our heart is more important than our mistakes, and that the relationship we have with God is what matters the most of all.

Similar to how Jesus challenges the woman caught in adultery, we too are challenged to go and don’t sin anymore. This is not a statement that claims or supports the idea that we can move forward in life without ever sinning again. Instead, this is a statement to challenge us to never intentionally choose to sin and to leave sin the moment we become aware what we are doing is wrong.

In our lives, we are always making choices, and some of those choices are between sinning and not sinning. In order to make Jesus’ challenge relevant for us, He calls us to always move forward making the choice that is not sin. There are so many places in life where we stumble that it’s virtually impossible to never sin again, but in the places where we are conscious of the choice, Jesus challenges us with the truth that choosing sin is never positive from God’s perspective.

God wants you to have the best life possible, and the only things that He calls sin are things that cheapen the vision that He has for you. God ultimately wants you in heaven with Him, and He was willing to go to whatever length necessary to help you see His love for you!

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life and in your mind. Understand that God is interested in helping you live the best life you can live and He has a much higher vision of yourself than you can even imagine. With His help, you can become the person He created you to be.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself in order to learn and grow closer to God and to Jesus. While life is challenging, when we dedicate time to focus on staying connected with God, He is able to help us face the challenges that life brings our way.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or abandon where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!