Lenten Stories: Stand With Me (John 8:2-11)

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Early in the morning He went back into the temple courts. All the people came to Him, and He sat down to teach them. 

The posture of teaching was, for a rabbi, sitting. Jesus may have been sitting on a chair, with His audience on the floor. Or He might have been sitting on the temple steps, and the others sitting on lower steps, turned around to face Him.  

The Scribes and Pharisees, however, brought to Him a woman caught in adultery...   

Things were really starting to get tense for Jesus and His twelve apostles. The Pharisees and the Chief Priests, who often butted heads over one thing or another, had started working together, looking for a way to bring Jesus down. Because Jesus was a threat to their authority, and He was also, as they understood it, a danger to their people—the very people who were coming to hear Jesus teach at the temple. Who were whispering in the streets, in their homes because they didn't want to be heard by the religious authorities, “Is this the Messiah? Has he come?” A question to which the religious leaders answered a hard, “No. And the longer we let this rumour ride, the longer we let this guy go, the greater danger we are in from Rome.” Rome was the occupying oppressors. 

So this day, they chose their moment to confront Jesus in the temple, and they thought they'd got Him. 

... They made her stand before them.

To borrow from The Princess Bride... “Now it is down to you. And now it is down to me.” This is a face-off, a cold, calculated, surgical strike. 

They said, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such a woman. So what do You say?” (They said this to test Him, in order to have a basis for accusing Him.)

They had their hook. They had their bait. They just needed Him to bite. Because no matter how He answered the question, it was going to be wrong.  

They were right about the law. Adultery was a capital offense. In the ancient Law, death was the punishment for the man and the woman involved in adultery.  

There were a few capital offenses. Most of them were offenses against God himself. You could be stoned for blasphemy (insulting or belittling the name of God). You could be stoned for worshipping other gods (serving the purposes of spiritual forces other than Yahweh God). You could be stoned for breaking the Sabbath (failing to respect the boundaries set by God for His day of rest). These were religious offenses, and when the offender was tried and found guilty, they were taken out beyond the boundaries of the town and executed by stoning. Adultery was on that list, perhaps because it was connected to the breaking of a covenantal promise of faithfulness. There's no record in any historical documents that anyone was ever actually stoned to death for adultery. But it was on the books. 

If Jesus said ‘no, don't stone her, let her go’—He could be seen as condoning her behaviour, and going too far against the Law. Adultery was a serious charge that needed a serious response. Or if Jesus said ‘no, let her go,’ He might be seen as siding with the Roman oppressors, because they had removed the right of the religious leaders in Israel to execute offenders except for religious offenses like blasphemy, worshipping other gods, or breaking the Sabbath.  

If He said ‘yes, stone her,’ He would be technically correct, but He could then be in trouble with the Roman authorities for going against their edict. Plus, if Jesus said ‘yes, take her out and stone her,’ He could have been effectively putting Himself on trial. He could have been opening the doors for the religious leaders to put Him on trial for blasphemy. For worshipping other gods. For breaking the Sabbath, all of which were things of which they had accused Him in the past. If He had said ‘yes, take her out and stone her,’ they could have said, “OK, we will. You're next. Don’t try to leave town.” 

There was no good answer to this question. As soon as He said yes, as soon as He said no, as soon as people even heard the question asked, the religious leaders would have won. 

So... 

Jesus bent down and started writing on the ground with his finger. 

There’s an interesting variation in the way different artists portray this scene, largely between more recent pictures, and older pictures. Modern pictures tend to depict Jesus standing, facing the religious leaders. And between them, usually, the woman on the ground. Which very effectively communicates to us what the power dynamic was: she was helpless. She couldn't testify in her own defense. She had nobody to stand for her. She was entirely vulnerable in this situation. Whereas, Jesus and the Pharisees were battling it out face to face, over her. That's usually the modern image of this scene. 

Older paintings and drawings stay closer to what the text actually says, depicting the religious leaders standing, the woman standing, and Jesus seated. I think that the older drawings are closer to the truth. I don't think that Jesus stood up at any point in this event, I think that is significant, and I will tell you why in a minute.  

As Jesus continued to write on the ground, 

When they continued to question Him, He straightened up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to cast a stone at her.” And again He bent down and wrote on the ground. 

Jesus had grown up among people who understood the idea of sinfulness. I know today it's not a popular word, but sin is a thing. People of Jesus’ nation understood its consequences, understood that it was universal... or at least almost. 

Jewish thought holds that it is possible for people to live a life without sin and that, in fact, there are four people in history who never sinned. According to rabbinical teaching, that list consists of Benjamin the son of Jacob, Amram the father of Moses, Jesse the father of David, and Chileab of the son of David. Only those four. For the religious leaders, it would have been really convenient if at that moment one of those four guys had been present. But they could not claim sinlessness for themselves. Maybe they just knew each other too well. Maybe they had enough integrity to not commit blasphemy as a means to an end, however worthy they thought that end was.  

When they heard this, they began to go away one by one, beginning with the older ones, until only Jesus was left, with the woman standing there. Then Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are your accusers? Has no one condemned you?” 

“No one, Lord,” she answered. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Now go and sin no more.” 

And she went—I think probably out of the temple, out into the streets that were filled with those people who were whispering, “Could he be? Could he be? Could he be?” In the opposite direction of the religious leaders who probably walked away further into the temple, where they felt safe.  

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Sitting was the posture of a rabbi who was teaching. Sitting was also the posture of a judge who was hearing charges, weighing evidence and passing sentence.  

There's a moment in this story when Jesus’ role shifts—from Rabbi Jesus to Judge Jesus. When He sits in the judge's seat. 

Six months later in the same city, the same scene would play out with some differences. Pilate would be sitting in the judgment seat as the religious leaders bring Jesus to stand before him and level their charges. Pilate would even try to let Jesus go, but he can't pull it off.  

I would suggest two things the apostles learned from this event: how to sit, and how to stand.  

First, they learned how to sit. Sitting was a posture of teaching, and of judging. Jesus taught His apostles well that teachers—people who have influence over others—are responsible for the impact they have on the people who trust them. Teachers will be held to account. In addition, the apostles learned from Jesus about judging. In the Sermon on the Mount, very early in His ministry, He taught them: 

Do not judge, or you will be judged. For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. (Matthew 7:1)

The apostles had to learn to sit as a teacher—with humility, with care, and with responsibility for the truth. And they had to learn to sometimes sit in judgement—with insight, compassion, love, and forgiveness. And to give hope.  

Even more, they learned how to stand. Judges sat, defendants stood. That was a place where the apostles would find themselves time and time again.  

The apostles were brought in to stand before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest.

“We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name...” Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than people...” (Acts 5:27-29)

The apostles had to learn who their judge really was. Yes, they faced hostile authorities and yes, they paid the price for their courage. Our best understanding is that almost all of them died refusing to deny their faith in Jesus. They knew who they were standing before for judgment, and it wasn't Caesar, and it wasn't the High Priest. Their judge was the sinless judge who could have thrown the first stone, but chose not to. Who then told the woman, “You're guilty and it's not OK. But you have another chance.” 

Just as later on, after His death and resurrection, Jesus met Peter on the beach and told him in effect, “You denied me. Three times. You said, “I don't know Him. I don't know Him. I don't know Him.” And that's not OK. But I'm giving you another chance, Peter: a chance to live a life of complete faithfulness, of confirming every day for the rest of your life, “Yes, I know Him. Yes, I know Him. Yes, I know Him.” So go, Peter, go and sin no more.”  

Jesus met Paul the apostle. After His return to heaven He came looking for Paul and found him on the road. He said to Paul, in effect, “You are hurting me and it's not OK. You are responsible, Paul, for the deaths of people who are going to be your brothers and sisters. But Paul, I'm giving you another chance; to live a life of protecting, of building, of multiplying, of encouraging, of deepening and strengthening My family. So go, Paul, and sin no more.” 

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