1 Josus went unto the Mount of Olives.
2 And early in the morning he came again to the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.
3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,
4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.
5 Now Moses in the law command- ed us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou ?
6 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.
7 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.
8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.
9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eld- est, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alono, and the woman standing in the midst.
10 When Jesus had lifted up him- self, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man con- demned thee ?
11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I con- demn thee: go, and sin no more.
The narrative which begins the eighth chapter of St. John's Gospel is of a rather peculiar character. In some respects it stands alone. There is nothing quite like it in the whole range of the four Gospels. In every age some scrupulous minds have stumbled at the passage, and have doubted whether it was ever written by St. John at all. But the justice of such scruples is a point that cannot easily be proved.
b2 EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
To suppose, as some have thought, that the narrative before us palliates the sin of adultery, and exhibits our Lord as making light of the seventh commandment, is surely a great mistake. There is nothing in the passage to justify such an assertion. There is not a sentence in it to warrant our saying anything of the kind. Let us calmly weigh the matter, and examine the contents of the passage.
Our Lord's enemies brought before Him a woman guilty of adultery, and asked him to say what punishment she deserved. We are distinctly told that they asked the ques- tion, " tempting Him." They hoped to entrap Him into sajnng something for which they might accuse Him. They fancied perhaps that He who preached pardon and salvation to " publicans and harlots" might be induced to say some- thing which would either contradict the law of Moses, or His own words.
Our Lord knew the hearts of the malicious questioners before Him, and dealt with them with perfect wisdom, as He had done in the case of the " tribute-money." (Matt, xxii. 17.) He refused to be a "judge" and lawgiver among them, and specially in a case which their own law had already decided. He gave them at first no answer at all.
But " when they continued asking," our Lord silenced them with a withering and heart-searching reply. — " Pie that is without sin among you," he said, " let him first cast a stone at her." — He did not say that the woman had not sinned, or that her sin was a trifling and venial one. But He reminded her accusers that they at any rate were not the persons to bring a charge against her. Their own mo- tives and lives were far from pure. They themselves did not come into the case with clean hands. What they really desired was not to vindicate the purity of God's law, and punish a sinner, but to wreak their malice on Himself.
Last of all, when those who had brought the unhappy