The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 1 — Section 500

HOMILETICS. Vers. 1-11.-The woma,n Mu,g'ht in adulrery. This na.rrative, if not inspired Scrip- ture, bears all the traces of a genuine tradition. I. THE PLOT oF THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES. They brought to Jesus a woman caught in the act of adultery, and demanded his judgment concerning her act. " They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the Law co=anded us, that such should be stoned: what sayest ti:i.ou?" 1. 'l;heir conduct was not dictated by t'hei,r abhorrence of this sin ; for all evidence goes to show that Roman looseness had penetrated into every part of the Jewish co=unity. Besides, if they had been sincere, they would have taken her to the lawful judge. 2. It was not due to any extreme respect they entertained for the Law of Moses; for they had on this question made it practically void by their traditions. Instead of putting the adulteress to death, they deprived her of her dowry and divorced her. 3. Their frue mvtive wa& "that tl1ey might have to accuse him." (1) Moses' Law did not make adultery a capital offence in the case of all adulteresses, but attached the punishment of stoning to the case of betrothed virgins (Deut. xxii. 23). (2) The i:;cribes and Pharisees presented a serious dile=a to Jesus'. (a) If he answered that the woman should be stoned, he brought himself into collision with the Roman go;vem- ment, which retained the power of life and death in its own hands, and in any case did not punish adultery with death. (b) If he answered that she should not be stoned, he would be charged with opposing the Law of Moses, and would thus be represented by the Sanhedrin as a false Messiah ; for the true Messiah was to establish the supre- macy of the Law. (3) If he pronounced a severe judgment, he would lose his popularity. with the multitudes ; for he had the reputation of showing mercy to sinners. He ate with them and received them, and declared that publicans and harlots would enter the kingdom of heaven. II. MARK HOW OUR LORD BAFFLED HIS WILY QUESTIONERS. 1. He appears at first to disregard their appeal to his judgment; for he began to write upon the ground, and' appeared to be absorbed in the act. His silence provokes them to insist upon an. ar.swer. 2. The answer is at once definite and effective. "Let him that is without sin first cast a stone at her." (1) He does not say-Let her be stoned. That might present him as harsh and unmerciful. (2) He does not say-Let her no£ be stoned. That would be to oppose the Law of Moses. (3) He carries the question out of the judicial sphere altogether. (a) He does not arrogate the right of a civil magistrate either to decree or inflict punishment. He once before declined to become a divider between two brothers in the matter of their inheritance. (b) He disP.rmed the self-constituted judges of the woman by carryincr the question into a ~phere in which they were themselves brought into judgment. A~cordingly, they shrank in his presence from asserting th.eir siQless- ness ; and they disappeared, one by one, from the scene, leaving the woman alone with Jes\16, III. Oua Loirn's TREATMJ:NT OF THE WOMAN. "Woman, where are those thine accusers ? bath no man condemDed thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said on, vur. 1-69.J 'J .ElE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. ,JOHN. 375