Caught!

John 7:53-8:11 ESV

They went each to his own house, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?" This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her."  And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"  She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more."

The earliest manuscripts do not include this passage. Both the ESV and NIV, will note this. What does this mean? It refers to the textual criticism is the study of copies of an original work where the original is unknown. For all ancient texts, we don't have the originals. They were lost, destroyed, and disintegrated. This applies for the bible as well. So what are the criteria? Historical reliability and accuracy come from two:

The shorter the interval of time between the original and the date of the first copy, the more reliable and accurate.

The greater number of copies, the greater probability that all of the original text has been preserved by them.

For the New Testament, there are five thousand copies. It is the largest number of copies. Homer's Iliad has only several hundred. The Iliad is widely accepted as historically accurate. Copies of NT can be dated to within a hundred years. Within the lifetimes of the original apostles. There is no other ancient text that comes close. Overall there is no evidence of significant differences between copies of the New Testament. Misspellings and different wordings; nothing that impacts the doctrines of the church.

The horror of sin

Jesus is presented with an adulterous woman. The religious leaders bring her to Jesus. Stoning is a gruesome way to die. It seems barbaric. But this is from the human view. This is much more reasonable from the point of view of a holy God. The scars of Jesus attest to the holiness of God. And his need for justice from sin.

The hypocrisy of sinners

The leaders brought this woman to trap Jesus. They wanted to trap him in his teachings. He was a friend of prostitutes. He taught of grace. But what would happen when he is confronted with sin? If He condemned her, his ministry would be undone. If He told them to let her go, he would be devaluing Moses.

So what does he do? He tells them that those who are without sin should cast the first stone. He was calling them out as sinners. Here's the thing. Where's the adulterous man? This testifies that there was probably a double standard. Not only that, but the only way to condemn would be to have eyewitness testimony. Not only that, but the one bringing charges had to cast the first stone. It is very likely that this woman was a mistress of a religious leader. This could have been a setup to entrap Jesus. Speculation, but very possible. But no matter what, they were guilty, so they could not cast a stone at her.

Romans 2:1 ESV

Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.

We are hypocrites. Whether we realize it or not. We always minimize our sin and magnify their sin.

Matthew 7:5 ESV

You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.

The holiness produced by grace

In the eyes of the law, there is only one person left to judge this woman. A just and holy God. Jesus could have rightly condemned her to death. Instead we have the cross where the law is upheld and sinners are forgiven. The penalty of sin falls on Jesus and the woman is called to a new life. Turn from sin towards a new life.