Gripping hands pulled and pushed the woman forward roughly, shame still hot on her face. Desperately her mind played out the fate that surely awaited her; she knew what the Law demanded. The noisy rabble entered the temple, stones in hand, and marched her straight up to a man who had been speaking to the people. His voice fell silent as they approached. His calm, piercing gaze locked with hers but for a moment before she averted her eyes.
"Teacher!" the men shouted, their accusations filling her ears: "This woman has been caught in the act of adultery!" "In the very act! We witnessed it." "She is guilty, there's no denying it." "Moses' Law says we are to stone such women." "She is worthy of death!" "So what do you say?" "What are we to do with her?" The woman trembled as she listened, waiting for the Teacher's words of condemnation...but none came. Instead, before them all, he bent down and began to write in the dirt. The crowd exchanged confused glances as they pressed him, "Teacher, what do you say? What is your sentence?"
He rose up and stood before them, catching the woman's gaze as he spoke: "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her." His words were met with a murmuring, then silence as he again crouched down and continued writing. An eternity seemed to pass. Then, the woman heard a faint thud as an older scribe with a long gray beard dropped his stone, turned, and walked away. Her heart fluttered with hope. Three more stones landed solidly on the earth, their weight sending clouds of dust up into the air. She couldn't believe it—with each thud, hope unthinkable welled up within her. One by one her accusers left, leaving a pile of stones and a heavy silence.
The Teacher stood up once more, searching for the crowd. "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" he asked. Slowly she lifted her head from the rock strewn ground and looked him in the eye. "No one, Lord," she said quietly. A look of fierce compassion washed over his face and he said, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more."
The woman caught in adultery is a well-known portion of Scripture, but perhaps not so well appropriated. With its archaic form of justice and specific set of circumstances, it can feel narrowly relatable. Often used as an object lesson for not condemning others, its surface is skimmed while its depths remain unplumbed. A closer look, however, reveals a treasure trove of timeless truth for the believer. But if we are going to personally apply this passage, then we need to understand what the Bible says about adultery as it pertains to our relationship with God.
The apostle Peter likens false teachers to those who entice the church into spiritual adultery: "They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls" (2 Peter 2:14). In some of the strongest language in all of Scripture, God, through the prophet Ezekiel, condemned the idolatry of Israel and Judah as adultery against Himself (Ezekiel 23). And the marriage of the prophet Hosea to an adulterous prostitute served as a living picture of God's faithful love to His fickle people: "Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord" (Hosea 1:2).
The point is if we have ever, even for a moment, loved and served anything more than God we are guilty of idolatry, which is spiritual adultery. Our sin proves this, for the summation of the Law in Jesus' words is to love God with wholehearted perfection (Matthew 22:37). Friend, hear these words: We are all, every one of us, the adulteress in this story. We have been caught red-handed. Nabbed. Pinched. Busted. Despite how things may seem at times, we aren’t getting away with anything, in this life or the next: "And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account" (Hebrews 4:13). Nobody is innocent, for all have sinned and fallen short of God's glory (Romans 3:23). Apart from Christ, all stand condemned. Every word, thought, and deed is laid bare before Him, and God's holy justice demands punishment.
There are some details about the woman's situation that are worth noting. According to Jewish law, a person could not be put to death for adultery unless multiple witnesses observed the actual act taking place, and agreed perfectly in their testimony. Suspicion and speculation were not permissible. As such, obtaining evidence was nearly impossible and very few people were actually executed for adultery. Therefore, it is likely that this woman was set up by the scribes and Pharisees for the specific purpose of trapping Jesus. The law also stated that both the man and woman were to be put to death in such a situation and, since her partner was conspicuously absent, it may have been that one of the men who set out to trap her also seduced her.
This is how our enemy works. He tempts and seduces the weak, the vulnerable. He makes sin seem appealing, speaking softly to our souls until his snare is set. Then, when we have fallen into his trap, he turns on us, exposing our deeds and reciting the sordid details of our shameful affairs before God (Zechariah 3:1; Revelation 12:10). He is hell-bent on luring us away from God and will often use the most pleasing, flattering means he can to do so. The Accuser lacks no ammunition against us, for he contrives it himself every opportunity he gets!
But here is where the story takes a magnificent turn. Though the accusations against the woman are valid and verified, Christ acts as though he doesn't even hear them! He carefully and deliberately defused the situation with the simple act of drawing in the dirt. Scholars have speculated much about what Jesus wrote in that moment. Was it the sins of the woman? Of her accusers? Was it the law that condemned her? Some think He was following the Roman judicial practice of writing out the woman's sentence before He gave it. Whatever the words were, we are left to ask the question, What has Jesus written over my life?
We have established that all will stand before God, that none are innocent, and that we have a very real enemy who is out to destroy our souls. We are worthy of eternal death—forever separated from God in hell. But with the words, "Neither do I condemn you," Jesus turns this unsavory tableau into a beautiful salvific display of His love and mercy toward sinners. He is the only One without sin, and He has come not to condemn, but to save (John 12:47)! Those who put their faith in Him, like the woman, have passed from a death sentence into life. Satan's accusations against believers fall on deaf ears, for God has removed our sins from us as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). He remembers them no more (Jeremiah 31:34)! In the presence of Christ's cross, our Accuser must flee—he has no ground to stand on, for it is covered with the blood of the Lamb. Our God has bent down, identified with us in our lowly estate, and humbled Himself unto death for our sakes. In love he reaches out to sinners—"Neither do I condemn you." All that remains of our guilt is a pile of stones with no one to cast them.
Let us consider Jesus' final words to the woman: "Go, and from now on sin no more." She was sent back into a culture that would now very likely shun her, reject her, and treat her with open hostility. Christ's acceptance may have been all she had for the rest of her life, but friend, it is the only acceptance that truly matters! As followers of Christ the world will not embrace us, but the sweet embrace of our Savior is all we need. The soul Jesus saves will be forever and markedly changed. Will we still struggle against sin? Yes. But now we walk in the mercy that triumphs over judgment! The lusts of the flesh that once beset us will, little by little, lose their hold over our lives. Like words written in dust, our sins will one day be gone forever—blown away on the winds of mercy and grace. Christ’s Spirit empowers us, transforms us, and seals us as sons and daughters of the King of kings! And over our souls He has written these words in His precious blood:
Forgiven (1John 1:9).
Blameless (Ephesians 1:4).
Adopted (Ephesians 1:5).
Righteous (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Holy (Ephesians 4:24).
Mine (John 17:24).
Lord, I am awed and humbled by Your mercy toward me. Thank You for Your forgiveness. Thank You for Your grace. Thank You for meeting me in the midst of my sin, giving me hope unthinkable, and saving me from an eternity in hell. Thank You for erasing my debt and writing in its place God’s blessings over my life! Walk alongside me, Jesus, as I endure rejection and hostility from the world. Remind me of Your acceptance and love for me. Empower me by Your Holy Spirit to fight against my sin, to be transformed in Christlikeness. Guard me from the enemy’s temptations and snares, and lead me in wholehearted love and devotion to God. Amen.
Reflection Questions
- How do you feel about Scripture’s comparison of unfaithfulness to God with adultery? How does such language increase the seriousness of idolatry?
- Satan’s two-faced tactic of seductive temptation followed by accusation, shame and guilt is designed to cripple your Gospel witness and drive a wedge in your relationship with God. What does the cross of Christ do to the devil’s accusations? How can you be more on guard against his deceptions in the future?
- Read Ephesians 1:1–10. What are the blessings God has written over your life in these verses?