The Legal Trap
John 7:53-8:11
Where did Jesus stay on the Mount of Olives?
Photo by Lilishia Gounder on Unsplash
Then each of them went home, while 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 began to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, they said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, sir.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.” - John 7:53-8:11
These are the types of questions I come up with after having read this passage so many times.
If he didn’t stay with anyone, if he was outside all night, wouldn’t he smell bad?
Frequent washing was the norm for the Jewish culture, so he would have found a place to bathe or wash up, and that place could have been in Bethany with his friends Martha, Mary, and Lazarus.
Bethany is a village on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives.
Now, as for the charge of adultery, what about the man?
I assume she was caught with a man, and that is probably a good assumption. So, why is he not brought with her for judgment under the law?
It would have been clear to Jesus that this was a trap. They had no interest in following the law, but instead, used the law to try to trap Jesus.
Would he absolve the woman’s sin and be accused of blasphemy? Or would he let them stone her to death?
By this time, they knew what Jesus was like. They saw him telling people their sins had been forgiven, so what will he do here?
There is a great deal of speculation about what Jesus wrote in the dirt. Some say Jesus was illiterate, but that can’t be true, since he read from the scroll when addressing the congregation.
So, he could read and write, and this is the only occasion we know of where he wrote something that was lost to time.
Some say he wrote the names of the men who had committed sins, while others think he wrote something that all of them would recognize as a common sin they shared.
Some things never change. We can find examples of how people use the law today to trap people. Even in our society, where the individual has so many rights, we can still find ways to twist the law.
That is why those who can afford a good lawyer manage to shield themselves from unfair judgment, while those who cannot afford such help fall victim to abuse.
Even the best system can be corrupted.
Jesus shows us that we can offer help to those being used for personal gain. We can stand up for the rights of others, and we can face the consequences if the forces that be turn against us in the process.
So, who was the victim here? Was it the woman or Jesus?
Or, maybe it was both.
More to come...