The Sting

Have you ever put someone on the spot, try to catch them in a lie, or make them say something that would discredit them?

It is a nasty thing to do, isn't it?

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?’ - John 8:3-5

In today's Gospel reading, the Pharisees challenge Jesus and they do it in a really despicable way, putting a woman's life on the line in the process.

Undoubtably, they would have gotten together to conspire such a devious plot, but exactly how the opportunity could have come about I can only imagine.

Where do you go to find an adulterous woman anyway?

Do you think maybe they thought up the idea and then waited for someone to accuse a woman?   Or would they have made a plan to bring anyone accused of any crime before Jesus?

Something about him and his teaching led them to conclude that he would be lenient, that he would fail to follow the law.  Was it because he seemed callous about other laws, like picking fruit on the Sabbath, or not washing before meals?

By bringing the woman before him, they were accusing him of not following the laws of Moses, which is quite an accusation.  It carries its own punishment if proven true.

So, these guys are ready for battle, but what would have happened if Jesus agreed that the woman be stoned to death?

That certainly would have changed our perspective on Jesus, wouldn't it?  We don't want that outcome.  We don't follow those laws.  To us, they are antiquated.

But Jesus did tell them they could throw the stones, once they examined their own sinfulness.  By forcing them to think of their own sins first, Jesus could have been gambling with the woman's life.

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.

Some believe what he scribbled in the dirt was a list of the sins of the men making the charge against her, and that makes a lot of sense to me.  If the men were cunning enough to concoct such a plot, they would not have walked away just because of what Jesus said.

Surely at least one would have thrown a stone regardless of his sins, unless all could see that Jesus could stand as an accuser against each.

You have to admit that Jesus was clever.  He also held to the law, but he did so in a way his followers could come to accept.  He challenged the self-proclaimed righteous, and made fools of them.

So, what does that say about laws in general?  What does it say about the way we hold fast to our conviction to punish those who are caught while getting away with our own petty acts of lawlessness?

Maybe we should read this Gospel differently, and put ourselves in the place of the men who planned this sting operation.  What would Jesus write about us?

More to come...