“Neither Do I Condemn You”
John 7:53-8:11
Key Verse 11
"No one, sir," she said.
"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared.
"Go now and leave your life of sin."
This passage beautifully and powerfully reveals who Jesus is: His divine wisdom and holiness and his amazing grace and truth and power by which sinners are released from guilt and condemnation to live a new life.
As indicated in the NIV bible, there is very strong external evidence that this passage was not originally a part of John’s gospel. The authenticity of this passage is not generally contested. What is contested, instead, is whether it is an authentic part of John’s Gospel. Nevertheless, there is internal evidence in favor of the inclusion of this passage in John’s Gospel. This passage...
(1) does fit John’s context.
(2) does fit John’s pattern.
(3) does present a very beautiful and accurate picture of Jesus (Jn 8:11).
(4) does reveal the divine insight and divine wisdom of Jesus (Jn 8:7).
1. Read 7:53 and 8:1-2.
ANSWER:
Jn 7:53 Then each went to his own home. 8:1-2 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them.
In contrast with others, where did Jesus go? (7:53, 8:1, Lk 21:37)
ANSWER:
Jn 7:53 Then each went to his own home. 8:1-2 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
Lk 21:37 Each day Jesus was teaching at the temple, and each evening he went out to spend the night on the hill called the Mount of Olives,
Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Why?
He went there to pray.
Jesus went to the mountain as was his routine in his life of prayer (Lk 6:12, 21:37, Mat 26:30, 39).
After the big feast, Jesus might have prayed for them to understand the message which he preached.
Jesus spent time in solitude with God the Father in prayer.
Personal prayer time with God was the source of his power to serve others.
Personal prayer time with God was the power source to teach the Bible.
Think about what we can learn from his prayer life. (Personal application)
Jesus did not have a place to sleep at night.
When evening came, each went to his own home. But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives (Jn 7:53-8:1).
He did not have any place to lay his head (Mat 8:20).
This was not just a one time episode; Jesus had to live like this continuously, especially when he came to Jerusalem for one of the pilgrimage feasts (Lk 21:37; Jn 18:2).
Even though it was cold at night at that time of year (October), Jesus had to sleep outdoors. (How much he slept or whether he actually slept at all that night is not known. Despite his physical tiredness, he often prayed all night for his flock.)
This owner of the all the universe lived like a homeless person (Mat 8:20). Although Jesus is God of universe, having all authority and power in heaven and on earth, he did not use his power for his personal comfort.
He lived as if he did not have any place to lay his head.
He lived as if he did not have power, authority, or money to spend.
What lessons can we apply personally here?
What did Jesus do in the temple? (2, Lk 21:38)
ANSWER:
Jn 8:2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them.
Luk 21:38 and all the people came early in the morning to hear him at the temple.
He taught the people in the temple courts.
Jesus taught the people from the early morning. He sat down and taught them in the temple courts.
The content of his teaching: The word of God.
He taught with wisdom and power from above because he had plenty of time with God alone in prayer.
Attractive teachings: People came to Jesus “early in the morning to hear him at the temple” (Luk 21:38). He did not need to advertize.
Jesus taught the people because...
The word of God is the only way to save dying people (Jn 6:63; 5:24; Psa 19:7).
Receiving the word of God was a matter of eternal life and death, the most important thing in their lives.
People are perishing without the word of God (Hos 4:6; Pro 10:21).
They were extremely thirsty for God: From the early morning, they gathered in the temple in order to listen to the word of God.
We need to have sense of urgency and compassion to teach the word of God (2Co 5:14; Mat 15:32).
Applications.
Think about the importance of teaching the word of Truth.
How important it is to reveal the truth of God, grace of God, love of God, glory of God?
This is a life and death matter, literally.
Think about the urgency of teaching the word of God.
People are perishing without this word of God.
People can be saved with this gospel.
Think about this amazing privilege to teach the Bible. (It should not be a burden, Mat 20:12, 1Jn 5:3.)
God granted us this important privilege to present the word of God (2Co 4:1; 1Ti 1:12; Eph 3:7).
Think about the importance of correctly handling the word of God (2Ti 2:15).
God is pleased to use us as servants of his word despite all that is lacking in ourselves when we humbly struggle to derive our competence from God (2Co 3:5; 1Ti 4:12). This means that, before teaching others, we need to be good students of the word (Ro 2:21; Jas 1:22; Heb 5:14). We need to teach, not ourselves, our own idea, or human philosophy, but teach Christ as revealed in the particular passage (2Co 4:5; Deu 4:2; 12:32; Mat 15:6b). We need to spend time with God’s words to eat of it and make it a part of ourselves (Jn 6:55, 63), aiming to discover more of Christ and of his glory and goodness and power (Php 3:10; Ro 1:16; Mat 22:29; Pro 2:1-6; Eph 1:17,3:16; Psa 119:103).
We also need a heart of compassion to know the need and capacity of those we serve and feed them with the right words (Jn 21:17; Mat 24:45).
Think about the importance of prayer in teaching the Bible.
We can not teach/preach the word of God with passion, conviction, authority or effectiveness without constant prayer with God.
We must kneel down before him in order to teach/preach the gospel (Ac 6:4; Mat 14:17-18). Messages without prayer have no power to change people (Jn 15:5b).
2. Read verses 3-6a.
ANSWER:
Jn 8:3-6 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
Whom did the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees bring in to Jesus? (3)
ANSWER:
Jn 8:3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group
A woman caught in adultery.
How wonderful it would have been to sit there at Jesus' feet, listening to his wonderful teachings. But instead, these religious leaders were busy rustling up trashy things with which to condemn him.
Perhaps these religious leaders had caught her in the act of adultery in the evening and had been holding her during the night, waiting for Jesus to show up in order to use her to trap him.
The opportunity to commit this sin abounded during the Feast of Tabernacles. The city was packed with people who dwelt in booths amidst celebration and feasting.
This woman enjoyed sin rather than God during the feast. Jesus proclaimed himself as the rock of Horeb (Exo 17:6) from which living water gushed forth to quench our deepest thirst, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink” (7:37). Yet this woman quenched her thirst with adultery. Now was facing her punishment; she was condemned to die.
We must satisfy ourselves in Christ that we might not be dragged outside of the relationship him by enticement to find our satisfaction in spiritual adulteries (Psa 37:4; Deu 28:47).
The sin of adultery...
It was at that time considered a serious sin.
Adultery is one of the most prevalent and powerfully destructive sins in this world (Pro 6:32, 2:18).
This sin invades the church: Even shepherds, pastors, and missionaries throughout the history of the church have been caught by it.
Even among children including elementary students, this sin is so prevalent.
We are easily enticed by this sin because of our propensity toward wickedness from childhood (Gen 6:5; 8:21).
This sin takes place, not just in the outward act of adultery, but also in the inward act of the mind (Mat 5:27-28).
How can we be free from this sin of adultery?
Acknowledge that we must battle against fleshly temptation as long as we are in the body (1Pe 2:11; 1Jn 1:8).
Acknowledge that we cannot obtain victory over sin on our own (Jn 15:5b; 8:34; Jer 13:23; Gal 3:22a).
We cannot be free from sin by keeping the laws (Ro 5:20; 7:5; 3:20; Gal 3:22; Col 2:23).
Acknowledge that God wants us to resist sin (Col 3:5; Heb 12:4), making diligent use of the means he has made available to us to obtain deliverance from sin (2Pe 1:3):
We must pray for God’s forgiveness and deliverance from evil desires (1Jn 1:9; Pro 28:13; Psa 51:10-12).
We must believe his power to deliver us, hold God’s word in our heart, and obey his words (Jn 2:5; 3:21; 8:31-32; 17:17; Gal 5:16).
Acknowledge that circumcision of our heart by the Spirit is the supernatural gift by which the Lord sets us free (Deu 30:6; Col 2:11-12; Ro 2:29; 8:9; Gal 5:24, Ro 8:13; 6:4,6).
What question did they ask Jesus? (4-5, Lev 20:10; Deu 22:20-22) Why? (6a)
ANSWER:
Jn 8:4-6a and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
Lev 20:10 "`If a man commits adultery with another man's wife -- with the wife of his neighbor -- both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.
Deu 22:20-22 If, however, the charge is true and no proof of the girl's virginity can be found, 21 she shall be brought to the door of her father's house and there the men of her town shall stone her to death. She has done a disgraceful thing in Israel by being promiscuous while still in her father's house. You must purge the evil from among you. 22 If a man is found sleeping with another man's wife, both the man who slept with her and the woman must die. You must purge the evil from Israel.
They asked if it was right to stone the woman.
According to the Law, an adulterous woman should be executed (Lev 20:10; Deu 22:22). The Jews stoned adulterous women.
Roman law prohibited the Jews from executing anyone (Jn 18:31).
They were looking to trap Jesus and condemn him. This was a trap because:
If Jesus said to stone her then...
they were ready to stone her on the spot and then report him to Pilate as one who had instigated a violation of Roman law. (And if Jesus had said to stone her, it would contradict the essence of his mission which was to save people from sin and its penalty which is death, Jn 3:17; Mat 1:21).
If Jesus said to not stone her then...
he would have instantly lost his credibility in the eyes of the people and they would have dragged him before the Sanhedrin with the charge of having repudiated the Law of Moses.
They had no genuine concern for justice and had no desire to honor God.
Although they pretended to have great zeal for the law by their vigorous prosecution of this adulterer, they in actuality cared nothing about upholding the law. They did not really know the law and the heart of Jesus, the Lawgiver, who is full of justice and mercy, full of grace and truth (Jn 1:17; Mat 23:23; Exo 34:6-7).
She was caught “in the act” and yet they did not bring the guilty man before Jesus. He might have got away because he was more fleet-footed than the woman. But probably there was another explanation. Possibly, the man was even one of their own number.
Only thing they cared about was trapping Jesus.
How blind they are in their sins.
They were able to see other people’s private sin, adultery, but they were not able to see their own sins of lying, false witness, and murder; they could clearly see other’s sin but were blind to the sin in themselves (Mat 7:3; Psa 36:1-2; Mat 23:27-28, 30-33).
How easy for us to miss our own sins and condemn others for their small sins (Mat 18:28-30).
3. Read verses 6b-9.
ANSWER:
Jn 8:6b-9 But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.
What did Jesus do? (6b)
ANSWER:
Jn 8:6b But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.
(See above underlined text).
Why did he do that? What did he write on the ground?
We do not know the answer because it is not written in the Bible; all we can do is speculate about why. We can ask Jesus about it when we get to heaven.
Jesus’ action did not succeed in quieting the religious leaders. Verse 7a says that “they kept on questioning him”. This would indicate that Jesus did not intend to calm them by his action in the first place. He did not, in his divine wisdom, try a method that failed.
What did Jesus say when they kept on questioning him? (7-8)
ANSWER:
Jn 8:7-8 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
(See above underlined text).
According to Moses’ Law, the witnesses must be the first to throw a stone (Deu 17:7).
Jesus upheld what Moses commanded, acknowledging that her sin was punishable by death. He upheld God’s justice and God’s absolutely holy standard.
Jesus declared that any person among them who was “without sin” could condemn her.
Who was qualifed to throw a stone at her?
Jesus alone was qualified. He is without any sin (Heb 4:15; 2Co 5:21; Jn 8:29).
No man is “without sin” (1Jn 1:8; Ro 3:10; 3:23; Mat 19:17; Php 3:12; Jas 3:2).
Jesus may have meant that either:
anyone “without sin” with regard to adultery was qualified.
anyone “without sin” at all was qualified.
Jesus is shown here as being full of wisdom, justice, holiness and mercy. Jesus is full of wisdom of God (Isa 11:2).
How did the people respond? (9)
ANSWER:
Jn 8:9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.
(See above underlined text).
They found themselves guilty of sin. Their consciences were divinely awakened by Jesus’ words to their hypocrisy. They were not qualified to stone her.
They slipped/slithered away in disgrace and shame into the early morning shadows while Jesus wrote on the ground (Psa 40:14).
In Jewish society, the oldest people were esteemed as having highest status (Lev 19:32; Pro 16:31). So the people left one at a time starting from those having the highest status to the lowest, junior rank. Because the older ones left first, the juniors left too.
What did the people’s response reveal about them?
ANSWER:
The older ones left first because they had a longer list of sins to be awakened to.
The older we get, the more can realize by God’s grace how terrible we are before God.
True greatness belongs to those who can view themselves with sober judgment according to the light of grace, knowing the great magnitude of their sin, the magnitude of the penalty they deserve, and the magnitude of the mercy they undeservedly are receiving (Mat 11:11b; 5:3; 1Co 15:10; Mat 20:16).
They retreated into the darkness. It was too uncomfortable for them to stand in the light of his truth (Jn 3:20; Acts 24:25).
They were convicted of sin but walked away. They did not come to Jesus with a repentant heart.
4. Read verses 10-11.
ANSWER:
Jn 8:10-11 Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" 11 "No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."
What did Jesus say to the woman? (10-11)
ANSWER:
Jn 8:10-11 Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" 11 "No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."
”neither do I condemn you.”
Jesus was the only one who could condemn her. But he did not condemn her.
“leave your life of sin.”
Jesus gave her clear life direction; holiness.
Why did Jesus not condemn her? (11a)
ANSWER:
Jn 8:11a "No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared.
Because Jesus wanted to save her. He condemned the sin but not the sinner.
God hates sin but loves to save sinners (Jn 3:16; Eze 33:11; 2Pe 3:9b; 1Ti 2:4).
Jesus did not come to condemn the world but to save the world (Jn 3:17).
Jesus satisfied the justice of God on the cross. His forgiveness of her sin was not against the justice of God at all.
Instead of condemning the woman, God condemned Jesus on the cross in her place (2Co 5:21; Gal 3:13; Isa 53:5).
Through the suffering, death and resurrection, God forgave all our sins.
Therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ (Ro 8:1).
Therefore, we should not condemn ourselves either. We belong to Jesus.
What direction did Jesus give her? (11b)
ANSWER:
Jn 8:11b "Go now and leave your life of sin."
“leave your life of sin”:
Jesus gave her clear life direction; holiness.
Jesus, her redeemer, as the new king of her heart, enabled and empowered her by his word of command to live a transformed life – to live by the Spirit in a new way, released from the power and penalty of sin, a life of love and thanks (Ro 7:6; Eze 36:26-27).
God wants us to be holy, blameless, and spotless before him (Lev 11:44; 1Pe 1:15-16; Eph 1:4).
God Almighty is in the business of making us sinners to be progressively holy through the mighty work of the Holy Spirit through the word (Jn 17:17; 1Thes 5:23-24; Php 2:12-13; Heb 13:20-21).
How was this woman more blessed than the others?
ANSWER:
This woman, rather than the others, went home justified before God. She left with the joy of forgiveness and salvation in her heart.
The others found themselves as guilty sinners before God like the woman; unlike the woman, they did not find forgiveness from Jesus but slipped away into the darkness as guilty sinners.
In Conclusion, Jesus did not come to condemn the world but to save the world. Jesus is full of wisdom and he is holy; he is full of grace and mercy. God made us holy through the work of Jesus on the Cross. God is making us holy through the work of the Holy Spirit. God wants us to be holy before Him. May God help us to know his amazing grace upon us! May God help us to depend on him only so that we can fight the spiritual battle in this world to be holy before Him!
The NIV puts a notice in front of the text: “[The earliest and most reliable manuscripts and other ancient witnesses do not have John 7:53—8:11.]”
The NET Bible text note on John 7:53 states, “This entire section, 7:53-8:11, traditionally known as the pericope adulterae, is not contained in the earliest and best mss and was almost certainly not an original part of the Gospel of John. Among modern commentators and textual critics, it is a foregone conclusion that the section is not original but represents a later addition to the text of the Gospel. B. M. Metzger summarizes: “the evidence for the non-Johannine origin of the pericope of the adulteress is overwhelming” (TCGNT 187). External evidence is as follows. For the omission of 7:53-8:11: Ì66,75 א B L N T W Δ Θ Ψ 0141 0211 33 565 1241 1424* 2768 al. In addition codices A and C are defective in this part of John, but it appears that neither contained the pericope because careful measurement shows that there would not have been enough space on the missing pages to include the pericope 7:53-8:11 along with the rest of the text.... Therefore the evidence could be summarized by saying that almost all early mss of the Alexandrian texttype omit the pericope, while most mss of the Western and Byzantine texttype include it. But it must be remembered that “Western mss” here refers only to D, a single witness (as far as Greek mss are concerned). Thus it can be seen that practically all of the earliest and best mss extant omit the pericope; it is found only in mss of secondary importance...” (Biblical Studies Press, New English Translation, 2006). Carson summarizes the evidence, “These verses are present in most of the medieval Greek miniscule manuscripts, but they are absent from virtually all early Greek manuscripts that have come down to us, representing great diversity of textual traditions. The most notable exception is the Western uncial D, known for its independence in numerous other places. They are also missing from the earliest forms of the Syriac and Coptic Gospels, and from many Old Latin, Old Georgian and Armenian manuscripts. All the early church Fathers omit this narrative: in commenting on John, they pass immediately from 7:52 to 8:12. No Eastern Father cites the passage before the tenth century.” (D. A. Carson, The Gospel according to John, Pg 333)
“Despite this textual situation, most scholars believe the story to be a historically valid incident from the life of Jesus.” (Watson E. Mills, Mercer dictionary of the Bible, Pg 966) “Whatever textual problems are raised by this passage, ‘the account has all the earmarks of historical veracity’”. (Frederick Fyvie Bruce, The Gospel of John, Pg. 417.) “That such an event did happen, and that we have here an authentic record of what occurred, is accepted by the great bulk of critics, who, nevertheless, expunge it from the text of John, on the combined ground of its internal difficulty and deficiency of external attestation.” (Spence, H. D. M., The Pulpit Commentary) “For most in the church, Protestants (including the present writer) and Roman Catholics alike, this pericope is regarded as being fully canonical, even though it has been understood by textual scholars for centuries to be out of place.” (Gerald L. Borchert, John 1-11, Pg 369) Yet its authenticity has been rejected by some (not just the apostate Bart Ehrman): “Doubts have beset the authenticity of the passage from the fourth and fifth centuries in the Eastern Church, both on external and internal grounds. The authority and practice of Augustine, Ambrose, and Jerome gave it a secure resting place till the criticism of Erasmus re-awakened doubt. Calvin expressed a more favourable opinion concerning it. Jansenius rejected it. Grotius considered it as an addition to John’s Gospel from the hand of Papias or one of his friends and fellow disciples of John. Wettstein, Semler, Griesbach, and Wegscheider seemed to leave for it no place in Scripture. Lachmann omitted it from his text...” (Spence, H. D. M., The Pulpit Commentary)
But there is internal evidence against its inclusion as well. The word G1122 γραμματεύς grammateus (NIV, “teachers of the law”) in 8:3 does not appear anywhere else in John. The word G1636 ἐλαῖα elaia (el-ai`-ah) in the word “Mount of Olives” in 8:1 does not appear anywhere else in John. And the word G3722 ὄρθρος orthros, translated “dawn”, does not appear anywhere else in John. The NET Bible text note on 7:53 states, “Internal evidence against the inclusion of 8:1-11 (7:53-8:11): (1) In reply to the claim that the introduction to the pericope, 7:53, fits the context, it should also be noted that the narrative reads well without the pericope, so that Jesus’ reply in 8:12 is directed against the charge of the Pharisees in 7:52 that no prophet comes from Galilee. (2) The assumption that the author “must” somehow work Isa 9:1-2 into the narrative is simply that – an assumption. The statement by the Pharisees in 7:52 about Jesus’ Galilean origins is allowed to stand without correction by the author, although one might have expected him to mention that Jesus was really born in Bethlehem. And 8:12 does directly mention Jesus’ claim to be the Light of the world. The author may well have presumed familiarity with Isa 9:1-2 on the part of his readers because of its widespread association with Jesus among early Christians. (3) The fact that the pericope deals with the light/darkness motif does not inherently strengthen its claim to authenticity, because the motif is so prominent in the Fourth Gospel that it may well have been the reason why someone felt that the pericope, circulating as an independent tradition, fit so well here. (4) In general the style of the pericope is not Johannine either in vocabulary or grammar (see D. B. Wallace, “Reconsidering ‘The Story of the Woman Taken in Adultery Reconsidered’,” NTS 39 [1993]: 290-96). According to R. E. Brown it is closer stylistically to Lukan material (John [AB], 1:336). Interestingly one important family of mss (Ë13) places the pericope after Luke 21:38.” (Biblical Studies Press, New English Translation, 2006).
The passage may serve as an illustration of Jesus’ words in Jn 8:15, “I pass judgment on no one”. The NET Bible states, “(1) 7:53 fits in the context. If the “last great day of the feast” (7:37) refers to the conclusion of the Feast of Tabernacles, then the statement refers to the pilgrims and worshipers going home after living in “booths” for the week while visiting Jerusalem. (2) There may be an allusion to Isa 9:1-2 behind this text: John 8:12 is the point when Jesus describes himself as the Light of the world. But the section in question mentions that Jesus returned to the temple at “early dawn” (῎Ορθρου, Orqrou, in 8:2). This is the “dawning” of the Light of the world (8:12) mentioned by Isa 9:2. (3) Furthermore, note the relationship to what follows: Just prior to presenting Jesus’ statement that he is the Light of the world, John presents the reader with an example that shows Jesus as the light. Here the woman “came to the light” while her accusers shrank away into the shadows, because their deeds were evil (cf. 3:19-21).” (Biblical Studies Press, New English Translation, 2006).
Yet Jesus is also recorded on one occasion as having spent the night at Bethany (Mat 21:17). Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem (Jn 11:18) on the Mount of Olives. This is significant because Bethany was the location of the home of Martha and Mary who are recorded as having opened their home to Jesus on one occasion (Luk 10:38; Jn 11:18-20). So, there remains a possibility that Jesus spent the night in someone’s home. Jn 18:1-2 indicates that Jesus often met with his disciples at the olive grove called Gethsemane. Technically, Gethsemane is not on the Mount of Olives but at the foot of the Mount.
The sitting posture was identified as the position of authoritative teaching (Mk 13:3; Mat 23:2; 5:1; Act 16:13). “Archaeological evidence confirms that in the front of the SYNAGOGUES there was a stone seat where the authoritative SCRIBE (teacher of the law) sat and taught.” (J. D. Douglas, Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Topic: Moses' Seat)
Yet there was adulterous sin in Jesus’ day (Ro 2:22). “The Talmud charges the crime of adultery upon the three most illustrious Rabbins.” (Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament Part Three, Pg 29) Rabbis like Hillel advocated divorce for “for any and every reason” (Mat 19:3). Moral laxity in marriage is also shown by the fact that Jesus’ disciples were stunned by his proclamation that marriage was a lifelong binding contract (Mat 19:10).
This is described in other places as “offering” ourselves to God – we offer ourselves to the power of Him who is invisible that we might be accepted and come under the control of his Spirit (Ro 6:13; Ro 12:1-2; Gen 4:7).
In John’s Gospel we find that it is the Spirit of the Lord who gives us a new heart captured and set free from sin by his revelation of the glory of our king who purchased us (Jn 8:32; 14:21,23; 16:14; 17:24,26).
In Jesus' day, this law concerning adultery was not carried out with any regularity (Mat 1:19). “In fact, it appears that by the first century AD the full rigour of the law was no longer applied as a general rule, in urban communities at any rate. But the ancient law prevails in all its severity in less sophisticated parts of the Near East to our own day.” (Frederick Fyvie Bruce, The Gospel of John, Pg. 414.) “Although capital punishment by stoning is still meted out today in some Muslim countries for the offence of adultery, there is little evidence that it was carried out very often in first-century Palestine, especially in urban areas.” (D. A. Carson, The Gospel according to John, Pg 335)
Technically, the mode of execution is explicitly specified in the law only for single and betrothed women but not married women. Deu 22:22 does not actually specify a method of execution for a married woman caught in adultery. Rather, execution by stoning is something we naturally assume from the surrounding context. Deu 22:21 commands execution by stoning for the case in which a woman was discovered to have been promiscuous while unmarried (and not necessarily caught in the act). Deu 22:23-24 commands execution by stoning for the case in which a betrothed woman is found to have slept with a man. Carson writes, “Was the woman married, or single and betrothed? Stoning is the biblically prescribed punishment for a betrothed virgin who is sexually unfaithful to her fiancé, a punishment to be meted out to both sexual partners (Dt. 22:23-24). Elsewhere (Lv. 20:10; Dt. 22:22) death is prescribed for all unfaithful wives and their lovers, but no mode (such as stoning) is laid down. In the Mishnah (Sanhedrin 7:4), however, the two cases are sharply differentiated: the offence in the first instance is punishable by stoning (it is viewed as the more serious of the two), and the second by strangling. That would mean the woman in this passage was betrothed, not married. It is rather doubtful, however, that the distinction existed in Jesus’ day.” (D. A. Carson, The Gospel according to John, Pg 334).
When Judea became a Roman province in 6 AD, the Romans took the power of capital punishment from the Sanhedrin: “The situation changed after 6 AD. when a Roman governor was appointed for Judaea and took the place of the Jewish ruler. The official sphere of the Sanhedrin was limited to Judaea and the governing power ... lay with the procurator. The latter, whose seat was at Caesarea rather than Jerusalem, allowed the Sanhedrin to control matters relating to the native populace. But how wide were the powers of the Sanhedrin In the Roman period, and what rights did the procurator reserve to himself? Undoubtedly the Sanhedrin could decide all matters relating to the cultic community and it could punish offences against the Torah so long as these did not involve the death penalty. It was even conceded the right to punish with death a pagan — even a Roman — who went across the temple barrier and entered the sacred precincts. But one should not deduce from the granting of this special privilege that under the rule of the procurators the Jewish court maintained the right to impose and execute a capital sentence. This is contradicted by Jn. 18:31, acc. to which the death sentence lay In the hands of the procurator alone and not with the Jews.” (Gerhard Kittel, Theological dictionary of the New Testament, Volume 7, Pg 865) The NET Bible subject note on Jn 18:31 states, “It is also pointed out that the Jewish authorities did carry out a number of executions, some of them specifically pertaining to Christians (Stephen, according to Acts 7:58-60; and James the Just, who was stoned in the 60s according to Josephus, Ant. 20.9.1 [20.200]). But Stephen’s death may be explained as a result of “mob violence” rather than a formal execution, and as Josephus in the above account goes on to point out, James was executed in the period between two Roman governors, and the high priest at the time was subsequently punished for the action. Two studies by A. N. Sherwin-White (Roman Society and Roman Law in the New Testament, 1-47; and “The Trial of Christ,” Historicity and Chronology in the New Testament [SPCKTC], 97-116) have tended to support the accuracy of John’s account. He concluded that the Romans kept very close control of the death penalty for fear that in the hands of rebellious locals such power could be used to eliminate factions favorable or useful to Rome. A province as troublesome as Judea would not have been likely to be made an exception to this.” (Biblical Studies Press, New English Translation, 2006).
Others are in agreement on this: “It is even possible, as Jeremias suggests,[J. Jeremias, ZNW 43, 1950-51, pp. 148-150] that formal agreement with the law of Moses could have been interpreted in such a way as to get him into serious difficulty with the Roman overlord. If in the name of Moses he pronounced the death sentence on this woman, and it was actually carried out, he would have been infringing the exclusive rights of the Roman prefect, who alone at this period had the authority to impose capital sentences (cf. notes on 18:31-32).” (D. A. Carson, The Gospel according to John, Pg 335)
There has indeed been abundant speculation about these questions. The NET Bible text note on verse 6b reads, “Or possibly “Jesus bent down and wrote an accusation on the ground with his finger.” The Greek verb καταγράφω (katagrafw) may indicate only the action of writing on the ground by Jesus, but in the overall context (Jesus’ response to the accusation against the woman) it can also be interpreted as implying that what Jesus wrote was a counteraccusation against the accusers (although there is no clue as to the actual content of what he wrote, some scribes added “the sins of each one of them” either here or at the end of v. 8 [U 264 700 al]).” (Source: Biblical Studies Press, New English Translation, 2006) Carson writes, “A longstanding interpretation in the church has been that he wrote part of Jeremiah 17:13: ‘Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the LORD, the spring of living water.’ T. W. Manson [ZNW 44, 1952-53, pp. 255-256] was the first to suggest that Jesus was imitating the practice of Roman magistrates who first wrote their sentence and then read it;” (D. A. Carson, The Gospel according to John, Pg 335) Also note that the KJV reads, “But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.” These underlined words are not found in many manuscripts: “Some manuscripts, E, G, and about ninety cursives, add, μη προσποιουμενος, "not troubling himself with them though he beard them not" (Authorized Version).” (Spence, H. D. M., The Pulpit Commentary).
The word G361 αναμαρτητος anamartetos (an-am-ar'-tay-tos) “without sin” does not appear anyhere else in the New Testament. So, Clarke interprets this word according to its usage among secular Greek writers. He writes, “He that is without sin αναμαρτητος, meaning the same kind of sin, adultery, fornication, etc. Kypke has largely proved that the verb αμαρτανειν is used in this sense by the best Greek writers.” (Adam Clarke, Adam Clarke's 1810/1825 commentary and critical notes, exposition on John 8:7). Morris, however, interprets it according to its use in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament or LXX). He writes, “Some have thought that the word means “innocent of that particular sin”. αναμαρτητος is not found elsewhere in the New Testament, but its use in LXX show that it is not specific. It can denote innocence of various kinds of sin. In this present context it is important that this wide meaning be understood. It was not their indulgence in one particular sin, but their general sinfulness that disqualified them from arrogating to themselves the position of God’s agents in punishing the sin of others.” (Leon Morris, The Gospel According To John, Pg 889).
Carson writes, “This is a direct reference to Deuteronomy 13:9; 17:7 (cf Lv. 24:14) — the witnesses of the crime must be the first to throw the stones, and they must not be participants in the crime itself. Jesus’ saying does not mean that the authorities must be paragons of sinless perfection before the death sentence can properly be meted out, nor does it mean that one must be free even from lust before one can legitimately condemn adultery (even though lust and adultery belong to the same genus, Mt. 5:28). It means, rather, that they must not be guilty of this particular sin. As in many societies around the world, so here: when it comes to sexual sins, the woman was much more likely to be in legal and social jeopardy than her paramour. The man could lead a ‘respectable’ life while masking the same sexual sins with a knowing wink. Jesus’ simple condition, without calling into question the Mosaic code, cuts through the double standard and drives hard to reach the conscience.” (D. A. Carson, The Gospel according to John, Pg 336)
Godet writes, “The interpreters who, like Lucke , Meyer , and so many others, restrict the application of the term without sin to adultery or, in general, to impurity, misconstrue the thought of Jesus. In His eyes “he who has offended in the matter of one commandment, is guilty of all” (James 2:10).” (Frederick Louis Godet, Gospel According to St. John, exposition on John 8:7).
This interpretation is derived from the Greek: “He that is without sin αναμαρτητος, meaning the same kind of sin, adultery, fornication, etc. Kypke has largely proved that the verb αμαρτανειν is used in this sense by the best Greek writers.” (Adam Clarke, Adam Clarke's 1810/1825 commentary and critical notes, exposition on John 8:7).
Verse 9 in the KJV reads, “And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.” This underlined text is found in some manuscripts. Bruce writes, “The ‘received text’ and the AV say that they were ‘convicted by their own conscience’, which is no doubt true, even if it is not part of the original text of the passage.” (Frederick Fyvie Bruce, The Gospel of John, Pg. 416.) Carson writes, “Many manuscripts specifically say that the accusers were ‘convicted by their own conscience’ (AV), but their stunned departure testifies as much.” (D. A. Carson, The Gospel according to John, Pg 336)
“In a society where age and seniority are revered for status, the departure of the most revered first quickly depleted the authority of the accusing group. The junior members were not going to be left out on a limb.” (Gerald L. Borchert, John 1-11, Pg 375)
The KJV translation of verse 11b is more accurate. It reads, “go, and sin no more.” Carson writes, “NIV's leave your life of sin ...almost paints the woman as an habitual whore (though the Greek bears no such overtones).” (D. A. Carson, The Gospel according to John, Pg 337)
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