“The Torah scholars and Pharisees bring in a woman who had been caught in adultery. After putting her in the middle, 4 they say to Yeshua, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of committing adultery. 5 In the Torah, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do You say?”” (John 8)
In this dramatic episode, a carefully conceived ruse was devised against Yeshua concerning a point of Torah with the intention of trapping Him in His own words. Had He sanctioned death by stoning according to Torah, He would have been in breach of the civil (Roman) law since only a sovereign state held the authority to exercise capital punishment. However, by supporting the civil law, He would have transgressed Torah.
As always, Yeshua completely outmanoeuvred His opponents. He responded to their question by writing in the dust, maybe from Lev 5:1: “If someone is privy to a ‘crime’ yet does not speak out against all concerned (thereby diluting the evidence) he must confess his guilt…” His answer made immediate sense to those who questioned Him: “He who is without sin should cast the first stone.” It simply addressed the issue, exposing the hypocrisy of the woman’s accusers that recalled the law in Leviticus for adultery, requiring death by stoning for both the adulterer and the adulteress. Only one guilty party had been brought to Yeshua. The adulterer was conspicuously absent, and so their witness was tainted. By condemning the woman they would simultaneously accuse themselves. Their true motives were exposed, the tables had been turned and the accusers now became the accused.
Yeshua’s conversation with the adulteresses was remarkable. Her accusers had disappeared, and since in Torah two or more witnesses were needed to uphold an accusation, He couldn’t have legally condemned her even had He chosen. But, neither could He overlook the gravity of her sin, because God’s love forgives but also holds us accountable. He set her free but warned her to “sin no more.”
There is a profound difference between being judgmental and judging correctly. Today, we are surrounded by more than a few believers who promote ungodly lifestyles and behaviour on the false premise that God’s grace ‘covers all’ irrespective of the choices we make.
Immediately after the incident, Yeshua spoke of Himself as the Light of the World.
The Jewish sages tell of a person who found himself surrounded by darkness. When he stepped forward, he stumbled over a stone. Soon afterwards, he fell into a drain striking his face against the ground all because he had no lamp to guide him.
Should we ever take our eyes off Him (who has not?) and find ourselves examining our bruises, allow Him to rekindle our lamp – that is a good choice – and we will see Yeshua kneeling close by, writing in the dust.
Raphael ben Levi
