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How interesting that religious zealotry is NOT limited only to “false” religions. The Pharisees were the upper echelon of the Jewish faith established by the true God (in fact by Christ) since their patriarch Abraham sought God nearly 1600 years earlier. Christ was the God of Abraham, of Isaac, of Jacob, of Joseph, of Moses, of Joshua, of Samson, of Ruth, of David, of Solomon, of Isaiah, of Daniel, of Ester, of Nehemiah … and now He stood among them, the long awaited Messiah who every patriarch of the Jewish faith had so hoped to see in their lifetimes. The Pharisees were not following some ancient myth or superstition; they were basing their religion on the written word of God, found in carefully preserved scrolls of the accounts of each of these biblical heroes that comprised the Old Testament as we know it. While Abraham may have also fathered many other nations who too sought to follow the true God in their own way, through the lineage of Jacob alone, would come the Messiah. They had a rich heritage and the words of truth. The Pharisees SHOULD have had a religion based in the love of God the Father, whose entire purpose was to redeem his lost and fallen children and bring them home again. But the truth contained in accurate scriptures is not enough to change the heart, if power over others is prized over service and love to others.
When power is prized and valued over love, religion can degenerate to a point, where the entire basis of longing for a Messiah decides to spend its entire energy looking for a way to kill the Messiah instead. Power and control lead to murder. Love leads to sacrifice. This contrast was never so brilliantly revealed than in the interaction between the ordained religious leaders of the day, and the head of their religion, the God they were supposed to be worshipping. The rich and powerful corrupted hearts who claimed only the pretense of religion now sought to kill the founder of their own religion; simply because they had missed the point of loving others. They embraced the laws of Moses, and were now trying to use those very laws to kill the innocence of Christ, in order to quell the message of love itself. For you see, love is more powerful than justice. Love is more powerful than evil itself. And the only response evil is left with when confronting a love it does not understand and cannot overcome, is to kill it. It is why when the end of all things is upon the resurrected wicked; they are brought to their knees when confronted by the overwhelming love of Christ to confess He is Lord. But they rise from their knees only to cry again “kill Him”. So well before the last great day, the Pharisees conspire to use scripture to justify the murder of the opposition, the murder of love.
But John opens his story in chapter eight and verse one, with a brief note … “Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. [verse 2] And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.” From John’s account we see that it must have been at night that Jesus went to the mount of Olives, likely to pray. It seems this must have been a favorite spot for Him, as there are other references to Him going to this spot. Perhaps it was to be alone. Perhaps it was like Moses to be closer to God in a higher elevation like on Mt. Sinai. But I wonder when Christ ever took rest, if He prayed at night, and taught during the day? In any case, we find it is early in the morning when He again travels to the temple to begin teaching. Also interesting that despite the religious leader’s rejection of Him, Christ does not reject them. He continues to teach in the temple, where the words of truth are supposed to be taught. Also interesting, that the people, a great many of them, come to hear Him teach there. So the stage is set. Christ is in a public place. He is sitting, teaching a great crowd of listeners that will serve as witnesses to the plans and trap of the Pharisees. Time to spring the trap.
Verse 3 begins … “And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, …” Notice this was not an angry wife who caught her husband cheating. It was not an angry mob of common folk who were tired of having a slut, prostitute, or just a cheater in their midst and decided to take matters into their own hands. It was Scribes and Pharisees who brought this woman before Christ, and seated her in front of the crowd for all to see. Having been caught in the literal act of adultery she may not have been fully dressed. At a minimum she would have been wholly unprepared to face the public. She would have been embarrassed, ashamed, humiliated. She would have looked the part of a guilty person. One wonders, how the Pharisees knew exactly the right moment to collect her in such a state? One wonders, since adulterers generally seek secrecy to keep their deeds out of the limelight in general – how did the Pharisees and scribes know where to find her, when to find her, and why her male accomplice seems to have totally eluded this story. Perhaps he picked the place and time, and was a part of this conspiracy. We may never know. What is clear, was that this pretense to murder was now in motion, and so far, their plans were running on course.
Verse 4 continues … “They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. [verse 5] Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? [verse 6] This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him …” So much revealed is so few verses. First, though they hate Him, they call Him “Master” in order to show fainted respect to Him in front of the crowd. Second they show her in her disheveled state in order that any question of guilt on her part is erased in the minds of the people there. Notice again her male accomplice is absent. Then they reveal the core contrast of their corrupted hearts; they quote the law of Moses in the ears of the people that is very “clear” on what the penalty of adultery is. Now in point of fact, Christ might have debated them on their ideas of clarity. First, as it was then, and as it is now, the penalties for breaking the law are reserved for those WITHOUT repentance. Adultery is not beyond repentance even within the Jewish religion prior to Christ arriving. It, like any other sin, requires bringing an offering to the temple, and the symbolism of blood shed points to the future method of what must be done to pay for our sins. Mary had only to repent and make an offering, and the LAW of Moses would have been satisfied. Only if Mary had refused to repent, and chosen to abandon redemption forever, would she finally meet the results of her choices. Just like us. Only if we choose to refuse to be remade, refuse to learn to love, refuse to submit to God, and trust Him, not in ourselves, will we finally meet the end of our chosen path. But no single sin, or even repeated sin, is able to separate us from the love of God, or from His desire to still redeem us from the lives we have chosen.
The Scribes and Pharisees were counting on the love of Christ to be His undoing. This was perhaps the most insidious part of their plan to trap Him. They knew He loved more than He judged. They knew He could not resist the desire to redeem no matter what the guilt or sin of the person cast in front of Him. They knew He would not choose to follow their ideas of the law of Moses and they were counting on it. They were counting on Him to publicly disobey Moses in front of the people, for the sake of love and redemption. It was the basis of the trap itself. They needed Him to disobey the law in favor of love so that they would have the pretense they needed to kill Him as well. They could care less about Mary. What is one more loose, or abused women, willing to offer sex in the scheme of things. They could always find another one of those. But to use one, to trap Christ, and get Him to demonstrate that love is more important to Him than the law of Moses in front of the people, would be priceless to them. In this they reveal the full Satanic influence over their now fully submitted minds to the devils ideas. Evil was counting on a display of love, in order to justify the killing of the author of love. And evil was gleeful to use religion as the reason behind it all.
A wise human leader, who sees the trap laid out before them, might decide that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or of the one. A wise human leader, might decide that Mary has earned the fate that is coming to her, whether she was trapped into this or not. She had a choice. She could have claimed rape, or rejected the offers of her male accomplice, or run away. She could have moved. She could have done many things to avoid being here at the feet of Christ awaiting the death for her sins that she deserved. For the fate of all evil leads to death. It was death that was now what the Pharisees hoped for, not the death of Mary, but the death of Christ. If Mary had to die too, so what? A wise human leader could have simply let Mary get stoned to death, and try to use this as a lesson to the crowd that evil does indeed lead to death. The Pharisees plan would have been thwarted. They would have had nothing left to say. In fact, a wise human leader, could have asked that her male counterpart be brought there too, in order to face judgment. Having produced him, he might have offered a different take on why Mary was there. A wise human leader, might have found a way out of this trap, that at the worst cost two guilty people their lives. So be it.
But wisdom was not the primary lesson to be taught that day, nor was justice, nor was a debate over the law. The real lesson, was to be the value God holds, over each life, no matter how low it has fallen, how far it has gone, or how guilty it truly is. Verse 6 continues … “But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.” I wish John would have read the words written on the ground and reported them here. Perhaps he did read them and chose not to reveal what they said. If I were to offer a guess, I would bet he wrote the names of those in this very accusatory crowd who had been with Mary in the past, and the reasons they “knew” they could catch her at it. But John does not reveal what Christ wrote. The trap could not be sprung without a verbal response from Christ, and writing was not going to get the job done, so they kept pressing Him on it. Verse 7 reads … “So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. [verse 8] And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.”
The perfect response. He turns their trap back on themselves. If they now cast a stone at her, they are publicly saying that they are without sin. Since they have been seen making the traditional sacrifices at the temple themselves, this would be a public lie on their part. Christ has used the law, to defend the law. And in so doing, He has subtly pointed out the purpose of the law was to point out our need of redemption, and the love that authored it in the first place. He reminds them publicly that there was always a method of forgiveness within the law itself. And that none of us are perfect. More interesting to me, is His continued preoccupation with writing in the sand on the ground. For He returns to writing as soon as He has given His response. Again I have to believe that what He was writing was a message to her accusers that reached into the core of who they were and revealed the contrast of perfect love with what they intended to do in the name of religion. Their response was chronicled in verse 9 … “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.” What Christ said, perhaps what He wrote, had left them staring into the mirror of perfect love. And what they saw, convicted them of their evil intent. Their trap had failed. And they left. Perhaps they followed the order of oldest to youngest, as the older ones in the crowd had lived longer and therefore had sinned longer than the younger ones. Perhaps the younger ones were just more passionate or more stubborn. But in any case, all her accusers left.
Verse 10 continues … “When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? [verse 11] She said, No man, Lord …” There was now to finish out the matter of law of the Pharisees and Scribes had brought before the crowd still in attendance. In order to be stoned, Mary must have an accuser. She did not. All those who wished a killing had left. Even now, the law was not disputed by Christ, negated by Christ, or ignored by Christ. Christ never said Moses was wrong, or the adultery was not a sin, or that Mary was somehow innocent in her participation in this deed. Her guilt was clear. What was being discussed was the punishment for her crime, and more to the point, the value of her redemption. Her life mattered so much to God, that God would not cast her away, even if she was guilty, even if she did deserve her fate. God loved her too much for that, as He loves you, me, and the world today. He has not cast us aside, or left us to reap what we have sown just yet. Still He longs to save Mary, as He longs to save us. It is Satan who always demands that the justice of the Law of God be met in our demise. It is love that offers us another alternative. It is love that took our punishment, and our sentence unto itself. We are free, not because death is not required, but because He took our death instead.
But then comes the blessing of redemption. Then comes the words of promise and hope. Then comes the most liberating sentiment in all of scripture to date as Christ says to Mary continuing in verse 11 … “And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.” First, though He could have, though we are still guilty, God does NOT condemn us. It is not the guilt that is in question, it is the condemnation for that guilt. We are guilty, no question. But it is NOT our God who condemns us to this fate, it is His enemy Satan who does. It was Satan behind this trap to kill Christ. It was Satan who was all too happy to kill the guilty Mary and trap the love of God. God by contrast, was NOT the one who condemned Mary or us. God, as the entirety of the Bible points out, is interested in our redemption, NOT our punishment. The ideas of Satan, the character of God he tries to paint as a God of vengeance, are really lies, and a self-portrait. God does not want our condemnation, He wants our redemption. This was the point to be made in the story of Mary. This was the larger lesson for the crowd to see and hear and experience. God is a God of redemption. It is the guilty who NEED redemption. It is the guilty who appreciate the gift of life instead of the punishment of death.
Further comes the liberation from evil as Christ lifts the slavery she has been bound to her entire life. He takes from her, her inability to refrain from sinning, and pronounces the life altering blessing on her … “Go, and sin no more”. This is not an edict from a God who does not care about her life or her pain. This is the blessing of a God who has just finished saving her life, and now is adding her freedom from the addiction of sin she suffers from. He is healing her mind, her soul, and making her life renewed in one blessing. He did not just save her, to preserve her in her evil and the pain it causes; instead he is pulling her out of her pain. He is freeing her to be free FROM sin, not free TO sin. This is not an excuse to continue in adultery, or a redefinition of the penalty all sin brings. It is not a “wink” at evil and the consequences and pain evil brings. It is a redefinition of slavery, a removal of it, a renewing of freedom that starts within us as it placed there by Christ. It was not the deeds of Mary, that earned her redemption. It was not the strength of Mary that would enable her to sin no more. It was the blessing of Christ poured out upon her that would yield a change. Mary was not to use His forgiveness as an excuse to keep right on sinning. She was to be blessed with the removal of the slavery to keep right on sinning. Her life was to be different. Her life was to be better. She was not to wait to judgment day to finally be rid of her pain. She was to be rid of it today. Right there and right now, in her humiliation, in front of the still staring crowd amazed at the mercy of Christ. She was to be made free in that condition. She did not have to achieve some state of purity in order to come to God to get freedom. She was brought there by force, in the worst state imaginable, but she walked away free.
This is not just the story of Mary and how she was redeemed. It is the story of how I am redeemed, and how you are redeemed. We are both guilty of sin and choosing to serve self over others. Satan demands that the penalties of the law be implemented immediately upon us both. But Christ steps in and takes our penalty, He offers us His gift of freedom from the addictive controlling power of sin, to remove it from our lives. He offers to remake us, to help us think differently, want differently, and love differently. He teaches us to love like He loves. And in so doing we learn truth. For as we learn of Christ, we find Christ is truth. Scripture did nothing to redeem Mary that day. Christ did everything. It was the improper understanding and use of scripture that would have seen Mary dead. Instead the proper understanding of redemption and love was to redeem Mary instead. You cannot see the love in scripture until after you have been remade by Christ. The unchanged heart, sees only what it wants to see. It uses scripture to prove its point, maintain its power, and keep pure its own ideas at the expense of the lives of others. But this was not the point or intent of scripture. Love was always what was behind it, throughout it, and within it. It was love demonstrated in the actions of Christ that day that redeemed Mary while never breaking the law, ignoring the law, or belittling the law. The law remained as it always will. But what Christ did, was reveal that love redeems, and is greater than anything else in the universe. Love is the basis of the law, not its undoing. Love is reflected in forgiveness. Love is reflected in redemption. Love is reflected in restoration. Christ was the embodiment of these things. He was the embodiment of love itself. For God is love.
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