Subject: Why did Jesus forgive the woman in John 8
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 00:29:48 +0000
From: heb_roots_chr@mail.geocities.com
Reply-To: heb_roots_chr@geocities.com
To: "Hebraic Heritage Newsgroup"<heb_roots_chr@geocities.com>
From: Philip Nowland
To: "Hebraic Heritage Newsgroup" <heb_roots_chr@geocities.com>
Subject: Why did Jesus forgive the woman in John 8
Here is the story, as recorded by John 8:2-11
Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the
people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. Then the scribes
and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when
they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman
was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law,
commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?" This
they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to
accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His
finger, as though He did not hear. So when they continued asking Him,
He raised Himself up and said to them, "He who is without sin among
you, let him throw a stone at her first." And again He stooped down
and wrote on the ground. Then those who heard it, being convicted by
their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even
to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the
midst. When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman,
He said to her, "Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one
condemned you?" She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said to her,
"Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more."
Now this story, which must be one of the most moving in the whole of
the New Testament, has been used by some people to try and establish
their teaching that Jesus did away with the Law. They maintain, that
if Jesus had intended for the Law to remain in effect, then He would
not have forgiven this woman, for the account says that she was guilt
of adultery. The Scribes and Pharisees who brought her to Him claimed
that she was caught in the very act. If He subsequently forgave her,
then He, so their theory goes, was contradicting of the Law.
Before, jumping to any conclusions let us first look at the very
story itself:
v2-3 - Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and
all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. Then the
scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And
when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, "Teacher, this
woman was caught in adultery, in the very act."
Jesus is teaching in the Temple. We are told that He sat down to
teach them, this being a typical Rabbinical position to teach, and
implies that what He was teaching them was of some importance.
We are not to clear at this point exactly where He was teaching the
people, but we could make the assumption that this was in the area of
the Treasury, which was apparently a favourite place that Jesus
taught in the Temple. In this case, the act of the Scribes and
Pharisees in bringing a woman into this area of Temple, accused of
being caught in adultery, appears to fly in the face of that which is
decent.
We are told that the money from two things were not permitted in the
Temple Treasury:
1.. Money from the sale of a dog
2.. Money earned in prostitution
In the light of such attitudes, they would not been likely to
have brought a woman guilty of adultery into the same place, unless
theirs was an attitude that was actually running contrary to decency.
John identifies that they were really not interested in objective
truth, but rather in trying to catch Jesus out.
Their accusation against the woman was that she had committed
adultery. This was a serious accusation, for it is a crime, contrary
to the very central bedrock statements of the Law itself. Not some
obscure ruling, but the very 10 Commandments. Their accusation was
that she had broken the 7th Commandment.
Exodus 20:14 - "You shall not commit adultery. (NKJ)
Would Jesus uphold the Law?
v5 - "Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned.
But what do You say?"=20
In this they refer to the ruling of Leviticus 20:10. Note, that they
are very careful not to actually quote the words of the Law, but
rather state it in general terms, ascribing that the law of Moses
commanded that she should be stoned.
When you read the very words of the ruling in Leviticus, you soon
understand why they were not willing to actually quote the very
wording of the ruling themselves.
Leviticus 20:10 - `The man who commits adultery with another man's
wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer
and the adulteress, shall surely be put to death. (NKJ)
While the ruling says that the adulteress should be put to death, it
also says that the man should be as well.
Our big question of these Scribes and Pharisees is: Where was the man?
We do not know who he was, and we only have their words about her
adultery to imply that he even existed. They only bring the woman to
Jesus, for Him to try her. Yet, any good judge would have first asked
for them to bring the other guilty parties, so that the case could be
heard. The must have realised that, and were not concerned with
justice for the woman. And, justice is a serious element of the
Law.
So it is obvious, that they were not really interested in the Law,
but rather in catching Jesus out. John says as much.
v6 - This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of
which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the
ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.
We do not know what Jesus wrote on the ground. We do not know what
language it was in, but it was most likely Hebrew. But, from what we
read of the rest of the story something that He wrote had a serious
impact upon them, although not straight away.
v7 - So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said
to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at
her first."=20
After a period of time, in which He wrote on the ground, and they
repeated their questions, He simply asked them one question. In that
He is turning them to think seriously about their accusations against
the woman, and analyse their own hearts with respect to the
accusations that they make. If they are guiltless, then they may begin the
stoning.
Thus Jesus upholds the Law. He is in no way dismissing her sin. He is
in no way suspending the importance of either the 7th commandment, or
the Levitical ruling regarding what to do about it. In fact Jesus has
aligned Himself directly to the words of the Law. In effect He gave a
ruling that she should be stoned.
How about the Scribes and Pharisees, were they willing to do the same
thing?
Jesus knew that they could not. Why?
Firstly, they needed at least two witness for her to be found guilty,
and it would appear that none of them were willing to act as true
witness according to the Law.
Secondly, the other guilty party was not present. Essential for a
fair trial.
v8 - And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.
A second time Jesus writes in the ground. This time they were most
likely reading what He wrote. Whereas, on the previous time that He
wrote on the ground, they were too busy asking Him questions about
their accusations against the woman.
v9 - Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience,
went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And
Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
As each of them left, they removed any chance of their being any
viable witness to condemn her. Without this, it would have been wrong
for Jesus to have condemned her according to the Law. Without
witnesses she could not be found guilty.
v10-11 - When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the
woman, He said to her, "Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has
no one condemned you?" She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said to
her, "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more." (NKJ)
So has Jesus violated the Law by not enforcing it. Not at all. Indeed
Jesus was the only one in the whole story who stood correct according
to the Law. Jesus fulfilled the Law, He did not violate it. With
regard to Jesus and the Law He conducted Himself in the most impeccable
fashion.
Did Jesus remove the Law by forgiving the woman. Not at all. He
showed the same grace that can be found freely in the Law.
But something that Jesus did do, as a parting word to the woman. He
said "go and sin no more". Which is another way of saying:
Exodus 20:14 - "You shall not commit adultery. (NKJ)
It is not good appealing to John 8 to say that Jesus suspended the Law.
Philip Nowland - Huntingdon, England
>From Eddie:
**************
Quite possibly the settting of John 8 is the time of the Feast
of Tabernacles. The feast of Tabernacles is celebrated for seven days
(Lev 23:34) as it is written:
"Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, the fifteenth day of this
seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto
the Lord"
The last day of the feast of tabernacles was a very special
day. It is known as "Hoshanah Rabba" --- the great salvation. It was
the last day of the feast of tabernacles (Hoshanah Rabba) when
Yeshua/Jesus spoke the words in John 7:37:
"In the LAST DAY, that GREAT DAY OF THE FEAST (Hoshanah Rabba),
Jesus stood and cried, saying, if any man THIRST, let him come unto me,
and DRINK"
WATER is a MAJOR THEME of the Feast of Tabernacles. In the
Talmud in (Succah 5), it describes a water pouring ceremony done
during the feast of tabernacles. It is called "Simchat Beit
HaShoevah", the rejoicing in the house of the water pouring. The
water pouring became a focus of the joy that the Torah commands for
Sukkot (Tabernacles). During the days of the Feast of Tabernacles,
mostly every scripture regarding WATER would be read to the people to
remind them of one of the themes of the festival. There is a very
famous traditional Jewish song called, "Mayim" / Water.
During this time, Isaiah 12:3 would be read as it is
written:
"Therefore with JOY shall you DRAW WATER out of the WELLS of
SALVATION".
It is from this verse that we get the song, "Mayim".
The Hebrew word for Salvation is: Yeshooah
Therefore, Yeshua/Jesus takes the liberty in John 7:37 on
the LAST DAY of the Feast of Tabernacles to say:
"If any man THIRST, let him come unto ME and DRINK"
Following the seven days of the Feast of Tabernacles,
God commanded an additional day, the eighth day, called, "Shemini
Atzeret" which means the "8th conclusion" to be celebrated (Lev
23:36). This would be on Tishri 22.
The day following Tishri 22 is celebrated by the Jewish
people as "Simchat Torah" --- the rejoicing in the Torah. In ancient
days, "Shemini Atzeret", Tishri 22, and "Simchat Torah", Tishri 23,
were considered as one long day (even though they are physically 48
hours) and were celebrated together on Tishri 22.
This would seem to be the setting in John 8. Simchat
Torah means "the rejoicing in the Torah". So, in John 8:5, we see
Yeshua/Jesus the author of the Torah and who is the living Torah
being questioned about the Torah in the day called the "rejoicing in
the Torah".
So, what did Yeshua/Jesus write in the ground? As I
mentioned earlier, since one of the themes of the feast of
tabernacles was JOY and WATER, many of the scriptures which speak
about water would have been read to the people during this time. With
this in mind, it is quite probably that what Yeshua/Jesus wrote in
the ground is given in Jeremiah 17:12-13 as it is written:
"A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our
santuary. O Lord the HOPE (4723 = Mikvah ... which is defined as: 'a
collection of water, pond") of Israel, all that FORSAKE thee shall
be ashamed, and they that DEPART from me shall be WRITTEN IN THE
EARTH because they have FORSAKEN the Lord, the FOUNTAIN OF LIVING
WATERS"
In John 8:8-9 it is written:
"And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. 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
along and the woman standing in the midst"
In this Yeshua/Jesus was teaching a Torah lesson. HE is
the LIVING WATER. HE is the righteous judge and ruler on Torah
issues. His accusers came with a wrong attitude in their accusation
for they came to "trap him" (John 8:4-5) rather than seeking
righteousness as Yeshua/Jesus taught in the passage and as Philip
explained above and recognizing that Yeshua / Jesus was/is the MIKVAH
(cleansing water) of Israel, they walked away one by one. They had
rejected the fountain of living waters as he wrote on the ground as
was written in Jeremiah 17:13.
I talk about this passage in my book, "The Seven
Festivals of the Messiah" in the chapter called, "Shemini Atzeret /
Simchat Torah".
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