CAUGHT IN THE ACT
“But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn He appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around Him, and He sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?’ John 8:2-5 (NIV).
How convenient! Just when they needed some way of catching Jesus out on some (perceived) breach of the Law, one (or some) of them “happened” to come across this woman in a little liaison. Would these guys stop at nothing to nail Him? Makes you wonder, doesn’t it! Was this woman part of their trap? Were they willing to sacrifice her to get their way? And what of the male member of the conspiracy? Where was he? It takes two to tango.
In this whole debacle, what kind of a god were the religious leaders representing? Was this the God who rescued them from slavery in Egypt; the God who led them; cared for them; protected them; fed them and entered into a marriage covenant with them in the wilderness and gave them the Promised Land? Is this the God who taught them about loving Him and loving their neighbour as themselves? Was God’s Law intended to turn them into monsters or to show the world what kind of God He really is, gracious, compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love and faithfulness?
Jesus was, along with rabbis Hillel and Shammai who preceded Him, a rabbi with authority. How often did the common people not wonder at His authority because He showed, them by His words and works, the true nature of God, and they marvelled! The other rabbis perpetuated the tradition of a God of law and justice who wreaked vengeance on those who stepped outside the Law, especially the way they interpreted the Law. They made a fetish of the Law and twisted the nature of God to suit their distorted version.
Jesus’ yoke was unlike theirs. He portrayed a God of mercy and compassion, one who was on the side of the poor and oppressed. He was not out to destroy but to restore. He had forgiveness and mercy for those who repented and healing for the sick in body and mind. His kingdom was built on love, God’s limitless and unconditional love for all people, and man’s love for each other because all barriers had been removed.
The Jewish leaders hated Jesus because He made God too nice. It didn’t suit them because a “nice” God took away their power to control the people through fear, and stripped away their cloak of hypocrisy.
How insensitive these men were! Imagine them dragging this poor, half naked wretch in front of Jesus, flinging her down on the ground and loudly demanding that He pronounce His “Guilty!” verdict on her or else…! ‘Come on, Jesus. We caught her IN THE ACT! Moses said we must stone her. What do you say?’ They were confident that they had Him. If He showed mercy to her, He would be deliberately acting against the Law of Moses. If He agreed to their stoning her, He would be applying their yoke, not His own. He would be going against His own authority and bowing to theirs.
Was Jesus caught off guard? Would He have an answer that would vindicate Him and be merciful to the poor victim who lay trembling on the ground, waiting to hear her fate?
I can imagine the self-satisfied grins on the faces of these men as they looked at one another in triumph. ‘We’ve got Him now,’ they must have thought. ‘There’s no way that He can wriggle out of this one!’ In full view of their audience of people eager to listen to the gracious teaching of the rabbi whom they admired and followed with expectation and enthusiasm, they waited for their answer.
But they didn’t know Jesus. He knew exactly how their minds worked. There was one small part of the Law they had forgotten…
Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.