‘But What Do You Say?’

25/4/2021

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.
[John 8:2-8 NKJV]

This passage has a number of significant points shown, some of which we have touched on before ...

Now early in the morning ...
Many important events in the Bible — including the discovery of the ‘stone rolled away’ from Jesus tomb, occur ‘early in the morning’. The significance of this perhaps is that the event occurs at what we would term ‘first light’ and maybe is a spiritual marker of a moment of revelation, when we can ‘see the light’.

this woman was caught in adultery
This, of course, was a serious matter, and the Pharisees sought to trap Jesus in a doctrinal mistake to accumulate evidence against Him. They hoped perhaps that He would defy the law of Moses and show Himself to be a false prophet. However, Jesus would not be so easily baited.

But what do you say?
Jesus response was to turn the question back on His accusers, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” Jesus is too wise for such a ruse. This is another way of saying ‘Judge not that ye be not judged.’

Jesus ... wrote upon the ground
Why did Jesus stoop down and write or draw on the ground with His finger? A lot of speculation and discussion has arisen on this point. For what it is worth, my feeling is that, as Jesus was in the temple, He was ‘taking a moment’ to be in connection with the Father by touching Holy Ground

go and sin no more
But whatever the reason, Jesus’ purpose was to bring sinners to repentance and salvation, not to heap on condemnation. ‘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.”’