Manchaca UMC

Week 8- “Neither do I condemn you.” (John 8:11)

John’s story of the woman caught in adultery is well known to most Christians. But did you know that many scholars argue that the story was not originally part of the Gospel of John? They note that many ancient manuscripts omit 7:53-8:11 (your Bible may reflect this in the notes) and that the story flows seamlessly from 7:52 to 8:12. Nevertheless, I believe this story ended up in the right place. Chapter 7 deals with the Feast of Sukkot (Tabernacles). Sukkot remembers God’s care of the people in the Wilderness. It also became a time where people prayed for rain everyday for the week. Two more details to note: it is at this festival where Jesus calls out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink” (7:37), and also Josephus, the ancient historian, reports that large lamps were lit so that “the night was as bright as the day!”

As a result of this light the party went on all night. Apparently in the midst of partying on the last night, a man and woman make a bad decision resulting in adultery. This woman, not the man, is brought before Jesus for him to render a verdict. Stoning (of both parties) was commanded in the law. It is a trap. Rome doesn’t allow the Jews to carry out the sentence. So Jesus writes on the ground before inviting the ones without sin to cast the first stone. Theories abound as to what he is writing - if anything. Some suggest that just as Roman judges wrote the sentence before delivering it, he was writing his verdict. I think a look at Jeremiah 17:13 could help: “Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the Lord, the spring of LIVING WATER.” He’s writing the names of the accusers, who are turning from the Lord by their judgmental attitude. No wonder they walk away.

We should also note that hospitality was, and is, a theme of Sukkot. They did not show hospitality to the woman, just as they had not shown hospitality to Jesus. In the next verse, as we can imagine the great lamps were being extinguished, Jesus announces, “I am the Light of the World.” (8:12) This leads me to conclude that to the extent I am condemning of others, I am still living in darkness!

~David