I Encounter an Adulterous Woman

Meditations based on readings from

The Story of My Life As Told by Jesus Christ

October 23, 2019

I Encounter an Adulterous Woman

Page 159

John 8:1-11

Many years ago, I was preparing to serve as the spiritual director on a weekend retreat. Our text for today, the story of Jesus and the woman caught in adultery, was the theme for the retreat. I recall going to one of my favorite bibles (New English Bible, 1962) to read the text, only to find it wasn’t there. Chapter 8 began with Jesus saying “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12 NEB). I kept looking and found the episode added as an addendum at the end of the Gospel of John. Most modern Bibles insert the episode at the beginning of chapter 8 and add a note stating that ancient Greek manuscripts do not include the first eight verses of Chapter 8. I am not sure when the episode first appeared in scripture, whether at the beginning of Chapter 8, or in other places, but the episode is entirely consistent with Jesus as portrayed in all four Gospels, and I have no doubt the story is authentic.

In today’s passage, the religious leaders manufacture an incident in an attempt to paint Jesus into a corner. Would Jesus condone sin and thus prove he is not the Messiah, or would he side with the law and risk alienating the masses. Jesus chose neither option. Instead, he demonstrated that as the Messiah, he did in fact have the wisdom of a true King. (Like that of King Solomon when he famously settled the issue between two women of who was the true mother of the child. (1Kings 3: 16-28))

When Jesus told the woman he did not condemn her, he was saying he forgave her. He was not saying her sin did not matter. He was saying his grace was greater than her sin. To receive his grace, and to live in his grace, meant that she would go forth with an ambition to sin no more.

The British historian Lord Acton noted that, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” He could easily have picked Chapter 8 in John’s Gospel to prove his point, as Chapter 8 begins with the religious leaders wanting to stone to death a woman and ends with these same religious leaders wanting to stone Jesus to death. This also proves the Apostle Paul’s point that all people are under the power of sin. (Romans 3:9)  Of course we could also look at our own national politics where ruling parties do all in their power to malign and destroy their opposition, but that would be like shooting fish in a barrel.

My Takeaway: Before I begin to feel a bit smug because I’m not among the ruling class, I need to remember that Paul’s reference to “all people” includes me. What if I had been among those condemning the woman? I wonder if I would have been one of the first to drop my stone.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Copyright © 2019 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

• Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

• The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.