In John 7, Jesus attended the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem. After He arrived, He spoke openly in the temple about His authority and that He came from the Father. As He spoke to them, they became increasingly hostile toward Him and sought to take Him and kill Him. John 7:30 says, “No one was able to lay a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.” Many of the people believed in Him because of the signs and miracles that He did. When the Pharisees and chief priest heard that the people were secretly praising and turning to Jesus, they sent officers to take Him, (John 7:32). While they were planning on taking Him, Jesus continued speaking to the people.
John 7:33-34 NKJV Then Jesus said to them, “I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me. You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come.”
Everyone was confused about what He was saying and could not understand where He was going. Then on the last day of the feast, Jesus stood in the midst of the people and boldly spoke.
John 7:37-38 NKJV On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
Belief in the Lord Jesus Christ should always lead to the soul-satisfying infilling of the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ words brought all kinds of responses and division from the people. Some thought He was the Christ and other people wanted to kill Him.
John 7:44 NKJV Now some of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on Him.
This verse seems to imply the officers that were sent to take Him. When they were questioned “Why have you not brought Him?”
John 7:46 NKJV The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like this Man!”
Jesus was causing quite a disturbance in their meeting. Nicodemus, who was a secret believer, was among the group of religious leaders. He said, “Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?” The rulers and the Pharisees continued debating about Jesus, without resolution.
John 7:53 NLT Then the meeting broke up and everybody went home.
John 8:1–2 NKJV But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 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.
Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
Jesus said, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” The Mount of Olives has a single peak of a two-mile long ridge that borders Jerusalem on the east. The Mount of Olives and Jerusalem are separated by the Kidron Valley, and it rises 300 feet above the city. The Mount of Olives was first mentioned in 2 Samuel 15:30, when David wept as he ascended from the Kidron Valley. The summit was called the place “where God is bowed down to.”
Zechariah 14:4 prophecies that the Mount of Olives will split in two under His feet, when Christ returns.
Ezekiel 11:23 says, “The glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain, which is on the east side of the city.”
Ezekiel 43:1-5 tells us, ‘His glory will return through the eastern gate from the direction of the Mount of Olives.’
It is understandable why Jesus spent so much time on the Mount of Olives.
Luke 21:37-38 NKJV And in the daytime He was teaching in the temple, but at night He went out and stayed on the mountain called Olivet. 38Then early in the morning all the people came to Him in the temple to hear Him.
This appears to be a pattern that the Lord followed. He would teach and minister to the people and then go to the Mount of Olives at night and pray and rest. Before He was betrayed, Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane at the foot of the Mount of Olives to pray.
John 8:2-6 NKJV 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. 5Now 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.
They really were not interested in what the woman was doing or judgment, restitution or obedience to the Law. They only did this to find a reason to accuse Him, but Jesus frustrated all of their attempts.
The scribes and Pharisees reminded Jesus of what the Law of Moses said.
Leviticus 20:10 NKJV 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.
Do you notice that they quoted only part of the Law? They said they caught a woman in the act of adultery, but they did not bring the man. They were selective in their judgment. They only saw what was wrong with people that offended their sensibilities. The text says, “They were doing this to test Jesus.” If He said: “Stone her,” He would be stepping out of His authority. If He defended her, He would appear to be immoral. What did Jesus do?
John 8:6 NKJV 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.
Jesus was not in a hurry to bring judgment. 2 Peter 3:9 explains why Jesus took this action.
2 Peter 3:9-10 NIV84 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief.
This covers all of the promises of God both to do good and bring blessing, and the promises to be just and bring judgment on the wicked.
When they came to Him, “He stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.” No one likes to be ignored, especially when they have set a trap. There is much speculation about what He was writing and why Jesus was doing it. We know Jesus heard them and that He was not ignoring the woman. We know that He was ready and able to give an answer.
There are several theories about what Christ wrote on the ground.
- He wrote the sins of the scribes and Pharisees.
- He wrote the Ten Commandments.
- He wrote a message to the Pharisees.
- He began writing the names and sins the accusers.
Whatever He wrote, it did not stop them.
John 8:7 NKJV 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.”
Think about this.
They had been watching what Jesus was doing. They knew the people who were involved in this sin. Over night, they were able to make plans to bring this woman before Jesus. There is something rotten about this whole situation. None of those involved were guiltless.
The Law gave specific guidelines for this judgment.
Deuteronomy 17:6-7 NKJV Whoever is deserving of death shall be put to death on the testimony of two or three witnesses; he shall not be put to death on the testimony of one witness. The hands of the witnesses shall be the first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall put away the evil from among you.
Jesus was leaving no room for speculation or gossip. He told the scribes and Pharisees, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”
John 8:8 NKJV And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.
What Jesus did cut deeply into their conscience. David told Solomon, “The Lord searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts,” (1 Chronicles 28:9).
John 8:9 NKJV 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.
One by one, they turned and walked out of the temple. Conviction causes people to do strange things. They forgot why they came and went out one by one. Notice the oldest responded first. They were stunned by His ability to get to them.
Who was this man they were dealing with?
1 Corinthians 3:19-20 NKJV For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their own craftiness”; and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.”
The scribes and Pharisees were snared and caught in their own trap. God knows everyone’s thoughts and nothing is secret or hidden from Him.
Luke 12:2-3 NKJV For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light…
Jesus was left alone with the woman. Only Jesus, the woman, and those He was teaching remained.
John 8:10 NKJV 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?”
“The Lord is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance,” (2 Peter 3:9). This woman was guilty when she was dragged into the Temple and was accused. Nothing is said that indicates her innocence.
Now, she is left alone before the Teacher.
Have you ever felt guilty and exposed before the Lord? What would He say to her? A guilty conscience assumes that God will bring judgment and wrath and not mercy. She had been in the hands of men who wanted to stone her to death. Now she is standing before the only pure and holy Christ.
Jesus said: “Where are your accusers?”
Malachi 3:2-3 NKJV “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire And like launderers’ soap. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver…”
When we come into the Lord’s courtroom, no other witness can stand. When we stand before Jesus, no one needs to say a thing. This woman was standing before the Light of the world. The Light exposes what is done in darkness. The Light exposes what is done behind closed doors.
Jesus knew everything about this woman.
What did Jesus say?
John 8:10-11 NKJV 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.”
What does that mean? “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”
- He did not say: “Your sins are forgiven.”
- He did not say: “You are innocent.”
- He did not say: “You are not worthy of stoning.”
This story is an example of John 3:16 in action.
John 3:16 NKJV For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
This is God’s grace, mercy and love being demonstrated upon the guilty. Jesus was not approving her former way of living. Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.” This is the mercy and love of God. If anyone had a right to condemn her, it was Jesus. Instead of condemning, He gave relief.
It is always good news when the Savior arrives. The guilty find mercy and pardon at the feet of Jesus. She was released from her condemnation and could go and live free from sin. This is exactly what God does for anyone through the grace and mercy that is extended through Jesus Christ.
