John 7:53-8:11 (NRSV)
Read John 7:53-8:11 on biblegateway.com
Verse 53Then each of them went home,
Chapter 8while Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Verse 2Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them. Verse 3The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, Verse 4they said to him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Verse 5Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" Verse 6They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. Verse 7When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." Verse 8And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. Verse 9When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Verse 10Jesus straightened up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" Verse 11She said, "No one, sir." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again."
Devotion
In our oldest and most reliable manuscripts of the Gospel of John, this story of the woman caught in adultery is not included. Yet it is a compelling and familiar tale that has even become part of our cultural language whoever has not sinned, cast the first stone. And, we wonder, is it the sins of the scribes and Pharisees that Jesus writes with his finger in the ground, as some ancient authorities believed? What exactly did Jesus trace in the dirt? Perhaps we can imagine our own sin -— of condemnation, of judgment, of ridicule. In doing so, we confess our sin -— against God, against Jesus, against those who need our love and forgiveness.
Prayer
God of forgiveness, we pray we hear your words, “Go your way.” For in your love and grace for us, you have freed us from judging others ... and judging ourselves. Amen.