The Good News - We Are All Precious and Beloved in God’s Sight

John 8:2-11; Matthew 23:23

Last week, Lynne Roberts, who is one of the cast members in the show I am in, “OLLI, OLLI OXEN-FREE!”, was struggling with one of her lines. It was near the end of the show, and she said, “To everything, there is a season”… Then she blanked on the rest. Then the rest of the cast all chimed in, singing “Turn, turn, turn!’ remembering that great song by the Byrds released in 1965 based on the scripture passage from Ecclesiastes 3. (Ecc .3:1-8)

I remembered how much I loved that song growing up in the 1960s and how I used to sing along. When the line in the song came, “A time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones together,” As a child, I assumed the idea was gathering stones to help build a home or put up a wall or… how wrong I was. Today’s passage reminds us of the stark meaning of that line, and of the legality of stoning someone to death back in Jesus’ day.

We are drawing closer to Holy Week, which focuses on Jesus’ ministry being increasingly at odds with the religious leaders of the day in Jerusalem, the scribes and Pharisees. These leaders honored tradition and followed the established laws, while Jesus focused on mercy, God’s justice, and love.

As we mentioned regarding scribes and the Pharisees, it is important for us not to cast all of Jewish law as legalistic or rigid. In fact, much of the law of Moses was meant to draw others closer to God. Jesus challenged some of those laws that were unjust, unmerciful, or unloving.

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail addresses this discrepancy in the interpretation of laws. In part of the letter, he offers a lengthy explanation of the difference between just and unjust laws. He writes: “One may well ask, ‘How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?’ The answer is found in the fact that there are two types of laws: there are just laws, and there are unjust laws. . . Any law that uplifts humans is just. Any law that degrades humans is unjust.” Jesus reinterpreted or challenged those laws that degraded human beings, who were created in God’s image.

While the scribes and Pharisees in this scene are focused on legalism, following the letter of the law, Jesus is focused on transformation—for the woman caught in adultery, and also for every person present at the spectacle. Let us take a closer look at this morning’s passage from John to see how Jesus’ actions bring us Good News.

First, I have a confession to make about this passage. I have never preached upon it. In addition, many websites that provide background on scriptures, known as exegesis (We used to call it EXTRA Jesus in seminary), have nothing to offer on this passage. My seminary training always viewed it skeptically. For you see, it is not considered to be part of the original canon of scripture. Most Biblical scholars note that this story appears to be a later addition to the Gospels, likely dating to around 400 C.E., and that some of its language is more consistent with the Gospel of Luke than with John.

Yet this story has served as an example of mercy and redemption in the church’s preaching and teaching for centuries. It also reflects the relationship Jesus had with those whom polite society labeled “sinners.” Matthew, the sinful tax collector, became a disciple. A sinful woman anointed Jesus’ feet with costly lotion. He went to dinner with Zacchaeus, also a sinful tax collector. So, regardless of when it was added, it has connections to what Jesus taught and how he related with others. Now off we go into uncharted territory (at least for me😉)

The setting for this morning’s main passage of scripture is the temple of Jerusalem, in the outer courts of the temple near one of the entrance gates. Roman guards were stationed at those entrances, keeping the peace and ensuring no incidents occurred during an important high and holy festival known as the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths. This was a late-fall festival in mid-October, a time for the faithful to commemorate God’s care for them in the wilderness. So, the temple was packed with people on a holy pilgrimage. Just before the events at the temple, some of the scribes and Pharisees had sent officers of the temple to arrest Jesus (John 7:32). However, they refused to do so because of how Jesus spoke about God’s mercy and love.

The religious leaders were looking for another way to trap and, hopefully, arrest him. Hence, this morning’s scene at the temple. They believed he could not answer accusations against a woman caught in the act of adultery without setting himself up for danger.

First, let us consider the woman. Was she a sinner? Possibly. Could she have been set up by her lover, or by someone who knew of their encounter? That certainly is possible. And, where is the man in this story? Apparently, he left the scene, while the woman, a pawn to be used against Jesus to try to trap him, was dragged before him into the temple courtyard. Author Sarah Bessey, in looking at this passage, writes, “So where is that guy in this story? Why wasn’t he arrested and dragged into the temple in front of God and everybody to face judgment if they were so passionate about keeping the law? Well, I think we all know the answer to that question, and it starts with “P” and ends with “atriarchy.” Surprise, surprise!”

Whether she was set up by her partner to be betrayed or was an innocent pawn for a larger scheme to trap Jesus, she is an example of countless thousands of women. Biblical scholar Kenneth E. Bailey writes, “Some form of this woman’s story has been played out for centuries by countless thousands of women. All those around her, except Jesus, are indifferent to her suffering. She has no opportunity to tell her story or explain what happened.” She was a woman with no one to stand up for her, a nameless adulteress to be used to trap Jesus. How was it that the religious leaders of the day planned to ensnare Jesus?

Basically, Jesus is left with three options.

1. He can agree with the law of Moses to stone her, which was not allowed. As it states in John 18:31, with Jesus’ trial before Pontius Pilate, the Jewish people were not allowed to carry out any public executions. Allowing this to occur would have certainly gotten the attention of the Roman soldiers.
2. He could have said, “I wish I could follow the law of Moses, but our Roman occupiers will not allow us to follow it.” This would place Jesus in direct opposition to following the laws of Moses, the founder of the Hebrew faith, and a nod to the power of the hated Roman oppressors.
3. He could forgive her and let her go, which would also have shown a lack of respect for the law, and the crowds were likely gearing up for a stoning, ready to wag their fingers at a sinner. Their reaction would not have been kind to Jesus or to the woman.

Again, Bailey writes, “ If Jesus decides to carry out the law of Moses, he will be arrested. If he opts to set it aside, he will be discredited. What is it going to be: Moses or Rome? Either way, he loses, and his opponents win.” There should be no win for Jesus in this situation. The trap has been set.

Then Jesus bends down and draws in some dirt. Why did he do this, and what did he write? Some theologians have suspected he began writing down the sins of those around him, or that he wrote out the law from Deuteronomy on stoning someone and then erased it symbolically, or that he was perhaps contemplating how to make God’s light shine in a tense situation. We do not know what he wrote, but this pause in this tense moment disarmed the mob and silenced the woman’s accusers.

Jesus does not question the woman. Jesus sees her as a human being, created in God’s image, precious and beloved. Despite her position, Jesus does not forget that part. That is also true for us! Despite losing sight of what truly matters, despite clinging tighter to laws than to each other or to God, we are seen as precious and beloved! Jesus sees us in this way as well, whatever sins we may be caught in, whatever our position in life. So, our first bit of Good News this morning is this. We Are All Precious and Beloved in God’s Sight!

Surprisingly, Jesus instead questions the crowds and her accusers. Jesus invites those gathered, as well as the scribes and Pharisees, to see their own sin and to begin life anew in the present moment. He focuses on mercy, justice, and faith, and offers a transformative moment to all around him. “The sinless one among you, go first. Throw the stone,” he says. Jesus shifts the spotlight onto their sinful behavior. As Paul reminds us, “All of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.” (Romans 3:23)

Jesus instantly teaches everyone in this scene about judgment, sin, and mercy. The crowd, the scribes, and Pharisees are convicted of their own sinfulness, yet given the opportunity for transformation through Christ’s teaching, as well as his example in how he treated the woman afterwards. And the woman who, as theologian Jennifer Garcia Bashaw rightly says, is “representative of so many women who have become sexual scapegoats for religious groups, is no longer the sinner in the story. The accusers and their mob-in-the-making now condemn themselves as they walk away.”

The only ones left at the scene are Jesus and the woman. I imagine Jesus bending down quietly, gently to this woman who may’ve still been cowering in the dirt, waiting for her death. He asks her,  “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, sir.” I imagine she must have felt relieved and blessed at the same time. Bessey writes, “She isn’t collateral damage. Not in God’s eyes. There is never a worthwhile trade of suffering for the greater good in the Kingdom of God. Every life has value, including hers.” This is an echo of that Good News for us - EVERY life has value and is precious in God’s sight.

Nor did Jesus continue the trial about her sin and guilt. Instead, he states, “I do not condemn you either.” Jesus was given the role of judge in the story, and he declares her “Not guilty.” The trumped-up charges have no merit. She is safe, at least for now.

His last words to her, “GO, and sin no more,” have been interpreted to suggest she was guilty of adultery, and perhaps she was. I think, personally, that Jesus knew he had offended those in power, and that there is a target on her back that wasn’t there before. I think Jesus’ words here are meant as a warning. “Be careful around those in power, because you are on their list.” Jesus was offering wisdom for her future as she left the scene.

I am thankful that I have finally preached on this passage, for it teaches us to drop our stones and focus on our own repentance (That is, turning back to God). At times in our lives, we too are the scribes and Pharisees, the crowd looking for vengeance, focusing on law and judgment. It also reminds us that at times we, too, are like the woman, and that no matter our situation, we are precious and beloved in God’s sight.

Through this story, Jesus offers us transformation as well. He teaches us to see others as God sees us, through the eyes of mercy, and to be transformed into people who share that mercy with others. That is by no means an easy task in a merciless world. Rev. Lizzie Mc Manus Dail writes, “It’s not that I think practicing mercy is particularly easy. I doubt Jesus would talk so much about forgiveness and mercy if it were easy—God tends to repeat what we struggle to listen to…Mercy does not make us money or make us look good. But mercy is what makes us God’s own.”

As we go from this place, may we remember our belovedness and be bearers of the mercy, offering Good News to the world around us. Amen.