iouae
Well-known member
What are we supposed to deduce from the story of the woman caught in adultery?
1) That none of us are good enough to execute justice?
2) That the law is done away with, and that now we are under grace?
3) That one cannot suddenly enforce Biblical Law in a predominantly unbiblical society?
4) That Law and Grace exist in a state of tension which cannot be resolved?
Read Josephus [Flavius'] account of life in Judea at the time of Christ. It makes today's Western corruption look like a Sunday School picnic.
I think I have seen it all on TV but reading Josephus distresses me. Life then was putrid, evil, rotten. The Pharisees were no different.
With that background, this bunch of snakes bring a woman caught in adultery to Christ for the express purpose of catching Him out.
Adultery back then was as common as adultery today. The Pharisees had figured out that Jesus was REALLY progressive in his attitude towards, and treatment of women. They watched Him treat women with never-before seen respect, watched him have women friends, heard He healed a Gentile woman's son of a demon etc. Here they thought they had an Achilles heel. So they deliberately go seeking a sinful woman. There were so many, it was not hard to find one, and they may even have set her up since no man is brought before Him.
They want to get Jesus to speak against the OT law, and they hope his love and grace will get Him to deny the operation of the law in this case.
Jesus is aware of all of this.
The woman is thrown at His feet, probably with her dress in a state of disarray as she is trying to cover herself to look more modest.
Jesus knows He cannot deny or renounce His own law. What they do not know is that Justice rests on two pillars viz. Law AND Grace. Even today's legal system makes allowance for extenuating circumstances.
Jesus thus makes a qualifying statement. "Let him who is without sin among you cast the first stone" (John 8:7)
Jesus was not just stalling for time writing on the ground. He MUST [imho] have been writing the sins of each accuser in the dust, not necessarily the name of the accuser, but a sin only he knew about. This was like what Christ will do when He sits to judge the world. He started with the hidden sins of the most influential, who probably appeared the most righteous. This guy read his sin, and left convicted by his conscience and the next hypocrite stepped up to see what Christ was writing. Christ had erased the previous sin like an Etch-A-Sketch, and was busy writing the sins of the observing Pharisee without so much as looking up to see the face. Christ was shown the whole life of that sinner in an instant.
When all had left, Christ then exercised His discretion as the only one without sin - NOT to cast the first stone.
Notice His judgement was to "Go, and sin no more" (John 8:11). Thus Christ had confirmed the existence and penalty of the law as still in operation (by calling what she did a "sin"), while at the same time letting her off with a warning [don't we all love it when the traffic policeman does that to us? Do we ever question whether the traffic policeman has done away with the traffic laws by giving a warning?].
If Christ had just been doodling randomly, why would the most self-righteous brood of snakes ever, have had a conscience attack right then?
When Christ rules the earth, which I believe He will do at His return, during the 7th millennium, those surviving the Great Tribulation will gather around Him in Jerusalem, and begin living by all the OT laws, including Sabbath and Feast days. (Zech 14:16).
THEN when ALL are keeping all of the law, and some one in a thousand person commits adultery, they will probably be given a warning, and if they do it again, will be stoned. If it were a second offence, they might go straight to the stoning.
If we had to try to apply OT law to today's society, nobody would be left alive who had not committed a Biblical capital crime.
1) That none of us are good enough to execute justice?
2) That the law is done away with, and that now we are under grace?
3) That one cannot suddenly enforce Biblical Law in a predominantly unbiblical society?
4) That Law and Grace exist in a state of tension which cannot be resolved?
Read Josephus [Flavius'] account of life in Judea at the time of Christ. It makes today's Western corruption look like a Sunday School picnic.
I think I have seen it all on TV but reading Josephus distresses me. Life then was putrid, evil, rotten. The Pharisees were no different.
With that background, this bunch of snakes bring a woman caught in adultery to Christ for the express purpose of catching Him out.
Adultery back then was as common as adultery today. The Pharisees had figured out that Jesus was REALLY progressive in his attitude towards, and treatment of women. They watched Him treat women with never-before seen respect, watched him have women friends, heard He healed a Gentile woman's son of a demon etc. Here they thought they had an Achilles heel. So they deliberately go seeking a sinful woman. There were so many, it was not hard to find one, and they may even have set her up since no man is brought before Him.
They want to get Jesus to speak against the OT law, and they hope his love and grace will get Him to deny the operation of the law in this case.
Jesus is aware of all of this.
The woman is thrown at His feet, probably with her dress in a state of disarray as she is trying to cover herself to look more modest.
Jesus knows He cannot deny or renounce His own law. What they do not know is that Justice rests on two pillars viz. Law AND Grace. Even today's legal system makes allowance for extenuating circumstances.
Jesus thus makes a qualifying statement. "Let him who is without sin among you cast the first stone" (John 8:7)
Jesus was not just stalling for time writing on the ground. He MUST [imho] have been writing the sins of each accuser in the dust, not necessarily the name of the accuser, but a sin only he knew about. This was like what Christ will do when He sits to judge the world. He started with the hidden sins of the most influential, who probably appeared the most righteous. This guy read his sin, and left convicted by his conscience and the next hypocrite stepped up to see what Christ was writing. Christ had erased the previous sin like an Etch-A-Sketch, and was busy writing the sins of the observing Pharisee without so much as looking up to see the face. Christ was shown the whole life of that sinner in an instant.
When all had left, Christ then exercised His discretion as the only one without sin - NOT to cast the first stone.
Notice His judgement was to "Go, and sin no more" (John 8:11). Thus Christ had confirmed the existence and penalty of the law as still in operation (by calling what she did a "sin"), while at the same time letting her off with a warning [don't we all love it when the traffic policeman does that to us? Do we ever question whether the traffic policeman has done away with the traffic laws by giving a warning?].
If Christ had just been doodling randomly, why would the most self-righteous brood of snakes ever, have had a conscience attack right then?
When Christ rules the earth, which I believe He will do at His return, during the 7th millennium, those surviving the Great Tribulation will gather around Him in Jerusalem, and begin living by all the OT laws, including Sabbath and Feast days. (Zech 14:16).
THEN when ALL are keeping all of the law, and some one in a thousand person commits adultery, they will probably be given a warning, and if they do it again, will be stoned. If it were a second offence, they might go straight to the stoning.
If we had to try to apply OT law to today's society, nobody would be left alive who had not committed a Biblical capital crime.
