It is generally agreed that this incident did not appear hear in the original gospel. However, it is also regarded to be an authentic account of an incident that did happen, and certainly rings true.
It was normal for teachers to sit down to teach, unlike today where we normally stand. Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, and the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law brought in a woman. She had been caught in the act of adultery. Jewish law was quite strict, that there had actually to be witnesses, rather than just circumstantial evidence. However, an immediate question is where was the man?
The Jews wanted to trap Jesus. The Romans forbad the Jews from executing people, so Jesus could be either accused of rebellion against the Romans, or of ignoring the Law of Moses (which, by the way, demanded the stoning of the man as well).
Jesus bent down and started to write in the ground. There have been various speculations as to what He was writing, but speculations is all they are, and since the Bible does not tell us, then we are probably best not to waste our time trying to guess what He wrote. In fact, He may well have just been ignoring the Jews, or implying that He really wasn't interested in the matter.
The Jews persisted, and so Jesus said "let him who is without sin cast the first stone". Sin here is a general term, and does not necessarily refer to adultery. The people all drifted away.
Jesus then addresses the woman for the first time, and tells her to stop sinning.
People often use this incident as a pretext for refusing to define any behaviour as sin, but to do so is to misuse this passage. The key message is that our first concern must be our own sin. Jesus clearly agreed that the woman was in the wrong, but He came to heal the sinner, not to condemn. The Jews on the other hand were using the woman as a pawn in their game of seeking to trap Jesus.
It was normal for teachers to sit down to teach, unlike today where we normally stand. Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, and the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law brought in a woman. She had been caught in the act of adultery. Jewish law was quite strict, that there had actually to be witnesses, rather than just circumstantial evidence. However, an immediate question is where was the man?
The Jews wanted to trap Jesus. The Romans forbad the Jews from executing people, so Jesus could be either accused of rebellion against the Romans, or of ignoring the Law of Moses (which, by the way, demanded the stoning of the man as well).
Jesus bent down and started to write in the ground. There have been various speculations as to what He was writing, but speculations is all they are, and since the Bible does not tell us, then we are probably best not to waste our time trying to guess what He wrote. In fact, He may well have just been ignoring the Jews, or implying that He really wasn't interested in the matter.
The Jews persisted, and so Jesus said "let him who is without sin cast the first stone". Sin here is a general term, and does not necessarily refer to adultery. The people all drifted away.
Jesus then addresses the woman for the first time, and tells her to stop sinning.
People often use this incident as a pretext for refusing to define any behaviour as sin, but to do so is to misuse this passage. The key message is that our first concern must be our own sin. Jesus clearly agreed that the woman was in the wrong, but He came to heal the sinner, not to condemn. The Jews on the other hand were using the woman as a pawn in their game of seeking to trap Jesus.
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