John 8:1-3 - Adultery

8:1,2

Most of the people returned to their own homes, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives, presumably to pray. As it is placed in John this happened after the previous discourse, but as we have seen we cannot actually be sure when this incident occurred.

The next day He went to the temple, sat down and began to teach them. Sitting down was the normal position in those days for teaching. It is worth noting how important teaching is in Jesus’ ministry. John puts great emphasis on it, but the same point comes out in other gospels. For instance in Mark’s gospel look at 1:21, 1:38, 3:14 and 6:30. We need to learn, that is why God teaches. If you look in the Psalms where David is crying out to God, very often his prayer is “Lord teach me your ways”, eg Psalm 25:4,5; Psalm 86:11. When we are in trouble the Lord’s answer will often be to teach us. We always want the circumstances to change, but often it is us that need to change. And when we do change, when we start thinking and acting differently, in a more Christlike manner, we find that the way through becomes clear.

8:3

The teachers of the Law brought in the woman caught in adultery. This is the only place in John where the term “teachers of the Law” is used, though it is used several times in the synoptic gospels. This lends further support to the idea that this was not originally part of John’s gospel.

Adultery was (and is!) a sin. Under the Law the penalty was death (Lev 20:10; Deut 22:22). This raises some questions. One is how they managed to catch her in the act? More seriously is where is the man? It takes two to commit adultery yet only the woman is brought forward here. So in their supposed zeal for the Law the teachers of the Law were themselves neglecting half of the Law! We should not be surprised at this. There are various groups today that supposedly promote equality or tolerance, but it is always a highly uneven equality, and they are usually the most intolerant people on earth.