John 7:53-8:2 - The woman caught in adultery

7:53

In your Bible you will almost certainly see a note against 7:53-8:11, the famous casting the first stone incident. The reason for this is that the earliest manuscripts do not contain this passage. Later ones do, but even in these cases John 7:53-8:11 is not the only place it is found. In some cases it is found after John 7:36 or 21:25 or even in Luke’s gospel after 21:38. A very good discussion of the passage can be found by Chase Thompson. There are two key questions. The first is whether or not it should be part of John’s gospel. The answer to this seems to be probably not, though we cannot be absolutely certain. The second question is whether or not it is a genuine incident that occurred in Jesus’ life. The answer to this is almost certainly yes. There is very early reference to the incident and it reads as a true event.

8:1,2

So we will treat the text as if it does record a genuine event. It is certainly true that there is no theology that contradicts what the rest of the Bible and, in particular, the gospels say. In fact, it is entirely consistent with what we encounter in the rest of the gospels. So let’s see what we can learn. Jesus came to the temple and started teaching, and many people came to Him.