“Too good to miss out on”

By Rev. Michael Stonhouse

Meditation – Tuesday, February 6, 2024

John 8:1-11 (Forward, p. 8) CEV p. 1111

Today’s passage certainly stokes a storm of controversy—and, in some, a sense of disquiet. That is because the earliest New Testament manuscripts were not of one voice about where this passage should be located. In some manuscripts it was placed after John 7:36 or John 21:25. And in some it was not in John’s Gospel at all, but in Luke, following Luke 21:38. Such a discrepancy can give some Bible literalists, those who believe that the Bible was dictated, as is, by the hand of God, the real willy-nillies. But, if one holds that the Bible is still inspired, still the infallible, inerrant word of God, but was composed through rational, human processes, then this is no problem. God is simply working through human agents to accomplish the same thing.

And so, what this discrepancy says is this: the compilers of the Scriptures had this ‘stray’ story at hand, out of place as it were, and so weren’t quite sure where it belonged. But they were all in agreement that it was simply too good, too important, to leave out. They all agreed that it was certainly part of the inspired word of God. This was the Church’s decision, an inspired one I believe, and so I stand by it.

So, what is just so very important about this particular story? It is an account of Jesus dealing with a rather ticklish situation, a situation where a woman has been ‘caught’ in the very act of adultery with a married man., but I would suggest that it is far more than that. I would suggest that it clearly shows several things about Jesus and about His attitude to religion and life:

a) Firstly, that He prizes life over death. The woman, by virtue of what the Law of Moses pontificates, should have been stoned to death for her misdeed.

b) Secondly, that He assigns mercy a higher place than a rigid interpretation of the law, that love for one’s fellow and care for his or her well-being is more important than rules and regulations.

c) Thirdly, that He is well-aware of the perversity of sin, and of its

universal scope. As Paul says in his letter to the Romans, “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

That is Jesus could have so confidently challenged His listeners,

‘Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone.’ All of them knew

all too well that none of them, under this rubric, qualified to stone her, much less cast the first stone.

d) Fourthly, that He treated all people equally and gave all people a kind of quiet and untrumpeted dignity. One might well have wondered where the man was, the married man who was her co-conspirator in this deed, was in this sad little scenario. Does it not take two to tango? Why was she ‘picked on’ and not him? And what was anyone doing spying on them and then choosing to pick on her alone? There is something rather fishy here, and it certainly doesn’t bespeak of according her any dignity or worth!

But Jesus sees her as a person, and a person of worth.

e) And finally, it reveals to us that Jesus is always ready and willing, always happy, to give us a second chance, a new start. After all, He didn’t countenance her sin and misdoing, but invited her to start again. ‘Go and sin no more’ is how He lovingly dismissed her. From here, it was entirely up to her, as it is with each of us.

And so I can see why the compilers of the Scriptures—and the early Church—saw such value in this story. Here we see some aspects of Jesus, His ministry, and His attitudes that we would do well to imitate in our own lives and work. Thanks be to God.

Forward notes: “Jesus straightened up and said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, ‘No one, sir.’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.’” (verses 10-11).

“This passage is so well known that it’s a challenge—a holy challenge, a healthy challenge—to read it again with carefully detached eyes so that I don’t simply ascribe the popular meaning to it. Here, Jesus is showing us how we should live as faithful people. He holds up a mirror to the stone throwers. He is the champion who stands up with the woman, every time.

“Jesus washed this woman of all her sin—not because he thinks she’s an adulteress but because we are all sinful. This is the Jesus I follow—the

one who asks us to examine our motives and hypocrisies, who calls us to extend mercy and grace to others. Jesus knows that the true heart of the matter isn’t about why the Pharisees dragged her into this scenario. It’s about the fact that she’s been personally transformed.”

Moving Forward: “When have you been the woman in this story? When have you been the stone thrower?”

A concluding note: the passage never says that she has been transformed, but simply leaves it up in the air. We would hope that this took place, given what Jesus has done for her, but we cannot know for sure. It is her choice, and hers alone. And so it is with each of us who have experienced God’s grace and forgiveness: it is up to us what we do with it. This indeed is something far too good for any of us to ‘miss out on.’