The Gospel of John for Tumultuous Times 8

photo by Michael Benz (unsplash)

 John 7:53-8:11  Expecting Better

The footnotes at the bottom of the page in my Bible tell me that not all ancient authorities include this story of a woman charged with adultery in the gospel.  You might conclude, therefore, that it is not an incident from Jesus’ life but one that someone made up and added later.  Or you could conclude that some ancient copiers were so scandalized by Jesus’ actions in this story that they chose not to include it.  I prefer the second explanation.  The preservation of the text was always in the hands of the powerful ones, the educated ones who could read and write, the wealthy ones who had the time and access to ink and papyri so they could copy the text by hand, word for word, almost.  What would these powerful ones (likely men) have to gain by making up this story?  Why would it even occur to them to make it up?  What would they have to gain by leaving it out?

In our time and culture where we are approaching equality between men and women, it is hard to understand just how radical Jesus’ words and actions were.  The case was clear; a woman had been caught in the act of adultery and deserved the punishment prescribed by the law, stoning.  The scribes and Pharisees saw this as an opportunity to test Jesus’ faithfulness to God’s law.  It is important to acknowledge that while we may see some moral ambiguity in the case, they would not.  Jesus initial response was to write in the sand.  He didn’t hurry towards an answer.  His answer challenged not the law but their righteousness in administering it. 

I know nothing about the dispute going on in the Rogers family but when I heard that Ed Rogers was friendly with Donald Trump, I immediately put him into my condemned folder.  He may belong there and I do worry if someone who thinks and acts like Trump controls our largest communication company but who am I to condemn someone I do not even know for having an association I know nothing about?  I can be pharisaic in my eagerness to condemn. 

Was Jesus naïve in telling the woman that he did not condemn her and yet he expected her future actions to be free from sin?  If we expect people, even those who have failed in the past, to live lives of peace and justice will they live up to our expectations?  Is not condemning someone’s actions the same as forgiving them?  Can our expectations and the examples we set actually change how people act?  I have to believe that they can.  And perhaps, they can do that without our condemnations.