SUMMARY OF JOHN 8:1-11
The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery to Jesus. The teachers of the law asked Jesus if this woman should be stoned as commanded in the Law of Moses.
Jesus wrote in the ground and said “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”
Everyone went away and Jesus said he did not condemn her and told her to leave her life of sin.
BSF Study Questions John’s Gospel: The Truth Lesson 12, Day 2: John 8:1-11
3a) The religious leaders were desperate. They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him, so they could kill him.
b) Jesus is omniscient, wise, full of compassion, and forgiving. He loves everyone.
4a) Because we all like to think we are good people and do the right thing, when we are all sinners and fall, too. It somehow makes us feel better to accuse others and think we are better than others.
b) Do what Jesus commands: Don’t throw a stone when I’m a sinner, too. Be less quick to judge and quicker to love.
5) Jesus just wants the best for us. When we confess our sins, he forgives us and wishes us well and to follow in his footsteps.
Conclusions BSF Study Questions John’s Gospel: The Truth Lesson 12, Day 2: John 8:1-11
Great reminder of how we are all full of sin and should be less judging of others.
End Notes BSF Study Questions John’s Gospel: The Truth Lesson 12, Day 2: John 8:1-11
This story has been debated by Bible scholars for centuries on if it really occurred or not or if it is part of the Gospel of John. This is because it it omitted in many early manuscripts of the Bible.
Yet, the story seems to reflect what Jesus would actually do, so many Bible studies believe it is true.
This scene is placed here after the Feast of Tabernacles (John 7:37), and Jesus is still teaching in the temple.
Bringing the woman out in public was to embarrass her and Jesus.
Note the man whom the woman was with is missing here.
While a woman could be stoned for adultery, in all practicality, no one was. The rules were extremely strict in order to establish guilt.
If Jesus said the woman should go free, he would break the Law of Moses. If he condemned her, he’d seem cruel and break Roman law since they were the only ones allowed to execute.
The woman was being used as a pawn; Jesus would have none of it.
Jesus’ stooping is him identifying with the woman. No one knows what he wrote.
Witnesses to the crime would have to throw the first stone. All were convicted by their conscience and left with the oldest first (Bible scholars are unsure why).
In sum, Jesus took her sin and bid her to sin no more.
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