And the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the midst, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. “Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?” And they were saying this, testing Him, in order that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down, and with His finger wrote on the ground. But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” And again He stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And when they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the midst. And straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” And she said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go your way. From now on sin no more. (John 8:3-11)
This story has often been used to remind us that we are sinners as much as anyone else and we should not judge others.
Maybe you have also heard the saying, “Hate the sin, but love the sinner.” I think that this story is a good example of that. The Lord Jesus is our best example for how to have compassion on others without condoning wrong actions.
One day some men brought a woman to Jesus who was caught in the very act of 
adultery. Immediately a few questions come to mind:
1. We know from Jesus’ trial and crucifixion that the Jews were not allowed to execute anyone, so why were they asking Jesus whether or not the woman should be stoned?
2. If the woman was caught in the “very act” where was the man? Why wasn’t he brought forward to face the same death penalty as required in Leviticus 20:10?
3. If the so-righteous Pharisees and Jewish leaders were supposed to be avoiding places of sin, how did they find the woman and her partner? If she was a prostitute by profession, then the Pharisees should have been avoiding brothels. If she had been the man’s mistress, then that would have been a private affair. Who told on them? Was the man part of the set-up to try and discredit Jesus?
It is pretty obvious that the Jewish leaders were just looking for another way to trap Jesus. They knew that they could not carry out the stoning without going through a trial by a panel of rabbis and then by government officials. Jesus was not a religious or government official, so why were they asking Him?
What they really wanted to do was discredit the Lord Jesus. On the one hand, in those days there was so much of this type of sinning going on that the people were not unsympathetic with the woman involved. Jesus would look like a really mean person if He called for her stoning and many people would be alienated from Him.
On the other hand, if He said she should not be stoned, He would clearly be breaking the law of God. The Jewish leaders really thought they had Jesus in a no win situation this time. So, what did He do?
Jesus took a little time to write something in the dirt. We don’t know what it was. Was He just stalling a little to un-nerve the leaders? Did He write another verse maybe? How about Micah 6:8? (He has told you O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?) This would have been a good reminder to the leaders who were supposed to have known their Scriptures. “Doing justice and loving kindness” is another way of saying don’t condone wrong things, but be compassionate to others.
In any event, Jesus stymied the officials. He avoided their trap by telling them, “He who is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone” (John 8:7). Of course, no one can measure up to that standard. One by one the officials left.
There is another reason that they all left. The law had very strict requirements about the witnesses to a crime. In Deuteronomy 19:15-21 we read that witnesses were not to be malicious. By “malicious” God meant that the witnesses were not to be promoting violence with their testimony or perverting justice. False witnesses were to receive the punishment that they were seeking for the one they accused. Jesus is showing the leaders that He knows the law and He knows how to apply it. The leaders were the ones who were malicious. Their actions would not stand up to the scrutiny of the law. They left one by one. This may not have been because they were sorry for what they did, but because they were looking out for their own skins.
Then Jesus turned to the woman. He realized that the Jewish leaders had not cared one bit about her as a person. They just wanted to use her. They thought nothing of abusing a woman. Remember that they didn’t bring the man.
Jesus had compassion on all sinners. Jesus did not try to change the laws or customs of His times. He acted by example. He showed the leaders how they were supposed to treat women (and all wrongdoers).
While Jesus treated the woman with compassion, He did not let her get by with her sin. Clearly, she was a prostitute whether by choice, or by reason of destitution. By forgiving the woman and then telling her to “go and sin no more” Jesus was telling her to go and find a different way of life.
The woman was forgiven, but now she must put her faith in God and trust Him to provide for her. She is a lesson to us. We must never rationalize away our sins. We must obey God, even if it costs us something. Surely God is not capricious or mean. If He gave us laws to live by, He will take care of us so that we can live lives that are honoring to Him without sinning.
This story is important, because we see Jesus having compassion on women who may be victims. But He does not excuse sin. Many other times Jesus healed women who were demon possessed or sick. They were sinners, too. But the issue in those stories is how Jesus heals physical and spiritual infirmities. In this story, Jesus healed a wounded conscience. We’re not sure what happened to the woman after this. Hopefully, her repentance was unto faith and she followed Jesus for the rest of her life.
