Advent Devotional for December 6, 2006; John 7:53-8:11
This story is certainly one of the most beautiful, and grace-filled, stories in the New Testament. Jesus looks at a woman who has been caught in adultery. There is no doubt as to her guilt or the facts of the situation. She is simply, totally, guilty. And some Pharisees drag her before Jesus and say, “Moses said when we caught women in adultery, we were to stone them. What do you say?” As the Pharisees often did, they tried to drive a wedge between the ancient Hebrew religious tradition and Jesus. They wanted to show that he was a false teacher, that he was essentially different than Moses.
But Jesus did what he often did: he put the question back to the Pharisees. He said, “I think the one who is perfect among you, the one who has never sinned, should be the one to cast the first stone.” And, one by one, the crowd ambles off, until it is only Jesus and the woman remaining behind. And Jesus says, “Isn’t anyone left to condemn you?” “No one.” “Then neither do I condemn you,” says Jesus; “go and sin no more.”
Now there’s just one problem with this text: it likely was not in the book of John in its original format. Most Bibles note this somehow, with brackets or an asterisk. Yet even though it may not have been in the original book, we can be fairly certain it is historical. It was part of the collection of oral stories passed around about Jesus; various other books written shortly after the book of John talk about the story, and so we can safely say it was one of the stories people told about Jesus, even though it may not have been in the Bible originally.
So why was this story not in the original text of the Bible? It’s impossible to know for sure. But St. Augustine, who lived in the fourth and fifth centuries, may give us a hint. He claims that it was left out, among other reasons, “to avoid scandal.”
Augustine basically says that John left this story out because it showed Jesus being almost scandalously gracious. Here was a woman who had been caught, no doubt, doing something wrong, something understood to deserve stoning, and he let her off scot-free? Sure, he warned her not to sin like this anymore, but come on? No punishment at all? If people saw how gracious Jesus was, they might just take advantage of his grace and keep on sinning. So, Augustine believed that John left it out because he didn’t want people getting the wrong idea and taking advantage of Jesus.
I’m glad that later scribes saved the story and put it in, even if it doesn’t make much sense right here in the book of John. I’m glad because I worship a God who is scandalously gracious, who once saw me accused and rescued me with sheer, undeserved grace, and gave me the hope that I could go and change my ways. I’m glad because I know Jesus to be that kind of person, one who stands right by those who want to be changed by God and gives them the strength and dignity to do it without fear of condemnation.
And I’m even more glad that, if John did try to suppress this scandal, he could not do it completely. For what we see here in part, we see in full on the cross, as the bleeding Christ says, “Forgive them, Father; they do not know what they are doing.”
A scandal of grace: this is the kind of scandal I could get used to.
But Jesus did what he often did: he put the question back to the Pharisees. He said, “I think the one who is perfect among you, the one who has never sinned, should be the one to cast the first stone.” And, one by one, the crowd ambles off, until it is only Jesus and the woman remaining behind. And Jesus says, “Isn’t anyone left to condemn you?” “No one.” “Then neither do I condemn you,” says Jesus; “go and sin no more.”
Now there’s just one problem with this text: it likely was not in the book of John in its original format. Most Bibles note this somehow, with brackets or an asterisk. Yet even though it may not have been in the original book, we can be fairly certain it is historical. It was part of the collection of oral stories passed around about Jesus; various other books written shortly after the book of John talk about the story, and so we can safely say it was one of the stories people told about Jesus, even though it may not have been in the Bible originally.
So why was this story not in the original text of the Bible? It’s impossible to know for sure. But St. Augustine, who lived in the fourth and fifth centuries, may give us a hint. He claims that it was left out, among other reasons, “to avoid scandal.”
Augustine basically says that John left this story out because it showed Jesus being almost scandalously gracious. Here was a woman who had been caught, no doubt, doing something wrong, something understood to deserve stoning, and he let her off scot-free? Sure, he warned her not to sin like this anymore, but come on? No punishment at all? If people saw how gracious Jesus was, they might just take advantage of his grace and keep on sinning. So, Augustine believed that John left it out because he didn’t want people getting the wrong idea and taking advantage of Jesus.
I’m glad that later scribes saved the story and put it in, even if it doesn’t make much sense right here in the book of John. I’m glad because I worship a God who is scandalously gracious, who once saw me accused and rescued me with sheer, undeserved grace, and gave me the hope that I could go and change my ways. I’m glad because I know Jesus to be that kind of person, one who stands right by those who want to be changed by God and gives them the strength and dignity to do it without fear of condemnation.
And I’m even more glad that, if John did try to suppress this scandal, he could not do it completely. For what we see here in part, we see in full on the cross, as the bleeding Christ says, “Forgive them, Father; they do not know what they are doing.”
A scandal of grace: this is the kind of scandal I could get used to.
posted by Rev. Michael Jordan at 9:30 AM
1 Comments:
Hi all,
This reminds me of the 14th century visions of an anchorite (woman monk) named Julian. She was shocked when she was told to sin. It was explained as follows: "Also at that same time [when Julian saw she was instructed to sin] our courteous Lord [Jesus] revealed, most sweetly and most powerfully, the endlessness and the unchangeability of his love, and also his great goodness and his gracious protection of our spirit, so that the love between him and our souls will never be parted into eternity." It take great comfort in Jesus' deep compassion and love for us all.
Jeff S.
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