Defusing the Accusers’ Charges

Have you ever been caught in the middle of a mob where danger is in the air and things feel like they are about ready to explode? I experienced this in Moscow several months ago when a group of neo-Nazis gathered in Red Square and their rally became violent. This is the situation that Jesus finds himself in, as recorded in chapter 8 of John’s Gospel.

The opposition to Jesus is growing and numerous threats to his life have been made. Jesus comes to Jerusalem during a religious festival, when the city is crowded, and the Jewish religious leaders make several attempts to “trap Jesus” by asking difficult questions and raising controversial issues, hoping he will stumble in his response.

John records that Jesus comes to the Temple grounds early one morning and is speaking to a crowd of people who had come to hear him teach. All of a sudden, a group of religious leaders appears dragging with them a woman who had been caught in adultery. They make her stand in front of Jesus and this audience and challenge him with this question: “In the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?”

This “trap” was a difficult one! If Jesus agrees with the judgment that she should be stoned, he will violate Roman law that prohibited Jews from carrying out executions; if he disagrees, he will be accused of violating Mosaic law.

The Apostle John provides us with some fascinating details. He writes that when faced with the accusing mob and the terrified woman, Jesus bends down and writes on the ground with his finger. We have no record of what he wrote, but the action certainly slows things down and buys precious time in which to defuse the confrontation.

Not just once, but twice he stoops down and writes on the ground. The second time had the effect of allowing the impact of his penetrating response to sink in – “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Slowly the angry accusers left, led by the older men. Jesus remains alone with the woman and offers her forgiveness and challenges her to stop sinning.

This act of peacemaking in the midst of the busyness of the temple courts is a remarkable story. Jesus not only taught about peace (which we will discuss in the weeks ahead), but he lived it out in the marketplace. Angry accusers were sent away convicted of their own sin, a distraught woman was saved from possible execution and offered restoration, and Jesus’ message of peace was put into practice for all his disciples to see.

So What?

• The act of bending down and writing on the ground slowed things down and helped to defuse the tension created by Jesus’ angry accusers. There is a practical insight here about finding ways to slow things down when a violent confrontation or argument is about to occur. Have you ever been in a situation like this? My struggle is that I am the kind of person who wants to quickly respond to opposition with the same hostility that is shown towards me. This is not Jesus’ way and I need to learn this lesson from him.
• The other insight I gained from this encounter was how Jesus turned the question of the accusers against them. Who among them was without sin? That’s a good place to start when the mistakes of others are brought to our attention. It is the kind of humility that peacemakers need to learn if they are to be agents of God’s Shalom.
• After reading about this encounter in John 8:1-11, are there any other thoughts you have on this remarkable exchange? Please share them by adding your comments to this blog.