Then each went to his own house, 1 while Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area, and all the people started coming to him, and he sat down and taught them. 3 Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle. 4 They said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. 5 Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” 6 They said this to test him, so that they could have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger. 7 But when they continued asking him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 And in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders. So he was left alone with the woman before him. 10 Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She replied, “No one, sir.” Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, [and] from now on do not sin any more.”]
This passage opens with Jesus returning to the temple early in the morning to teach, while “all the people” come to him (v. 2). The setting matters. This is a public moment. The scribes and Pharisees do not bring the woman to Jesus because they care about justice or about her soul. They bring her into the middle of the crowd to use her as part of a trap. The woman is treated as a case, not as a person.
They say that she was caught in adultery and remind Jesus that Moses commanded such women to be stoned (vv. 4-5; cf. Lev. 20:10; Deut. 22:22-24). The question, “So what do you say?” is not sincere. John tells us directly that they said this “to test him” so that they might have a charge against him (v. 6). The trap is carefully set. If Jesus appears to reject the Law of Moses, they can discredit him before the people. If he appears to authorize a death sentence, they can accuse him of acting beyond Jewish authority in a land under Roman rule, since the Jewish authorities did not have free power to carry out capital punishment on their own. Their concern is not righteousness. Their concern is to entangle Jesus.
Instead of answering at once, Jesus bends down and writes on the ground with his finger (vv. 6, 8). The text never tells us what he wrote, and the commentaries are right not to pretend certainty. Some notes connect this action with Jer. 17:13, where those who turn away from the Lord are “written in the earth.” That may be part of the meaning, but the passage itself leaves the matter open. What is clear is that Jesus refuses to be hurried into their malice.
When they keep pressing him, Jesus stands and says, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” (v. 7). This is not permission to ignore sin. It is not a denial that adultery is a grave wrong. It is also not a rejection of the Law. Rather, Jesus exposes the moral condition of the accusers. The Law required the witnesses to throw the first stones (cf. Deut. 17:7), so Jesus answers them according to the Law they themselves are invoking. But he lifts the issue beyond a merely legal challenge and places it before conscience. Those eager to condemn must first face the truth about themselves.
One by one they leave, “beginning with the elders” (v. 9). The older men likely grasp the force of Jesus’ words first and recognize that they cannot continue the accusation. The public accusers disappear. The woman, who had been forced into the center as an object of shame, is now left alone with Jesus. The whole scene reverses itself. Those who came to accuse now stand exposed. The one who had no voice now hears Jesus speak directly to her.
His first words to her are simple: “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” (v. 10). When she answers, “No one, sir,” Jesus says, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, [and] from now on do not sin any more” (v. 11). These final words hold the whole passage together. Jesus does not condone her sin. He does not pretend that evil is good. He does not say that her adultery does not matter. But he also does not hand her over to the cruel intentions of men who are themselves guilty. He offers mercy, and at the same time he calls her to conversion.
That is why the title fits this passage well. Jesus offers mercy without approval of sin. He saves the woman from condemnation, but he does not leave her in her old life. His mercy is not permissiveness. It is the opening of a new future. “Do not sin any more” means that mercy is meant to lead to change.
This passage fits Lent very well because Lent is the season in which the Church calls us to honest self-examination, repentance, and confidence in the mercy of Christ. The accusers force us to ask whether we are harsher with the sins of others than with our own. The woman reminds us that no sinner is beyond the reach of the Lord’s mercy. And Jesus shows us that the purpose of mercy is not to excuse sin, but to free us from it and lead us into a new life.
Lord Jesus Christ, you know the truth about every heart. Deliver us from hypocrisy, from self-righteousness, and from the habit of judging others while ignoring our own sins. Give us the humility to repent, the trust to receive your mercy, and the strength to turn away from sin and walk in a new life. Amen.
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Sources and References
- The New American Bible, revised edition. Charlotte, NC: Saint Benedict Press, 2011. John 7:53-8:11 notes.
- Scott Hahn and Curtis Mitch, eds. Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2010, 177-78.
- Faculty of the University of Navarre. The Navarre Bible: St. John. Dublin: Four Courts Press; New York: Scepter Publishers, 2005, 395.
- Raymond E. Brown, Joseph A. Fitzmyer, and Roland E. Murphy, eds. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990, 965.
- John J. Collins, Gina Hens-Piazza, Barbara Reid, and Donald Senior, eds. The Jerome Biblical Commentary for the Twenty-First Century. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2022, 1411-12.
- José Enrique Aguilar Chiu et al., eds. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2018, 1144-45.
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