Lent Exercises: Guiltless - Religious Judgment and Jesus' Compassion

It’s a well-known story.  Jesus’ opponents come to him, dragging a woman who has been, “caught” in the “very act” of adultery.  They ask him if they should stone her, according to the law of Moses.  

The whole story is a set up.  If Jesus tells them to disobey the law of Moses, they will have grounds to dismiss him as a teacher.  If Jesus tells them to stone the woman, they will undermine his popularity with the vulnerable communities who flock to his teaching.  

Jesus draws on the ground.  Afterwards, he stands and says, “the one of you who is guiltless, let that one be first to throw the stone,” and goes back to drawing on the ground.  One by one the crowd leave, until it is just Jesus and the woman.  He asks if any of her accusers has condemned her, and hearing her reply, says, “neither do I condemn you, go and do not sin…”. 

Preachers and commentators on this story emphasize Jesus’ creativity in responding to the trap set for him, and his compassion for the woman.  Too few, in my view, notice the missing adulterous man.  It is not possible for a woman to commit adultery by herself, where is the man she was supposed to be with?  Jewish law required witnesses to put someone to death.  How is it possible that this woman could have been condemned with witnesses, but here the witnesses seem to only have seen the woman?  This isn’t simply a set up for Jesus, the woman too, must have been set up for the purpose of trying to entrap Jesus. 

This kind of lawlessness, that pretends to be righteous on one hand, while turning a blind eye to exploitation on the other, is abhorrent to the God we see reflected in Jesus.  Creative thinkers imagine Jesus, writing on the ground a list of the sins of the men who are gathering around, stones in hand.  I imagine, Jesus simply writing Exodus 20:16, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”  The accusers’ witness is false, not because the woman is necessarily guiltless, but because they are actively exploiting a set of circumstances in which she is carrying exclusive moral responsibility for the decisions of others, particularly men.  

It seems to me that the tendency to push blame and responsibility for sexual wrongdoing towards the vulnerable hasn’t changed much.  The more I read this story, though, the more I see Jesus providing for the vulnerable, exposing exploitation, and offering hope.  

I find myself in this story on multiple levels.  I suspect you do as well.  Too many of us know what it’s like to bear solo responsibility for the exploitative choices of others.  Most of us carry vulnerability or shame when it comes to our sexual attraction, orientation, identity, or practice.  We know the judgmental religious stare.  

Imagine being in this scene with Jesus.  How do his words and actions speak to you?  How do you want to respond?