Though God wrote the Bible through human prophets, He wrote at least three times without human assistance. His finger carved the Law into stone on Mount Sinai (Exodus 31:18). The fingers of a man’s hand wrote judgment against Babylon on its palace wall (Daniel 5:5, 24). Jesus wrote love on the Temple floor in Jerusalem (John 7:53-8:11). We don’t know the exact words Jesus used; we do know that His writing gave everyone present an opportunity to embrace love. Consider this Scripture from three perspectives.<\/p>\n
Augustine said the passage was removed from the gospel because “some were of slight faith, and to avoid scandal.” They thought Jesus showed too much kindness to the adulterous woman.<\/p>\n
Metzger says the account “has all the earmarks of historical veracity.” Carson agrees: “there is little reason for doubting that the event here described occurred.”<\/p>\n
Scribes often taught their students in the Temple’s outer court. Here, the Pharisees and scribes set a trap for Jesus, using an adulterous woman for bait.<\/p>\n
“Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say? This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him<\/em>” (John 8:5-6). They intended to put Jesus between a rock and a hard place.<\/p>\n If He opposes her stoning, He ignores the Law of Moses and encourages adultery. Is this not the Jesus who is always correcting the Pharisees with the words, “Have you not read?” The Lord’s enemies would relish an opportunity to turn His words against Him.<\/p>\n If He defends the Law, however, He will alienate His sinful friends, and infringe on Roman Law. Jews could not execute criminals (John 18:31-32).<\/p>\n The Lord’s opponents could not have anticipated His response. “But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear<\/em>” (John 8:6). The Jews, apparently mistaking this response for retreat, pressed Him for an answer. “He raised Himself up and said to them, ‘He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.’ And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground<\/em>” (John 8:7-8).<\/p>\n Jesus did not retreat; His opponents did. “Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst<\/em>” (John 8:9). The Jews were blindsided again.<\/p>\n To ruthless Pharisees, the prodigal daughter is a pawn: they use and abuse her. They appear unwilling to “hate the sin but love the sinner.” They forget that God orders Hosea to take back his adulterous wife as an illustration of God’s love for adulterous Israel (Hosea 1-3). He shows mercy to people who deserve no mercy (it is mercy, not merit). Such lessons are lost on hate-filled hypocrites.<\/p>\n In dealing with this sinner, Jesus strikes the perfect balance. The sinless Savior does not condemn her (by stoning) but neither does He condone her. Mercifully He warns, “Go and sin no more<\/em>” (John 8:11). Worldly people mistakenly equate tolerance and love, and therefore view Christians as bigots. They condemn Jesus Himself. The prodigal daughter does not come to Jesus on her own initiative. The text does not say whether she ever returns to Him for forgiveness. We do know, however, that Jesus is passionate in His pursuit of lost souls (Luke 19:10). May we follow His example with the same passion.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Rick Duggin vai\u00a0Biblical Insights, Vol. 14 No. 8, August 2014 Though God wrote the Bible through human prophets, He wrote at least three times without human assistance. His finger carved the Law into stone on Mount Sinai (Exodus 31:18). The fingers of a man’s hand wrote judgment against Babylon on its palace wall (Daniel…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[66,1571,959],"class_list":["post-97611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-adultery","tag-forgiveness","tag-john"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":20773,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-adulterous-woman\/","url_meta":{"origin":97611,"position":0},"title":"The Adulterous Woman","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 10, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: John 8:2-11 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0People rarely want their sins pointed out. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It should be understandable. We want to think well of ourselves and have others think well of us also. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The common response to rebuke is to attack the messenger - Proverbs 15:32 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0You\u2019ll hear people\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":56005,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/doubting-your-salvation\/","url_meta":{"origin":97611,"position":1},"title":"Doubting Your Salvation","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 21, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Clem Thurman via Gospel Minutes, Vol. 58, No. 8, Feb. 20, 2009. QUESTION: Would you please explain I John 3:20,21? ANSWER: John wrote: \"Because if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemns us not, we have boldness\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37439,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/christ-and-fulfilled-prophecy\/","url_meta":{"origin":97611,"position":2},"title":"Christ and Fulfilled Prophecy","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 27, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jefferson David Tant God has not left us without proof. There are many ways to authenticate the truthfulness and accuracy of the Bible, which firmly establish the fact that the Old and New Testaments are not the product of the mind of man. There had to be some higher\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":623,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-mark-169-20-spurious-or-genuine\/","url_meta":{"origin":97611,"position":3},"title":"Is Mark 16:9-20 Spurious or Genuine?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 11, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"by Howard See Truth Magazine XIX: 29, pp. 454-455,\u00a0May 29, 1975 In a recent, late-night television interview of a snake-handling preacher from East Tennessee, the text of Mark 16:9-20 was attacked as being spurious. This was an effort to try to offset the teaching in Mark 16:18, \"'They shall take\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":39069,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-i-believe-in-jesus-christ\/","url_meta":{"origin":97611,"position":4},"title":"Why I Believe in Jesus Christ","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 26, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bobby Witherington via Truth Magazine Vol. XLIV: 7 p3, April 6, 2000 More Than Just A Historical Being The fact that a man called \"Jesus of Nazareth\" actually lived upon this earth and died upon a cross is a matter of historical record. If we can believe that such\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":89530,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/skeptic-reexamining-isaiah-and-other-biblical-texts\/","url_meta":{"origin":97611,"position":5},"title":"Skeptic: Reexamining Isaiah and Other Biblical Texts","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 19, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Quote: \"Likewise, Isaiah is not a solitary author crafting messianic predictions. It is a composite work, consisting of First Isaiah (8th century BCE), Deutero-Isaiah (6th century BCE), and Trito-Isaiah (5th century BCE), each shaped by the political landscape of Assyrian and Babylonian influence. The \"Suffering Servant\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97611\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Twofold Correction<\/h2>\nThe Lord shows remarkable love for souls, intense hatred for sin, and unfathomable insight into men’s minds. He condemns the woman’s immorality, but also her accusers’ hypocrisy.
\nThe Jews, hoping to harm Jesus, “condemn” the woman (with words, not stones). Jesus also condemns the woman for her sin, but to lead her to repentance (John 8:11).\n