Early the next morning he went back to the Temple. All the people gathered round him, and he sat down and began to teach them. The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees brought in a woman who had been caught committing adultery, and they made her stand before them all. “Teacher” they said to Jesus, “This woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. In our Law Moses commanded that such a woman must be stoned to death. Now, what do you say?” They said this to trap Jesus so that they could accuse him. But he bent over and wrote on the ground with his finger. As they stood there asking him questions, he straightened himself up and said to them, “Whichever one of you has committed no sin may throw the first stone at her.” Then he bent over again and wrote on the ground. When they heard this, they all left, one by one, the older ones first. Jesus was left alone, with the women still standing there. He straightened himself up and said to her, “Where are they? Is there no one left to condemn you? “No one, sir” she answered. “Well then” Jesus said, “I do not condemn you either. Go, but do not sin again”. John 8:1-11

The British press loves nothing better than to catch someone out, especially if it is a high profile politician caught in an extra-marital dalliance. It appears to delight in the public humiliation of its victim and the public responds with the usual baying for resignation, if not blood.

It is true that adultery is a very serious offence against God and against those whom adultery damages. Indeed, it was set in stone (literally!) as one of the Ten Commandments and, in terms of seriousness, is ranked only one lower than murder. In his Gospel, St Matthew refers to adultery as being worthy of eternal damnation (Matt 5:27)

This is why this passage is so important for illustrating to us the overwhelming power of God’s love and mercy. It is in this passage we learn the true meaning of “love covers over a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8).

We can all relate to doing something (whatever that might be) which we know is wrong and which sits on our conscience. Unlike this poor woman it is unlikely that we will be publicly humiliated in front of a crowd and openly condemned for our personal weakness. It must have been a very frightening experience for her, as there was every danger that she was about to be stoned to death: the Pharisees and teachers of the Law were baying for her blood. There she stands, before the crowd and before Jesus, in all her shame. What does Jesus do? He bends down and writes something in the sand then, standing up, he gives permission for anyone present that is without sin to feel entirely free to throw the first stone at her. Knowing the holier-than-thou attitude of her accusers, she must have closed her eyes and held her breath, wondering from which direction she would be hit. Would it be her head … her back … her legs … her arms … which part of her would be bruised and cut first?

But, at that moment, the hearts and minds of all those gathered around are made aware of their own sin and shame and, in the presence of the One who sees into everyone’s thoughts and past, it was impossible for any one of them to throw that first stone. Each and every member of the crowd slinks away, starting with the eldest.

It is interesting that it was the eldest who left first: their years have seen an accumulation and amassing of not only regrettable thoughts, words and actions, but, hopefully, a slightly greater sensitivity and ability to acknowledge their own shame. Perhaps, for the individual members of the crowd it was a healing moment for them too – we shall never know.

As far as the woman is concerned, she knows very well that she has been doing wrong over many years. It would have been unthinkable for her not to have known the Law of Moses – she would have grown up with it. However, for whatever reason, and despite knowing that she was living very dangerously, she has found it impossible to change her behaviour.

In her encounter with Jesus she meets a man who is able to look over her life and recognise the events of her past which have made her into the person which she is now. Perhaps Jesus sees in the woman someone who has had a miserable childhood and whose search for love and affirmation has been overwhelming, causing her to fall into the arms of one unsuitable man after another. Perhaps he sees someone who has been in a deeply unhappy or even abusive marriage. The truth of her situation was as veiled from the crowd as it is from us …. but not from Jesus: he sees her loneliness, pain and brokenness and her quest for someone to love her sincerely and chastely.

Her quest for such a love ends in her encounter with Jesus. In Jesus the woman meets, probably for the first time, her perfect ‘lover’: someone who knows all about her past and background, her sadness and loneliness, her many partners and the wives and children she has hurt through her many adulterous relationships. Here is someone who accepts her and loves her for what and who she is. His love is perfect and unconditional, it is without judgement. It is not a love which is to be expressed in the physical and intimate outward expressions of love: it goes much deeper than that, and her healing is complete.

Most people came to Jesus of their own volition and found healing, but here was a woman who was forcibly brought before Jesus. I imagine that the knowledge that Jesus was in the area was probably reason enough for someone like her, doing what she was doing, to keep a low profile, and that Jesus was probably the last person she would want to meet. Perhaps this is something we can relate to at times: most of us have, on occasion, felt sufficiently ashamed or unworthy as to find it really hard to approach Jesus in prayer. In such moments I like to imagine that it is our Guardian Angels who drag us kicking and screaming back into the presence of Jesus where, of course, we find love, healing, forgiveness and peace.

So we leave the scene with Jesus having healed the woman’s past, but throwing in a final warning: “Go, but do not sin again”, a clear indication that he does not – and never will – condone her previous behaviour: the Law of Moses makes that impossible. But I am sure that this encounter with perfect love will have brought about a sufficient inner change to enable her to resist temptations in the future, and I like to think that she eventually finds herself in a permanent and loving relationship.

Some meditations:

Imagining that you are a member of the crowd …

· Do I take enough care to examine my own conscience before I start judging others?
· Do I secretly rejoice in another’s downfall, when I really should be saddened by it?
· Do I pray for someone who I know is in real moral danger?
· Can I play a greater part in the healing of someone’s past?

Imagining that you are the woman …

· What aspects of my life and behaviour stand in need of healing?
· I cannot hide my past from God – he knows everything
· I must never be too ashamed to approach Him, for he understands my faults and failures, and knows what has hurt me
· In my relationships with others, do I take care to ensure that my love is chaste and pure?
· “Neither do I condemn you” … I can trust God to be loving and merciful. But …
· Do I trust myself to “Go away and not sin again”?
· I can because I trust in the power of the Holy Spirit over my life