And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”
The scribes and Pharisees bring a woman caught in adultery to Jesus and demand a ruling, sure that the law has trapped Him. His answer turns the case around: instead of arguing the law, He asks who is fit to carry it out.
The trap
They built the question so that either answer would destroy Him.
Michael HardtThe starting point is the occasion where a woman is caught in adultery. They had set the provocative question "Moses commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what do you say?" (v.5) as a trap. If He argued for anything other than the death penalty, they would at once accuse Him of encouraging others to break the law of Moses. But if He agreed with the law's deadly demands, they would ask, "How does your teaching differ? What about this grace you were going to bring?" It was a trap that left no way of escape… or so they thought.
Their handling of the case shows what they were after.
William KellyThey show no holy hatred of the evil, and they certainly feel no pity for the sinner… They hoped to trap Christ and leave Him only a choice between two hard options: either a useless repeat of the law of Moses, or open opposition to the law.
The law upheld, the executioner disqualified
His reply does not weaken Moses. It grants the law full force and then turns it on the men holding the stones.
Hamilton SmithFirst, the Lord maintains the authority of the law to which these men have appealed. Let it be carried out. But those who carry out the law must make sure the law does not condemn them too. "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her."
The question is no longer whether the sentence is right. It is who has the standing to carry it out.
J. N. DarbyTrue, the sentence was just, no one doubted the woman's guilt, and the law was clear. But who was to carry out the law? Man may easily condemn, but who has a right to carry out the sentence?… if not one of them could say, "I am without sin," then every one of them was under the same sentence as the woman. That sentence was death, for "the wages of sin is death." Here, then, was a strange situation: the accused and her accusers were alike caught in the same ruin — criminals all.
Not judgment, but salvation
They wanted Him seated as judge. He refuses, and His reason goes back to why He came.
C. H. MackintoshThey were determined to have an answer, and truly He let them have one. If they were going to put Him in the judgment seat before the time, He would have to judge everyone. He could not give a partial judgment. He could not judge one and let another pass. In fact, He judged no man. The object of His blessed mission to a world of sinners was not judgment but salvation. He came not to cast a stone at a poor guilty sinner.
Light on the conscience
Grace is present in this scene. But one writer names something else as its main lesson.
The Bible TreasuryThis history is not so much an example of grace, though grace is here, of course. It shows Christ as the light, and the light brings conviction to the conscience.
Conviction reached these men. It did not change them.
Hamilton SmithIn this case conscience is reached, but the will stays unchanged. So they "went out one by one, beginning with the older ones". The one with the most sins on his account goes out first; the others follow. They cannot endure the light that exposes their sin; they will not have the grace that could meet their sin. They leave the light of His presence to walk in the darkness of the world.
Left with the only one qualified
Every accuser has walked out. The woman is left in front of the one Person who could have thrown the stone.
J. N. DarbyShe was standing before One who could say "without sin," and who therefore could cast the stone… She was alone with One who had the power of life and death. Everything rested on His word. What would He say? Man had not dared to cast the stone; now what would God do? "Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more."
Summary
- Trap — Either answer was meant to ruin Him: deny Moses, or deny the grace He taught.
- Test — He leaves the law standing at full strength and asks who is clean enough to enforce it.
- Light — His words shine light on the conscience. The accusers walk out one by one instead of standing exposed.
- Refusal — Seated as judge He would have had to judge everyone present; He came to save, not to throw stones.
- Alone — The only Person entitled to throw the first stone is the one who says, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more."