Last week, we read the familiar story of the Prodigal Son, which Jesus told to emphasize God’s extraordinary love and forgiveness. This week we have another story of forgiveness. Jesus was teaching in the temple when the woman was brought to him, accused of adultery. It is noteworthy that this was done in a public, sacred place, so that Jesus would be put to the test with maximum exposure. The scribes and pharisees were becoming increasingly anxious to find something that they could hold against him.
The story has similarities to Daniel 13, which tells how the innocent woman Susanna was accused by two lustful elders who had tried and failed to seduce her. According to the Law, two witnesses (like the elders) had to have actually witnessed the act of adultery. There is a strong suspicion that this whole episode in John 8 was staged and the poor woman was a victim. This is not to suggest that she had not sinned but that she had been trapped like Susanna. There is also the fact that those who were so ready to condemn her may not have been as virtuous as they pretended. In the Somerset Maugham story Rain, a missionary is eager to reform a woman he regards as fallen, only to end up by being seduced by her!
Jesus knew well what was going on. It is interesting that he stooped to the ground, so he was, as it were, on the level of the accused. We do not know what he wrote in the sand. It may have been the sins of the accusers; he might have just been doodling, to show that he did not have time for hypocrites. He did not condone the sin but, like the Father in the story of the Prodigal son, wanted the best for the woman. He was the only one who could condemn her, being without sin, but chose not to do so. He showed her mercy, something he would not receive himself.