The Law is clear. “If a man commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death.” (Lev. 20:10)
“If a man is discovered lying with a woman who is married to another, they both shall die, the man who was lying with the woman as well as the woman.” (Deut. 22:22)
And yet, Jesus himself does not participate in stoning the woman, or more accurately imposing the death penalty. In fact it seems it could be said that Jesus remains far removed from the whole scene.
This passage is one of the most well-known stories in the gospels. From ancient times until now this story of Jesus has been written about extensively. And according to Gail Day, basically three interpretations about the text have emerged over the centuries.
The first comes from the Reformer John Calvin. Calvin interprets the story as having Jesus reject the entire Jewish Law, since with faith in Christ we would naturally do what is right. No need for morals or Law per se, because we would almost spontaneously do what is right.
The second comes from Saint Augustine, who emphasizes the wisdom of Jesus in neither condemning the woman nor ignoring her sin.
Saint Augustine’s position is this: “You have heard then, Let the law be fulfilled, let the adulteress be stoned. But is it by punishing her that the law is to be fulfilled by those that ought to be punished?”
In his view, the important aspect of the story is the conversation that Jesus has with the woman. He neither condemns her nor does he excuse the sin.
And this encounter between the woman and Jesus is powerful indeed. Rather than being forced into being too harsh or too gentle, Jesus threads the needle.
“Hence, either let this woman go, or together with her receive ye the penalty of the law. Had He said, Let not the adulteress be stoned, He would be proved unjust: had He said, Let her be stoned, He would not appear gentle: let Him say what it became Him to say, both the gentle and the just, Whoever is without sin of you, let him first cast a stone at her.”
The action of Jesus is powerful. It is, according to Saint Augustine the voice of Justice. He writes, “This certainly is the voice of justice: by which justice, those men pierced through as if by a dart, looking into themselves and finding themselves guilty, one after another all withdrew.”
And so, this important lesson we can draw from the text is that we need to be most careful in judging others. It is often the case that when we judge others, we are seeking to avoid judging ourselves. In this way we seek to minimize our sinfulness.
But neither Calvin nor Saint Augustine focus on the conversation with the scribes and the Pharisees. There are really two conversations of Jesus in this gospel: the conversation first with the scribes and the Pharisees and the conversation with the woman.
Both are challenged to a new way of life without sin. In helping the scribes and the Pharisees to see their own sinfulness, they are calling them to conversion. But telling the woman not to sin again, Jesus is calling her to lasting conversion.
For both comes the encouragement to a life of true freedom. This is the point that Saint Paul makes. The Law only can lead to recognizing sin. Faith in Jesus leads to the true freedom of salvation, a gift we can embrace even now.
