The Saturday after the Fourth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on July 19, 2025 by under
Scripture: St. John 8:1-11 (NKJV)
8:1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. 3 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, 4 they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. 5 Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?” 6 This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.
7 So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” 8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 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. 10 When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”
11 She said, “No one, Lord.”
And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”
Devotion
Verse six makes it clear that the scribes and Pharisees brought this woman and this question into the midst of the crowd before Jesus in an act of hypocrisy, motivated by hopes of capturing Jesus in some statement or action they could use to somehow condemn Him. Their hypocritical behavior is further condemned in their willingness to ignore, bend, and compromise God’s clear Word.
This sin of adultery was not committed alone, so the question arises as to why only one offender was brought. The woman’s accusers appear to have also been especially eager to humiliate her, since they could have kept her in private custody while they sought Jesus’ response. The claim that she was caught in the act further begs the question of “where is the other party?” for the law required the execution of both parties, not just the woman. Additionally, the Romans did not allow the Jews to carry out death sentences, so if Jesus had said to stone her, he could have been in conflict with the Romans.
Jesus’ answer, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first,” disarmed them. In concluding, Jesus did not condone what the woman had done, but neither did He condemn her in the way the hypocrites did.
Collect: Grant, O Lord, we beseech Thee, that the course of this world may be so peaceably ordered by Thy governance, that Thy Church may joyfully serve Thee in all godly quietness; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
